Eat, Read, and Be Mommy

Googling can be a dangerous thing, right? One minute you’re talking to a friend about the Patricia MacLachlan book you’re reading, wondering about her age in comparison to the other Patricias of the Patricia Trifecta, and the next minute you’re facing the tragic reality that TWO of the Patricias have died in the last 14 months, and only Patricia Polacco is still gifting the world with new books. Seriously! Patricia Reilly Giff died in June 2021, and Patricia MacLachlan this past March. I mean, okay, neither one of them was exactly young–or, okay, middle-aged, since they were both born in the 30s–but still! The tragedy!

Okay, now that THAT’S out of my system for the moment, I finished listening to A Secret Shared a day or three ago, and it was a small but complete serving of a lovely, rich, old-fashioned dessert. (All of MacLachlan’s books, of course, are relatively small.) Old-fashioned mostly because Nora and Ben call their parents ‘Father’ and ‘Mother’, and dessert because it’s a gentle tale of sweet, loving people that turns out exuberantly happily. If you or someone you know is part of a family that includes both biological and adopted siblings, read this when you need the literary equivalent of a perfect cup of hot chocolate on a chilly day. As for me, well–at least I have more books to go before I’m done with either deceased Patricia?