Spotlight:The Influence of Libraries by Sara Grant

It is with pleasure I welcome Sara Grant to Book Angel Booktopia today to share how libraries have made an impact in her life. Over to Sara:

How libraries influenced me....

I was born and raised in a small town in the United States. We didn’t have a bookstore or Amazon, but we had a beautiful library. It was a quiet, magical space that echoed with stories and the click-clack of hard-soled shoes on the tiled floor. It was my first portal to the world of books.

I would always visit the same shelf first – the one with The Boxcar Children. I’m sure I checked out other books but this is the one I returned to again and again. I can still see its faded cover, worn spine, and the black line drawings that graced the inside pages and also recall the adventures of the orphaned Henry, Jessie, Violet and Benny.

I recently visited this library again – twenty-five years after I moved away. I was invited to give a talk on creative writing to coincide with the publication of Dark Parties in the United States. I donated a copy of my book to the library. It was a strange and satisfying feeling to have my book on those shelves that I had visited so long ago.

Title: Dark Parties
Author: Sara Grant
Publisher: Indigo
Publication Date: 22 Dec 2011

Synopsis from Goodreads

Sixteen-year-old Neva has been trapped since birth. She was born and raised under the Protectosphere, in an isolated nation ruled by fear, lies, and xenophobia. A shield "protects" them from the outside world, but also locks the citizens inside. But there's nothing left on the outside, ever since the world collapsed from violent warfare. Or so the government says...
Neva and her best friend Sanna believe the government is lying and stage a "dark party" to recruit members for their underground rebellion. But as Neva begins to uncover the truth, she realizes she must question everything she's ever known, including the people she loves the most.