The community of the Giver had achieved at such great price. A community without danger or pain. But also, a community without music, color or art. And books.

Think only on the climb. Think on what you control

Now he saw another elephant emerge from the place where it had stood hidden in the trees. Very slowly it walked to the mutilated body and looked down. With its sinuous trunk it struck the huge corpse; then it reached up, broke some leafy branches with a snap, and draped them over the mass of torn thick flesh. Finally it tilted its massive head, raised its trunk, and roared into the empty landscape.

And it was lonely, to yearn, all alone.

It's the choosing that's important, isn't it?

As a shy, introverted, scholarly child (long ago) I don't know what I would have done without libraries! My family moved often. I was always the new kid in town. The library always offered me my first and most important friendship: the place where I felt right at home. I still feel that way today, about libraries.

I think of every book as a single entity, and some have later gone on to become a series, often at the request of readers.