Joyce Maynard

Some might call this a children’s book, and that’s when most of us first encountered it. But if you haven’t read this one for a while—or never did (in which case, lucky you: there’s a joy awaiting) –discover it as an adult!  Set on a farm in Maine (once again, I’m drawn to small town American life), and featuring an unlikely cast of characters that includes not only the Arable and Zuckerman families—most importantly, a young girl named Fern-- but also a rat named Templeton, a pig named Wilbur, and a very wise and literate spider named Charlotte, White is looking at nothing less profound than facing the prospect of our own death, and that of those we love.  And he manages to do so with tenderness, humor, common sense as well as wisdom.