Nancy Drew – Karen Creamer Author, Coach, Speaker

When I was in elementary school, I was in a new school every year.

Every. Single. Year.

No, my parents weren’t in the military. My father was disabled, and when money got tight, we got moving.

Kindergarten: The Hancock in Medford. First grade and half of second: The Emerson in Malden. Last half of second grade and third: The Parker in Billerica. Fourth: The Hajjar in Billerica. Fifth: The Davenport in Medford.

Maybe you noticed that Billerica is up there twice in a row. We actually didn’t move that year, but as luck would have it, the town built a new elementary school to accommodate its growing population and (you guess it) I was zoned to move to the new school.

Oh, happy day.

Moving can be hard for anyone at any age, and I was no exception. Every time I made a friend, we moved, and I had to begin all over again. As I got older, it seemed as if everyone was already paired up with a best friend, and had been forever. I always felt like the odd girl out. Like I didn’t belong.

And then something wonderful happened. I discovered my BFF’s in books!

Nancy Drew and Pippi Longstocking were among the first and are still my friends today.

Of course, Judy Blume’s books were part of my life back then, and the one that immediately comes to my mind when I think of that time is this one: Are You There God? It’s me, Margaret.

I have been thinking a lot lately about how reading books can help us find meaning and insight into our lives. Even in fiction–maybe especially in fiction–it’s the story we connect with, and how it resonates for us in our real lives, and through which we can find comfort and clarity.

The phrase, “Go back to go forward” popped into my head not too long ago, and it kept popping in, over and over, so I thought, hey, I have to do something with this.

About the same time, Margaret was also intruding on my thoughts.

Pretty much everyone I know that is past puberty has read the Margaret book. Maybe because I have been re-reading other books lately that impacted me, it occurred to me that it might be very interesting to re-read this particular book now. Maybe that’s why it was so persistently intruding in my thoughts. It wanted me to read it again!

And then I had another thought: maybe other women would also enjoy this.
And my free mini-course idea was born!

You can join the Facebook group now to get notified when the free course is available. As of now, I expect it to be ready on the Tuesday before Labor Day (August 29, 2017). Once it’s live, this link should work to sign up for my free mini-course, GO BACK TO GO FORWARD!

Feel free to share this with anyone else who has read this book and might enjoy coming with me on my learning curve to take this free course!

I recently read this book, Shadows on the Coast of Maine by Lea Wait. This is another book that came to me by way of my husband, Bill, who knows what I like.

🙂

Shadows is immediately interesting and absorbing. I got it on audiobook because I was planning to do some driving and like to read while I do. 🙂

I was also attracted to this book because Lea Waite is a Maine author and the story is set in Maine, the state I love…so how could I go wrong? It’s about a couple who make the transition to move to Maine, and then try to get their lives on track, but bad things happen to them, so a friend comes to stay to try to help. After that, everything gets worse. That’s all I’m saying (hey, it’s a mystery, people).

Here’s the thing: I used up a lot of miles and gas listening to this book, because I was enjoying it so much that I just kept going and going and going.

Reading Shadows gave me the same feeling that I had as a young girl when I read the Nancy Drew mysteries by Carolyn Keene. What is especially wonderful is that this book is part of a series! Don’t you just want to celebrate when you finish a book you love and discover that there are more like it? This is one of those.

Yay! Read this book!

After you finish it, maybe read my book too! One Brave Thing