I’m still here and I guess so are you. Massachusetts remains in a stay-at-home advisory and we are still all working from home. 

What, in your mind, is the distinction between working at home and “working at home,” complete with saucy little air quotes? Come on, we’re all friends here. 

But I have found an activity that is totally both. Around 3:00 p.m. I knock off my computer work (reviewing, editing, interviews, etc.) and take to the couch to read whatever something-or-other the crew has sent in my direction, whether it’s a book for review, one for an interview, a potential starred review book, etc. I read my book to the accompaniment of whichever train cab view video I have chosen from YouTube. Frequently I go to Norway; Vietnam can be fun; Switzerland is always reliable. If you would like to try this peculiar hobby, my first recommendation for beginners is a three-hour tour from the mountains of Montenegro to the Adriatic. All aboard! 

If you and/or your kids need summer reading (or should we be calling that “summer reading”?) suggestions, we have just published our recommendations [art at left (c) 2020 by Laura Dronzek, from Summer Song by Kevin Henkes (Greenwillow)]. Much as I hate and diligently edit out the use of “fun” as an adjective, the titles on this list were chosen because they are fun books. I don’t mean comedies or light reading, although books of both kinds are included. I mean books that give pleasure, that make you glad you know how to read. I hope you find something you like. And if you can support your local indie bookstores (here are some of ours: The Children’s Book Shop, Frugal Bookstore, Porter Square Books, Brookline Booksmith), all the better. 

Keep perusing our May/June Magazine Special Issue: Breaking the Rules. You can find the Table of Contents here (with more articles being added every day) or read the whole thing — for free! — by following these simple instructions. We’ve been having lots of fun with Jarrett J. Krosoczka’s cover — it folds out in real life; see this, ahem, fun gif that Scholastic made. Friend of the Horn Book Rich Michelson, owner of R. Michelson Galleries in nearby Northampton, MA, recently announced it can even be yours: “R. Michelson Galleries is excited to announce that ‘Rule Breaker,’ a signed and numbered limited edition (ed. 100) pigment print, by Jarrett Krosoczka is now available at R. Michelson Galleries. A portion of the proceeds will support the Bookseller Industry Charitable Foundation. Please inquire here.”  

Roger Sutton 
Editor in Chief 
The Horn Book, Inc.