I was browsing in a bookstore when a cover caught my attention. I picked the book up and read the back cover. There were no blurbs from famous authors spouting pithy praise. No lines taken from glowing reviews. There wasn’t even a description of the story. What it did have was a passage from the book.
After a few more pages of questions, all of which Reynie felt confident he had answered correctly, he arrived at the test’s final question: “Are you brave?” Just reading the words quickened Reynie’s heart. Was he brave? Bravery had never been required of him. So how could he tell? Miss Perumal would say he was: she would point out how cheerful he tried to be despite feeling lonely, how patiently he withstood the teasing of other children, and how he was always eager for a challenge. But these things only showed that he was good-natured, polite, and very often bored. Did they really show that he was brave? He didn’t think so. Finally, he gave up trying to decide and simply wrote, “I hope so.”
I bought the book.
Ask a question the reader will want to know but don’t tell them the answer.
Other Stuff
I posted a handful of middle-grade graphic novel recs on TikTok and Instagram. Most of them got a few hundred views. But the one I did for Snapdragon is currently at 31 thousand views on Instagram! I have no idea why that one popped but it’s fun to see folks connecting with it and hopefully, they’ll check out the book.
Favorite Thing I Drew This Month
I didn’t have a specific reason I drew this other than I hadn’t drawn JB’s room before. I wanted it to contrast with Niles’s room which is cramped and messy.
Family Stuff
We went home to Florida for Thanksgiving. This is the first time I’d seen a good chunk of my family in 3 years. But Sophia and I were sick with some pretty hardcore colds the whole time. Which was lame, to say the least.
It was River’s first time flying. River loves pointing at planes when they pass overhead. Not sure he grasped he was on one but we got him a toy plane for the trip and gave him gummy bears to chew during the ascent and descent to help with ear pressure. It seemed to do the trick. It’s a running joke that he’s an angel around everyone else. Which he was on the plane. He was phenomenal. We got comments from the passengers around us that didn’t even know he was there.
It was nice to visit family even in a limited capacity. It was also lovely to see River play with his cousins for the first time and how great they all got along. Sophia also went shooting for the first time (clay pigeons). Practically a legal requirement when visiting Florida and further integrating her with my redneck past.
Thanks for reading. See you next month!
-Josh
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