May 2006: What Stories Do (cont.)

I want them to come through the story of the death of a best friend unscarred, because the death, after all, wasn’t their best friend and they don’t carry the burden of the bad choices made. But, nonetheless, when they put down On My Honor I want them to be larger than they were before they read it.

Will they have learned something? I hope so. And if they do learn not to swim in forbidden rivers or to confront wild bears, well and good. But nothing pleases me more when I read a novel than to feel that the characters, the story, the author’s understanding of the world are becoming a small part of who I am.

It’s what I wish for my readers, too.