I’m not overly fond of getting unexpected phone calls. I’ve had a few that didn’t bring good news and now, so my friends tell me, I often answer with a hint of terror in my voice. The minute I hear the ring, I do mental inventory of all our family members, where they are and what they are doing.
So when the phone rang this morning, I admit I answered with a very hesitant ‘hello?’. When the person on the other end of the phone said who she was, it didn’t register for a moment. I was still in panic mode.
I think she was hoping for a little more enthusiasm when she said she was from the nomination committee of the Ontario Library Association. I was still processing the fact that I hadn’t heard the words ‘injury’, ‘problem’ or ‘emergency’.
I suddenly realized I was getting “The Call” telling me that my book, Saving Armpit, had been nominated for the Silver Birch Express Award. Now I was flooded with excitement!
I could remember my own kids participating in the program when they were younger, eager to discuss their favourite books from the list with me. My book was going to be on that list and in the hands of hundreds, maybe thousands of kids. That for me, is the best feeling of all.
