Lizzie! (11 page)

 

 

AFTERWORD

W
ell, Teresa has read my autobiography up to here and says she really likes it. I thought the ending might be too sad. But she pointed out that the book ends happily for the cubs and for Julio and that plenty of people's lives don't have happy endings, including rich movie stars.

And I said, “To say nothing of the millions of people who go to bed hungry every night.”

“Also,” Teresa said, “Digger might have another heart attack and I have to live with that fear every day.”

That made me choke up.

I'm still really sad when I think about saying goodbye to Julio and I still feel scared when I think about that night in the root cellar. Sometimes I'm really angry about being probably stuck in a wheelchair for the rest of my life. But now that I'm practically an adolescent I can look back at everything that's happened with some perspective (from the Latin
per,
through and
specere,
to look). I've made some good new friends, not just the kind you email with. Josh and I still have to perfect our email shorthand since we aren't going to see each other for months at a time. Not just things like
yolo
which stands for you only live once and
rofl
for rolling on the floor laughing and
smh
for shaking my head. (It sort of makes me shake my head just writing these things down.) Tom and Aurelia will be getting married in ten days and I'll attend their wedding. I've got new honorary grandparents and a mom who's pretty special and it looks as though Rob the Scarecrow might be my father one day in the not-too-distant future. All in all, it's been quite a year. I'm definitely feeling ready for high school with my binocs and my Mac and my
American Heritage Dictionary
.

 

 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Honored as
America's poet laureate from 1981 to 1982,
MAXINE KUMIN
 
has
been the recipient of the Pulitzer Prize and many other awards. In addition to her seventeen poetry collections, novels, and essay collections for adults, she is the author of many children's books. Seven Stories Press is re-releasing four of Kumin's out-of-print children's books for kids ages five to eight, co-written with poet Anne Sexton: 
Eggs of Things
and
More Eggs of Things
 (illustrated by Leonard Shortall) and 
Joey and the Birthday Present
and
The Wizard's Tears
(illustrated by Evaline Ness). She lived with her husband on a farm in the Mink Hills of Warner, New Hampshire, where they raised horses for forty years and enjoyed the companionship of several rescued dogs. She died in early 2014.

 

 

ABOUT THE ILLUSTRATOR

ELLIOTT GILBERT
has illustrated
and written numerous children's picture books including
Max Goes Hunting
and
My Cat Story
. Among the many books he has illustrated are
Mittens In May
by Maxine Kumin and the popular classic
The Best Loved Doll
by Rebecca Caudill.
His paintings
have been exhibited in many galleries and won numerous awards.
Examples of
his work can be seen on his website elliottgilbert.com.
He lives
with his wife in Hoboken, New Jersey.