I love experiencing magic, as I imagine most everyone does.  Today I experienced the magic that sometimes happens when reading.   A character entered my life. I know him now.  Isn’t that amazing?  If this isn’t magic I don’t know what is.

The book I am reading is The Lost Children Archive by Valerie Luiselli  This book was on a lot of Best Books of 2019, and I thought I would enjoy it.  The book is complex and the story is tough and those lists were right – it is very good.

What I want to describe is what happened to me today about 1/2 the way through.  I realized I know the boy (the boy’s name hasn’t been revealed yet).  I feel for him; I am worried about this decision he just made, but not surprised; I think he is smart and nice.   I like him a lot and know I will think about him in the future. He is real.  The author chose words and wrote sentences that led me here.  She structured the story, the chapters, the characters so I  could come to know the boy.  She researched history, geography, music, literature and graced that knowledge to me.  I am so grateful to her.

This book is amazingly well written and has lots to explore.  The author’s use of the family as unnamed characters,  a  description of sounds that help define moods, lists that are essential reading, repeated stories of Geronimo, a journey without an intended ending, a family in an unsettling time, a hard look at immigration; these all intrigue me.  But what has delighted me is the reality of the boy for me.   This is why I read.  This is what I hope for all readers.