the heart breaks and breaks and lives by breaking*

Why is it that reading a new book is often so much more alluring than picking up an older one? I've had The Slave Dancer (Newbery, but of course) on my bedroom floor for about a month, and when I'm inbetween books I might read a few pages while I brush my teeth. But then it gets tossed back on the floor in flavor of something new that came in on hold, like The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane. You might remember how I adore The Tale of Despereaux. I also adore the people they get to illustrate Kate DiCamillo's books, like Bagram Ibatoulline in this case. Don't you love it already?



And if you're anything like me, you might flip through the entire book to ooh and ahh over the rest of the illustrations. Some of them might just about break your heart.

Now I need to find out if the book is any good. But if nothing else, you should pick up a copy and flip through it.

*from the epigraph, by Stanley Kunitz.