This and That and The Other Thing

This: On the one hand, there's skiing. On the other hand:


The dog Callie hates this winter. Tough finding a place to answer The Call when you're up to your butt in snow. She ends up befouling the footpath, which is against her principles. (She's a very good dog.)

That: SMALL PERSONS WITH WINGS got a lovely review in The Horn Book ... or will, when the March/April issue comes out. It says, in part: Readers will pull for Mellie to prevail—not only in her efforts to help the Parvi but also in her maturing relationships with herself (as she “grows into her grandeur”), her family, her new friend Timmo, and her peers.

On the blogosphere, Francesca Amandolia used the words "marvelously inventive" at YoungAdultBooksCentral , which Durindana and Co. appreciate deeply. Cori at the Phoenix Book Company calls Mellie "a great central character," and vancie917 at Not Another Book Blog says the book is "fantastic" and "everytime you think it can't get weirder, it does." (That's pretty much what I was striving for, so I'm swelling with pride. And my friend Alice's cupcakes, but that's another story.)

In general, not a bad haul, and very much appreciated.

The Other Thing: Rob and I went to the Stonington Opera House yesterday with our friends Alice and John (hence the cupcakes) to see "Dying City," Christopher Shinn's Pulitzer-finalist psychological about a troubled Iraq-war widow and her husband's equally troubled twin brother. The acting was wonderful and the play thought-provoking. We should all be flattered that the Opera House thinks we're up to this sort of thing in February... actually, I found it suited my mood. Yay Opera House!