Thursday, November 20, 2008

National Book Awards

We all know by now that our beloved Kathi Appelt may not have won the NBA top award, but she has won our hearts! The Underneath is a masterpiece of fiction, completely transporting and compelling. I found it as rich as any fantasy - like the books that I loved as a child. Publisher's Weekly interviewer John Sellers asked about one tiny image (only one of many rich images) in the novel:

"Appelt was asked about the significance of the crescent moon on the forehead of the kitten, Puck. “I used it to endow Puck with the magic of the moon,” she said, in keeping with the magical realism in The Underneath. “I think of the moon as a kind of watcher, watching over him and his sister.” "

Kathi's is the kind of writing I aspire to. Complex, layered, nuanced, rhythmic. The Underneath will resonate for years.

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