I get a lot of email about the endings of my books. Sweethearts, especially, but Story of a Girl, too. It’s interesting to me to hear all the different ideas about what makes a happy ending. I got a letter about Story today and though the reader, in high school, praised it, she also said she was not fan of the ending. She wished Deanna and Lee could have really made up. She wished Deanna’s father would have said “I love you.”

From my perspective as a writer, the characters live on after the last page. The last page of a book, to me, is not the same thing as the end. I always say I like to give my characters forward momentum. So you can see the possibility of full reconciliation, and of the I love you. I know that isn’t satisfying for everyone, but it is for me. There’s a discussion going on about the Sweethearts ending at rgz—I’m the one who put the question out there, because like I said, I’m interested in how others feel about endings. (If you haven’t read the book yet and plan to, don’t read the comments.) I’ll be back to the thread over there in a day or so to add some thoughts.

I’ve been staying up way too late since my vacation. In Banff, it stays light until past 11! So I am programmed. Speaking of Banff: on the plane trip there I read Jesus Land, by Julia Scheeres, a memoir that completely broke my heart. I can see why it’s an ALA Alex pick. It almost reads like a YA novel, as Scheeres tells her story (mostly) with a present tense voice, and the bulk of it takes place while she’s a teen. Very compelling, extremely maddening (especially for those of us religious folk who die a little every time someone does something horrible—particularly to children—in the name of Christianity). There’s humor, too, and strength. It’s not a “look at my tragic life and gasp” memoir. It’s a survival story, and you know I love me some survival stories. On the way home, I read Stewart O’Nan’s Last Night at the Lobster. Loved it. O’Nan wasn’t really on my radar for some reason, but now I’m eager to read more.

And now, I really have to go to bed, before it’s tomorrow already.