Books

Mildred Gutermann, a German Jewish immigrant who narrowly escaped the Holocaust, has been without her caregiver for 17 days. Being 92, blind, and without family or friends, she is in desperate straits and almost completely without food. She has resorted to standing in the hallway of her apartment building listening for footsteps and calling out to the unknown person, "have you seen Luis Velez?." But no one responds. Until the day that 17-year-old Raymond Jaffe passed by on his way to school. Raymond feels that he doesn't belong anywhere--not with his fractured family, not at school, and not even with his best friend who is moving away. But when Raymond hears Mildred's story, he is moved to help her, first in small ways and then with a quest to find Luis that feels impossible but leads him to places and people he could never have known otherwise. Together, Mildred and Raymond begin building a "village" that will bring new hope, peace, and a sense of belonging to them both. This is a book I will not soon forget. I hope you find it memorable as well.

Catherine Ryan Hyde is the originator of a phrase now part of the American lexicon--"pay it forward." Before the movie, the phrase was the title of her 1999 award-winning bestseller that was made into the well-known movie in 2014. She is the founder and past president of the Pay It Forward Foundation and still serves on its board of directors. Originally from Buffalo, NY, the 71-year-old Hyde has lived in the California seaside town of Cambria for over 40 years. She is still an avid hiker, traveler, animal lover, and passionate photographer, especially of distant galaxies and nebulae. She is the author of over 45 books, including her latest "Come Back to the World," which will be released in May and of which I had the pleasure of reading an advanced copy. I highly recommend that book as well and hope to offer it as a WRENS selection down the road.