The (Beautiful) Ugly Truth

Today was the big day!  Freestone has had this day on his calendar for weeks.  It was the day Diary of a Wimpy Kid Five, The Ugly Truth, came out!  When you're excited about a book before it's even on the shelves, you have to get it on the first day.  You have to be the first to read it!  Freestone woke up this morning ready to go buy his book, but Daddy was already at work.  Freestone was slightly upset, saying, "I wanted to get it right when it came out and tonight isn't right when it comes out.  It's out now!"

When Scott got home tonight, he and Freestone finally went to buy the book.  Freestone and his precious new volume have been curled up under mountains of blankets ever since.  Ahh, the luxury!  I love the thrill of a new book.  I love how you try not to gobble it up too fast, but you can't help it.  I love the satisfaction of turning the last page.  I love going back and reading about the author, the typeface, anything to catch one last morsel of enjoyment from the book.  When I was in grade school, I had a porcelain night light in the shape of a woman wearing a hoop skirt.  It had a cord that plugged into the wall.  The light was dim, but it was enough to illuminate the Nancy Drew novels I hid under the covers after lights-out.  I was always afraid my mom would catch me reading late at night and get mad, but for the most part, I was left alone to crack cases with Nancy and Bess or Trixie Belden and her best friend, Honey.  My parents frequently took me to the basement of Sam Weller's to hunt down a new addition to my Nancy Drew or Dana Girls mystery sets.  It was such a triumph when I found a dusty old volume that I didn't yet have in my collection.  I remember the smell of Sam Weller's, and the smell of the school book fair.  I always perused the fair thoroughly before selecting a brand-new Dell Yearling book to match the ones I had at home.  Over and over, I would leaf through the pages to inhale the new-book smell, but I was careful never to break the spine.  Mrs. Robison, our school librarian, had cautioned us against such a crime.  I still never break a book's spine.  And I still stay up into the silent midnight hours for the addictive rush of falling into another world through a book.

  I know Freestone will close The Ugly Truth, sigh, and open it right back up to page one again and start over.  He's in another world right now, and I wouldn't have it any other way.