It is possible to feel affection to people far away, in other countries—never met, never seen. This morning I am grateful to
Callenbach, the Dutch publishing house that beautifully reproduced
Small Damages not long ago and today shares
Undercover, the first young adult novel I ever dared to write (1997), seems like centuries ago.
And get a load of that pink!
Thank you, Callenbach.
Seven years ago, I published two very different books—a vaguely autobiographical first novel for young adults,
Undercover, and
Flow: The Life and Times of Philadelphia's Schuylkill River.
Both represented a turning point.
Both remain books that I remember with great fondness. The stories I was given the freedom to tell. The people I met throughout the telling. The lessons I learned about the risks worth taking.
Both books have surprised me deeply in recent weeks; both have been returned to me.
A few days ago, as I wrote
here, Flow arrived in warehouses as a brand-new paperback.
Today I learned that Callenbach, the fantastic publishing house that beautifully packaged
Small Damages for Dutch readers, will be publishing
Undercover as well.
By many, many measures, my writing life is a modest life. That is, perhaps, why news like this touches me as deeply as it does.