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Guest Post: Story-Magic: Why Summer Reading is the Best Vacation, by Natalie Lloyd
As a kid, my summers weren’t always packed full of vacations. Still, I knew I would be traveling. My reading spot under the willow tree was waiting for me. And without leaving my yard, I found my way to fictional places that left me wonderstuck.
And the magic didn’t end when I closed the book. Suddenly the whole world was sharper and brighter and part of something bigger. The fireflies in the woods were stars instead of specks. My own closet, full of old clothes and toys, seemed like a perfectly regal passage to Narnia. Even the tangled brambles of the blackberry bush near the fence seemed like just the right place for a witch to reach her bony fingers through and snatch me…if I wasn’t careful.
Since those firefly-nights full of flashlight reading sprees, I’ve dreamed of being an author. And now, I can’t help but hope readers find a little bit of wonder—and magic—in the worlds I dream up. Especially Emma’s world in The Key to Extraordinary.
Everyone in my narrator Emma’s family is special—her ancestors have done all sorts of heroic deeds dating back to the Revolutionary War. They all learn about their extraordinary destiny through a dream, and Emma can’t wait for her own dream to happen, except that when it finally comes, it’s nothing like she pictured. Emma’s dream points her toward finding a legendary treasure—which might be guarded by a singing ghost. Suddenly the hometown Emma thought she knew best holds more secrets —and adventure—than she could have imagined.
If a reader picked up a brochure about Emma’s town, Blackbird Hollow, they would see all sorts of fun oddities waiting there.
Visit the most haunted town in Tennessee!
Drink a mug of magical hot chocolate!
Pick a bouquet…and listen closely! (In Blackbird Hollow, even flowers hold secrets.)
But there is more than magic and adventure waiting there for readers. Or a better magic, maybe. Even though Emma never leaves her hometown, she goes on an important journey—full of friendship and wonder and hope, hope that shines even when tragedy rages. And she realizes there are no ordinary lifetimes—not when extraordinary love is involved. Of all the gifts the summer season gives, more days to love and be loved has to be the sweetest.
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So, I’m excited for young readers who tell me about their exciting summer vacations. But I’m even more excited for readers who tell me they’re “just hanging out.” Just spending time with their families. Just reading. Just exploring the world around them. I hope these next few months are full of love and magic. I hope they wish on falling stars, find buried treasure, hear fireworks crackle, have races in the swimming pool, and eat handfuls of wild blackberries. I hope they read books they never forget.
And I hope they listen closely, when they’re older, and cynicism starts to crowd out some of the wonder they used to find more easily. Because their favorite characters will still be there—in their heart—cheering for them. That cheer will sounds like a whisper someday, like the memory of pages turning.
Tesser well, they’ll say.
You are a queen of Narnia.
You will defeat the witches.
You’ve been invited to Hogwarts.
This day is bleak, yes, but you have the power to imagine something better until things really get better. There’s a secret all summer readers come to discover: imagination is a magic no one can take from you.
Someday you’ll want to revisit the story worlds that stole your heart. You’ll always be welcome there.
Natalie Lloyd is the author of A Snicker of Magic. Her most recent novel, The Key to Extraordinary, is on shelves now.