On Display

Eva Evergreen, Semi-Magical Witch by Julie Abe

Sparkling in the light streaming through the window, the whole town of Auteri was made in sugar. Each building was spun out of golden sugar strands, down to the curtains on the windows and the cobblestones in the street. In the glowing afternoon rays streaming down, the sugary town was radiant.

Eva Evergreen: Semi-Magical Witch by Julie Abe

First Rays

The Coming of the Bear by Lensey Namioka

Dawn was on the point of breaking when they approached the river—a stream, actually; they could see where it branched off from the main body of the river a little way up. The shallows near the banks were still frozen, but water was running in the middle of the stream. By the time they reached it, the first rays of the sun touched and gilded the surface of the water.

The Coming of the Bear by Lensey Namioka

Drink Orders

Jack and the Geniuses: At the Bottom of the World by Bill Nye & Gregory Mone

So there’s coffee, and then there’s coffee on a private jet. When Jen, our hostess, took our drink orders, she kept trying to push me toward chocolate milk or ginger ale. She even offered a root beer float. But I knew what I wanted.

Jack and the Geniuses: at the Bottom of the World by Bill Nye & Gregory Mone

Calming Ritual

Book Cover: The Creeping Shadow by Jonathan Stroud

Making tea is a ritual that stops the world from falling in on you. Everything pauses while you do familiar things with taps and kettles; it allows you to catch your breath and become calm. I’ve made tea on camping stoves while Specters paced beyond my protective iron chains; I’ve brewed some while watching a Revenant claw itself free of its grave.

The Creeping Shadow by Jonathan Stroud

An Untroubled Moment

All the Wrong Questions: "Shouldn't You Be in School?" by Lemony Snicket

We sipped coffee. It was still awful, but there was something wonderful about sitting together and sipping even the bitterest of beverages. You cannot wait for the untroubled world to have an untroubled moment.

Shouldn’t You Be in School? by Lemony Snicket