by Cal Armistead
This past Friday, February 7, Marcy and I posted our
answers to Cal’s debut novel, Being Henry David. Today, you get to
read Cal’s favorite's. Reading Cal’s answers transported us back into the
book.
Thanks for giving our readers a terrific insight into your characters, Cal. We hope they enjoy the story as much as we did.
Thanks for giving our readers a terrific insight into your characters, Cal. We hope they enjoy the story as much as we did.
1) What is
your favorite line or paragraph from the novel as it relates to the main
character's development and/or growth?
I don’t think
this is a spoiler…but I’m going to choose this line from near the end of the
book, when Hank has endured a life-changing ordeal and feels a stirring of hope
at last:
Nobody is here but me to see the world
cracked open, to look out on the world and see hundreds of miles into the
distance, to smell the rain-cleansed air. Somehow, I feel clean too.
2) What is your favorite chapter ending
or cliffhanger?
I like this section, because it reflects the moment
when Hank has remembered the trauma that robbed him of his memory. This
is a turning point, because he will now have to face the painful truth. Yet
there is still some comfort in nature, at Walden Pond.
No more, says the beast now at Walden
Pond, the beast who has become my friend in spite of myself. Enough, he says.
Red turns to black, total eclipse, and I
collapse behind a lichen-covered rock, far from home in the silent forest of
Concord, Massachusetts.
3) Who is your favorite secondary
character and why?
Like most people, I have a great fondness for
Thomas, the tattooed librarian/historian/ punk rocker. But I also have a soft
spot for Nessa, the 15-year-old runaway who has seen too much, but maintains an
unshakable inner strength.
Nessa looks up at me with this shine to
her eyes like she thinks I’m amazing, and I won’t lie, it makes me feel really
good. Dressed in a clean white shirt and jeans, without all that dark makeup
she used to wear, she doesn’t look anything like a street kid anymore. Just
another cute girl at Thoreau High. I don’t know how she did it, but
Nessa has been able to hold onto a sweetness and innocence in spite of
everything that’s happened to her.
4) What is your favorite line or
paragraph of description?
I like this paragraph when Hank first encounters Walden
Pond, because it reminds me of the many times I’ve walked this same route
myself, taking note of the wonderful sounds, scents, sights, and peaceful
surroundings of Walden.
The sounds of the highway fade as
I take the road into the woods. The air is cool and fresh and smells like
leaves and dirt and the pine needles crunching under my feet. I continue down
the road and sense the presence of the pond even before I see it—an open space
off to the right, a break in the thickness of the woods. Then, there it is, a
smooth gray surface like chrome reflecting the sky.
5) What is your favorite line of
dialogue?
I like this section (it’s more than one line, but
all part of the same conversation!) because it offers insight into what makes
Thomas tick:
“For a kid who worships Thoreau enough
to stay all night at his cabin site, you have a lot to learn,” Thomas says,
handing me a spare helmet from the back of his bike. “Thoreau was a
rabble-rouser in this time. A free spirit. A rebel.” He
pulls on his own helmet, straddles his Harley, and flashes straight white
teeth. “Why do you think I like him so much?”
We would like to congratulate Cal
Armistead on her debut young adult novel, BEING HENRY DAVID, which was
named one of the Top Books for Teens 2013 by Kirkus Reviews, Buzzfeed, and
Mashable!
To read more about Cal’s debut novel, Being
Henry David, go to:
Website: http://calarmistead.com/about/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/CalArmistead
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