I'm not quite touring with The Darkness Under the Water just yet -- the calendar really starts hopping on the first weekend of October, when I'll be reading from the book at the Brattleboro Literary Festival. But a couple of small appearances are coming up this week anyway:
Friday August 29: St. Johnsbury Academy students and teacher, look for me in the amphitheater presentation from the Lyceum Club. I like meeting the new students, and touching base with the ones I know from last year. (Remember the poetry series in the library?)
Saturday August 30: Scott and Penny Wheeler, an author/publishing team from the very northernmost part of Vermont, have invited authors from the Northeast Kingdom to "meet and greet" from noon to three at the Goodrich Memorial Library on Main Street in Newport.
Speaking of authors from "the Kingdom": I'm not sure whether Howard Frank Mosher is coming to the Aug. 30 gathering. But I'd love to see him, to thank him for his reaction to The Darkness Under the Water:
Full of marvelous people, heart-stopping drama, and horrifying details from a shameful period of American history, Beth Kanell’s The Darkness Under the Water is an absolutely wonderful novel. Just sixteen, Molly Ballou knows what it’s like to lose a beloved sister, a home, and perhaps her very identity. With her unswerving honesty, poet’s eye, and heart of gold, Molly is one of the best and most likable heroines in contemporary fiction. The Darkness Under the Water is a dark and unsettling story, but Molly is up to every challenge. I was rooting for her from the outset, and never once did she disappoint me. I hope that The Darkness Under the Water wins a major prize for young adult fiction. High school and junior high school students will love The Darkness Under the Water. Adults will too. It’s a masterpiece.
What an amazing and generous response, from the author of such classics as Disappearances and Where the Rivers Flow North, as well as his recent delightful adventure On Kingdom Mountain. Thank you, Mr. Mosher!
