Out of the Dust, by Karen Hesse is also a heartbreaker, but beautifully written. Imagine Little House, only not so gentle, much more poetic, and more tragic.

Hmm…what was I saying earlier about flavors?

2) Has there been a book that stayed with you long after you finished reading it…simply because of its power? What was it and why?
There’s a very old book about a man who is from another demension and he comes and rescues this woman. (I’m seeing a trend here..)

3) Do you feel as if you’ve ever learned anything from a fictional piece? And if so, what?
Maybe how to be stronger? Maybe that there is love out there even if you have boundaries?

4) If you could only recommend one book to a friend, what would it be?
Steven Kings On Writing.

Another “young adult” book I read a year ago was called, SPEAK. Absolutely amazing. That one has stayed with me…

2) Has there been a book that stayed with you long after you finished reading it–simply because of its power? What was it and why? Each Little Bird That Sings by Deborah Wiles. My daughter brought it home a few years ago. Lovely story with beautiful, quirky-strange Southern characters. Stories that bring tears to my eyes are few and far between. That one did.

3) Do you feel as if you’ve ever learned anything from a fictional piece? And if so, what? Sure. I learned: Boy meets girl. Boy loses girl. Boy gets girl.

It kept me going during those awkward, hopeless teenage years.

4) If you could only recommend one book to a friend, what would it be?
For me, recommending books is like recommending flavors. You just never know what people will like. But I do gently nudge folks toward things sometimes. I tell grown-ups to read kid lit, and encourage kids to sample Percy Jackson, if they haven’t, because it’s a new take on classic mythology, and it’s fun.

Here’s mine…

1) Favorite fictional character as a child? Since I can’t say Laura Ingalls because she was just as much autobiographical…I’d say Nancy Drew. Because she was strong. And smart.

2) A book that’s stayed with me long after I read it? All The Numbers by Judy Merrill Larsen. It struck me how grief can overtake your life to the point where you stop appreciating what you have.

3) Have I ever learned anything from a fictional piece? Always. Case in point, Judy’s book made me realize that sometimes you have to live for someone else even if you can’t do it for yourself. It’s what love is.

4) If I could recommend one book to a friend, what would it be? I think I’m reading it right now. But will know more by next week.

Encylopedia Brown – because he liked to solve puzzles and so did I.

2) Has there been a book that stayed with you long after you finished reading it–simply because of its power? What was it and why?

To Kill A Mockingbird. It showed that there are good people even in times of discrimination.

3) Do you feel as if you’ve ever learned anything from a fictional piece? And if so, what?

I learn a lot from the books that I read. I had an incident recently and I recall from a book to trust your gut feeling and if something doesn’t feel right, move away.

4) If you could only recommend one book to a friend, what would it be?
Because I just read this book, “The Help” by Kathryn Stockett

2) Has there been a book that stayed with you long after you finished reading it–simply because of its power? What was it and why?
– A series I read as a kid: “The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, the Unbeliever”. I think I remember them because they were long stories with lots of characters and painted a pretty good picture of the fantasy world. Plus I wanted to do magic

3) Do you feel as if you’ve ever learned anything from a fictional piece? And if so, what?
I think I’ve learned lots of things. Ways I want to behave. Ways I don’t. Things I’d never put up with (or do!) in a relationship. Unfortunately, despite lots of hard work I still haven’t learned to do magic from all the books I’ve read. Or met an Orc.

4) If you could only recommend one book to a friend, what would it be?
- Twilight. Just kidding. Unless he/she has a tweener that hates to read, then this book is addictive. One book I remember reading as a teenager that had a great story was “Mila 18″ by Leon Uris. It is about the Jewish resistance in the Warsaw ghetto. Shows a side of that time that I didn’t know about back then.

2) Has there been a book that stayed with you long after you finished reading it–simply because of its power? What was it and why?
East of Eden by John Steinbeck. As to why, just read Chapter 13, part 1 and Chapter 24, part 2 – that’s powerful writing.

3) Do you feel as if you’ve ever learned anything from a fictional piece? And if so, what?
I’ve learned a lot about antiques from Jonathan Gash’s Lovejoy mysteries.

4) If you could only recommend one book to a friend, what would it be? Non-fiction, it would be The Other End of the Leash, by Patricia McConnell. Fiction, let’s go with Parke Godwin’s, Waiting for the Galactic Bus.