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          THE final day of a short stay on the California coast I was taking my last beach walk. Just off shore came leaping dolphins, diving pelicans and birds by the hundreds, their long lines wavering like blue velvet ribbons out to sea. Still, the waves had yet to give up a single, unblemished shell. So I made a wish.

          Just let me find one whole and perfect sand dollar!

          And there it was. As the water pulled back. One delicate, white, whole and perfect sand dollar. Excited by the gift, I lifted it gingerly, took a few steps and, incredible luck, found another one. I carried my little cache down the beach and stopped. Here were three more sand dollars. And here three more. And three more!

          On it went until my hands were full of delicate shells. Then my pockets. Perhaps on this beach such finds are as common as sand. But it was a thrilling few minutes for me. A gluttonous adventure. More sand dollars than I could carry!

          Back at my cabin I lined them up outside the door along a weathered redwood rail. I admired their beautiful feathered designs. Each with a sea flower delicately etched. As if some artisan lived beneath the Pacific, working shells with her tiny chisel.

          BOOKS are not unlike sand dollars. At least to those of us who cherish them, books are like treasure from the sea. We collect them. Study their beautiful designs. Admire their craftsmanship and hope, if we are writers, to carve out something just as fine. Our own whole and perfect sea flower design tossed into the sea to later be drawn in, a gift for someone else’s pocket.

          About a week ago I flew to the Midwest to speak at Oklahoma’s EncycloMedia conference with a group of fabulous authors (Suzanne Morgan Williams, Stacy Nyikos, Barrie Summy, Jenny Meyerhoff, P.J. Hoover, Jessica Anderson, Donna St. Cyr, Cynthea Liu and Eileen Cook). We were met with an equally fabulous audience of educators and librarians. Copies of our novels sold out at our signings and we were filmed for a reader’s broadcast. I went on to a packed and appreciative school visit.

          As a writer you couldn’t ask for more. It was a wonderful affirmation of the world of books, and what an honor it is to be included in this circle of writers, readers, librarians and educators who are looking for the next good read.  

          Which got me thinking. This week I want to celebrate (to paraphrase YALSA’s press on the upcoming Teen Read Week) “the possibilities that exist within a library’s doors, and within the covers of books.”

          I’m excited to have a thoughtful interview with author Laura Resau. Her newest novel Indigo Notebook is launching this October and it’s an amazing read. Resau’s writing is both beautiful and honest, and she brings that same integrity to her thoughts on the writing life, the meaning of story, and how she’s found her niche by moving between cultures.

          Then expert librarian Cathy Ensley from Idaho talks about her years in the stacks and her brand new blog. She has some surprising insights into teen readers and shares her latest venture to foster the love of books—helping rural libraries hook up with authors via SKYPE.

          And just an END NOTE to my sand dollar days.

          Isn’t it gratifying to know it’s not so out of reach—that whole and perfect shell? Something to remember if, like me, you carve your designs as you go.

          And to those of us who walk the beach waiting for what the artisan might reveal, may we find what we’ve been looking for in the sand. 

                                                                   --z.v.