Author: Peg Kehret

Goodbye, sweet Purrlie

purrlie-rug.JPGI only had her for five months. For two of those, she was a foster cat; I adopted her when her medical problems were so severe that the Humane Society had to remove her from their adoptable list. I tried my best to help her, and thanks in no small part to the dedicated staff at Buckley Veterinary Hospital, she did improve in many ways. But at 1:30 a.m. this morning, I was at an emergency veterinary clinic, making the difficult decision to have her euthanized.

I am comforted by knowing that in Purrlie’s last months she was well loved and cared for, something she had not had for most of her thirteen years. My pet-sitter, Karrie, went with me to learn how to give insulin injections. My vet, Dr. Dennette Wood, made many after-hours calls to help me know the best treatment. Purrlie had much to purr about until the end.

I wish that end could have been several years in the future but, even though my heart is breaking today, I would do it all again.

Banned Books Week

bannedbooksposter.JPGMy kitchen is decorated for Banned Books Week. The poster was a gift a few years ago from Robin Buckingham, co-owner of Lindon Books in Enumclaw, Washington.  The store did not survive but I still put out the poster each fall.

I’ve always been grateful that my parents allowed me to read whatever I wanted to read, including comic books such as Little Lulu and Archie and Veronica, which my mother considered unworthy of my time, as well as adult novels that may have seemed too advanced for my age.

I’ve endured a few book challenges over the years by people who thought one of my books was not appropriate for their child and, therefore, no child should be allowed to read it.  I use the word endured because these challenges upset me a lot. Some authors joke that having your book banned is the best possible publicity and will sell many extra copies, but this has never been worth the cost to me.

Cheers to the American Library Association for continuing to celebrate Banned Books Week.

Connections

cagescover.jpgWhen students are assigned book reports, they are often instructed to write about how they connected in a personal way with the book. Their letters to me often mention these connections. This week, I had an interesting connection myself, with one of my own books.

Cages was published in May, 1991. At the time, my oldest grandchild, Brett, was one year old. Brett is now a Senior at Whitman College. She volunteers in a program with the local Juvenile Court system, where she helps to decide what restitution might be best for individual  young offenders. When she took the training for this program, she was given a list of possible things that the court can direct these kids to do to make up for their offenses. One item on her list was to “Read the book Cages by Peg Kehret, and write a report on it.”

Cages is about a girl who gets caught shoplifting, and is assigned to do community service at an animal shelter. I knew that it has been used in juvenile courts who deal with youthful shoplifters, but it was a special thrill to have Brett call to share her excitement when she spotted her grandma’s book on the court-approved list.

Real people

loggers.JPGToday I visited the Loggers’ Memorial in Enumclaw, Washington. This is one of the places Sunny went in Runaway Twin. Standing beside the memorial, I thought about Sunny. I looked across the parking lot at the public library where she found Starr’s plagiarized poem online, and remembered how she felt. Then I found myself hoping that she and Rita, and Snickers the dog, were all doing well. It took me a moment to remember that these are characters in a book and not real people. Or are they? Even though they are not alive, they are still real to me. I lived with them for many months while I wrote Runaway Twin, and I will always be fond of them. I hope you are happy, Sunny and Rita.  Good dog, Snickers.

Iowa’s Bells

iowabell1.JPGMy Iowa Children’s Choice Award arrived yesterday – a marvelous brass school bell engraved on one side with the Iowa Library Association logo and on the other side with my name, the year, and the winning title, Stolen Children.

This is my fifth time to win the Iowa award, and my fifth school bell.  In my acceptance speech for the second one, I told how my grandkids loved to ring the first bell to call everyone to dinner. When I won again, I said that I now had three bells,  but four grandchildren and said I needed to win once more so that I could leave one of the bells to each child in my will. It became an on-going joke with Beth Elshoff, who had chaired the ICC committee the year that I won the first time. When I won bell #4, she emailed me that she was happy all of the grandkids were now taken care of.

So this year, I won my fifth bell and the timing was perfect. Seth Robert Kehret, my first great-grandchild, was born last week.

National Book Lovers Day

officeheadshot.JPGAugust 9 is National Book Lovers Day. While it’s nice to be honored, I don’t need a special day because every day is Book Lovers Day for me.

When I posted this on my Facebook author page, a young fan commented that there should be a Peg Kehret Day. I actually had a whole Peg Kehret Week once, when I was doing school visits in Putnam City, Oklahoma. The mayor came to the first school and made the official proclamation. It was very exciting. I still have a pencil that says Peg Kehret Week on the side.

How old are my readers?

ghostdogsecretscover.jpgI just read the Amazon.com reviews of Ghost Dog Secrets. I am not a fan of Amazon reviews because they are posted with no criteria as to whether the reviewer is qualified to judge a book. Even so, my books generally get good reviews and this was no exception.

One reviewer went on at some length about the fact that he was too old to read this book. It is a book for kids, and he is a senior citizen. He phrased everything in terms of how he would have reacted when he was eleven or twelve. In the end he said he would give the book five stars, but he was too old, so he gave it four.

The very next reviewer made a big point of saying it is too bad Ghost Dog Secrets is shelved with the books for kids because it has wide appeal for readers of all ages. Another reviewer said she’d read it because her twelve-year-old son had recommended it, and had enjoyed it a lot.

Most of my books, including Ghost Dog Secrets, are categorized as middle grade, meaning ages 9-12, but I write them for myself. Like many adults, including seniors like me, I love middle grade and YA books. I read a great deal of adult material, too, but a good book is a good book, no matter what age reader it’s intended for.

A Century

My mother would have been one hundred years old today.  At a time when girls were not expected to have careers, she encouraged me to be a writer, or whatever else I wanted to be.

From her, I learned the joy of generosity and the ability to look on the bright side of any situation. I also learned to be a good money manager and to create fun times at little expense.

I remember her with love and gratitude, today and every day.