Frenemies to the Max

Ryan and Essie’s relationship has always been deep, the central focus of a surprisingly scary story. But it’s possible I didn’t realize until after the book was done just how funny they are. Nobody wants to be thrown into an adventure together less than these two.

Although Essie claims to be friendly, few of us have enough self-insight to get an analysis of ourselves right. That’s one of the reasons we need other people. A little perspective never hurt anyone. And a ten-year-old girl is certainly not going to have that level of insight about herself.

Essie isn’t trying to reach out to Ryan. She thinks he should be corrected. But Ryan absolutely won’t allow that. He’s not going to be corrected by her. Quite the opposite, he thinks Essie is rude, hopeless, a little annoying, and dead wrong about everything. (Especially about him.) Ryan thinks he is perceptive about things that require intelligence and education. Whereas all Essie does is drift around getting herself—and him—into endless trouble . . .

It can be funny how little we understand ourselves. Adults as well as children. We can get so worked up about why our relationship to some other person is a close one, but we don’t accurately describe what’s going on. Since children have even less of an objective view on themselves than adults do, Ryan and Essie emphasize a human character quality that isn’t at all diminished with age or experience.

We may try to hide it, but sometimes we’re as silly as they are. And as human.
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And there will be more updates.