Celeste C.

Through the stark and leafless trees, I see her. I remember the first day I saw her; an instant attraction. I think she’s beautiful. She has such pensive blue eyes; they remind me of a blue sky right before the sun descends. Every time I see her I want to talk to her, I want to get to know her, and I want to be her friend. She usually completes the lower woodland walk in six minutes and 42 seconds; she misses the deeper woodlands and goes home, I believe. I walk down the road at the same speed as her.

How can a relationship become like an enduring love affair? Eloquently told by a remarkable woman whose love affair lasted almost 30 years, this tender story gives specific ways to keep love fresh and growing. It also warns against some all too common things, big and small, that can take the life out of a marriage or any relationship that lasts.

When spirited 10-year-old Pearl searches for magic and answers after her mother’s presumed drowning, she finds a strange boy named Hake, instead. Raised cruelly by a monster called the Old One, 11-year-old Hake possesses otherworldly powers and has the knowledge Pearl seeks. In exchange for a home, Hake agrees to show her magic. But Hake knows nothing of magic - only that Pearl’s romantic stories of the Deep Dwellers are a lie.