When I was in the seventh grade, I read Ellen Foster by Kaye Gibbons. The novel begins,
"When I was little I would think of ways to kill my daddy. I would figure it out this or that way and run it down through my head until it got easy."
A brilliant opener that sent a pang through me the first time I read it. That's a feeling I've been chasing with each book I've picked up in the 20 years since I first experienced it. There's an immediate awareness that something profound will follow. That reading this book will be an experience to savor.
Here's to the power of an opening line.
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