Keywords

young adult literature, writer, editor

Abstract

I've not slept well for many months. Until recently l had assumed that my fitful nights were merely the combined effects of impending writing deadlines, ALAN presidential duties, middle age, a long list of incomplete house and yard chores, a six-digit mortgage, my university students and classes, a neurotic and noisy cat, and two teenage daughters.

Some nights are worse than others, and I've supposed that when stress goes up, sleep goes down. But I've also noticed lately that when things go bump in the night, I jerk awake wondering if it was just wind, the dog, a neighbor's car door closing—or was it something ominous, something that could hurt me or my family?

Original Publication Citation

“Can Reading Help?” English Journal 92.4 (March 2003): 102-105.