B U U من عند Berkeley Heights, NJ, الولايات المتحدة من عند Berkeley Heights, NJ, الولايات المتحدة

My mother has an autographed copy of this book that she got from an ALA conference in the '70s. When I was a little kid, I would always pull it from the shelves, look at the inscription, and put it back. I never actually thought about reading it. I was too intimidated by the shiny silver medal on the front cover. The thick, buttery pages seemed to say, "For adults only." Finally, when I was about 12, I took the copy of Philip Hall Likes Me, I Reckon Maybe off the shelf again. It was summer, and I was finally allowed to skip the various day camps that normally filled my time. I was grown-up enough to spend the days by myself, just me and the dog. I watched a lot of television, but I quickly got bored of that. I had read through all of the books on my shelves, so I went back to my mother's book collection and read this. I remember being really surprised that it was a children's book. It was EASY! I thought it was some "grown-up" novel. And I also remember being surprised that I liked it. A lot. I don't remember all of the plot points, but I do remember certain transcendent moments. Philip Hall seemed like such a perfect character... but I cheered when Beth realized that she was limiting herself due to her feelings for Philip. I may be 25 years old, but I still catch myself settling for second best at times, just to help out others. Beth's lesson is still an important one to remember.