sixfootnathan

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.

2022-10-02 08:20