Willa by Heart (19 page)

A new dawn.

A new day.

Thank you.

Recommended by Willa Havisham

A Gift from the Sea,
Anne Morrow Lindbergh

Jane Eyre,
Charlotte Brontë

Leaves of Grass,
Walt Whitman

My Ántonia,
Willa Cather

Our Town,
Thornton Wilder

Rebecca,
Daphne du Maurier

The Scarlet Letter,
Nathaniel Hawthorne

Their Eyes Were Watching God,
Zora Neale Hurston

To Kill a Mockingbird,
Harper Lee

Walden,
Henry David Thoreau

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz,
L. Frank Baum

Wuthering Heights,
Emily Brontë

Since my first book,
How Prudence Proovit Proved the Truth About Fairy Tales,
was published in the summer of 2004, followed that fall by 26 Big Things Small Hands Do, and that spring by my first novel,
The Wedding Planner's Daughter,
and during the writing of the next five books,
The Cupid Chronicles; Mack McGinn's Big Win; Kip Campbell, The Funeral Director's Son; Catching the Sun;
and now
Willa by Heart,
I have been honored to visit with many schools, libraries, bookstores, reading councils, and other organizations where it has been a
joy
to talk about reading and writing and books, books, books.

Each experience has inspired me to dig deeper, and I am profoundly grateful for the questions, comments, and kindness of countless people: teachers, librarians, booksellers, parents, principals, and, most of all, the young readers who share their wisdom, energy, and enthusiasm, like fireflies, like sunflowers, like shooting stars.

And so, in the order of when we first “book-talked”
together, I wish to thank my friends at: Guilderland Elementary School; Duanesburg Elementary School; C. V. Starr Intermediate; Tamarac Middle School; the Book House at Stuyvesant Plaza; Barnes and Noble, Colonie, New York; Barnes and Noble, Saratoga Springs, New York; the Open Door Bookstore; Troy Public Library; Eight Cousins Bookstore; Market Street Bookshop; Blackwood & Brouwer; the Bookmark; New England Bookseller's Association; Barnes and Noble, Niskayuna, New York; Children's Literature Connection Fall Festival of Books, Emma Willard School; North Atlantic Independent Booksellers Association; Russell Sage College; Borders, Colonie, New York; Borders, Saratoga Springs, New York; Christ the King toddler playgroup; the Victorian Ball, benefiting the Troy Public Library; Green Chimneys; American Library Association; Elsmere Elementary School; Boght Hills Elementary School; Montgomery Fulton Reading Council; Thomas O'Brien Academy of Arts and Sciences; Schoharie Reading Council; School 14, Troy, New York; the College of Saint Rose; Susan Odell Taylor School; SCBWI, Eastern Pennsylvania Poconos Retreat; the
Academy of the Holy Names; “Got Books, Let's Read II,” Hodge-Podge Conference; the Ark Community Charter School; Marston Mills Library; Market Block Books; Guilderland Public Library; Bethlehem Public Library; Rutger's Council on Children's Literature; School 18, Troy, New York; Southgate Elementary School; Mother-Daughter Book Club at Jefferson Elementary School; Market Block Books; Hamagrael Elementary School; Capital Area School Development Association; The Doane Stuart School; Sullivan Reading Council; Lynwood Elementary School; Watervliet Elementary School; Green Meadow Elementary School; Elmer Avenue School; Greenfield Elementary School; Mother-Daughter Book Club, Newburgh Free Library; Clifton-Park-Halfmoon Public Library; John Evans Elementary School; New York State Reading Association; Mother-Daughter Book Club, Niskayuna, New York; Borders, Bridgewater, New Jersey; Red Fox Books; Bradt Elementary School; Poestenkill Elementary School; Glenmont Elementary School; Charlton Heights Elementary; Birchwood Elementary; Gloversville Middle School Authorfest; Westmere Elementary School;
Barnes and Noble, Saratoga; Dog Ate My Homework, Glens Falls, New York; Martin H. Glynn School; Genet Elementary School; Skribblers Magazine Awards; Albany Academy for Girls; Novello Reading Festival, Charlotte, North Carolina; and the Rochester Children's Book Festival.

When we meet again, I look forward to hearing what you are reading and writing these days!

Read on, write on, dream big.

Also, my very special thanks to Alyssa Eisner-Henkin; my editor, Emily Meehan, and Courtney Bongiolatti; my friend forever in spirit, Mary Beth Moore Barrett; my mother, Peg Spain Murtagh; my husband, Tony Paratore; and most especially, with love always, my three sons, my suns, my stars, Christopher, Connor, Dylan.

Shine on, shine on, shine on.

Coleen Murtagh Paratore
is the author of the acclaimed The Wedding Planner's Daughter series as well as
Mack McGinn's Big Win.
She makes her home in Albany, New York, and Mashpee, Massachusetts, with her husband and her three sons. She's also a believer in community theater, kismet, and Cape Cod.