The Secret Book of Flora Lea

by Patti Callahan Henry

A heart,” she told Hazel, “can hold much joy and great sorrow at the same time. It’s a mystery and it’s also true.”

“Telling stories is one of the greatest powers we possess. It’s like a dream you can fill with what you want. And the knight doesn’t always have to save the princess; sometimes she saves herself.”

within every package that arrives here, there might be another adventure, another quest, another mystery. I know someone else might see the package as something simple: a rare book or signed illustration, but here’s the secret—nothing is simple.”

we are a myth-making people; it is how we make meaning of the meaningless and sense of the senseless. It is why we tell stories.

I’ve always been fascinated with the unseen world, with the natural world as both salve and escape, and with the ability of children to survive with story in a world gone mad. I’ve been consistently fascinated with the metaphor of a river, with its final destination and its source.