“Who is it?”
“Someone named Ray,” Daddy said.
My heart throbbed so hard I could feel it in my fingertips.
“Coming!” I called. I scrambled down from the Lookout in record time, brushing bits of bark from my hands like dead skin.
“Ray sounds an awful lot like a boy’s name,” Daddy teased.
I laughed, pausing long enough at the base of the tree for Daddy to wink and ruffle my hair before I ran for the telephone.
At Sandy Shores, the past is all around us: the lodge, built by my grandfather, that always smells sweetly of cedar, even in the dead of winter; the old dock, which is mostly just a plank or two of soft, rotted wood taken over by an army of cattails; and the trees, like the Lookout, which has stood here long before a single Starr set foot on the shores of Sandy Lake. But I can see the future, pushing up through the past like shoots in spring, sweet and green and full of promise. And just like those shoots, I will be here to welcome it when it comes.
Acknowledgements
Reenie Starr walked into my head fully formed one hot summer morning on the back porch of Roxanne Charlebois’ Sudbury home. Without the peace and quiet of her home, I may never have heard Reenie calling to me. Merci, Roxanne!
Thanks to Sarah Williamson to whom I first described this story on a long drive between Sudbury and Cochrane, and who also kindly opened the door to her dance class so I could observe her teaching ballet to girls about Reenie’s age.
Thanks to Kallie George, Rebecca Jess and Nina McCreath for reading an early section that eventually went on to score me a much needed OAC grant.
Thank you to the Ontario Arts Council for their generous financial support in the form of a Writer’s Works in Progress Grant, which allowed me the time and freedom to focus on Reenie’s world.
Thanks to Sally Harding, Jennifer MacKinnon, Diane Kerner, Denise Anderson, and Nikole Kritikos for always having my back and for believing in Sandy Shores as much as I did, and to Aldo Fierro, who has now created four amazing covers for me, including that dreamy, summery masterpiece on the front of this book.
Thanks to my sisters in writing, Kallie George and Grace O’Connell, and my urban family, Rob Kempson and Rebecca Jess.
Although this is a work of fiction, I have been influenced by the summer vacations my family took and by the music and culture of the 1960s, which my parents loved. They have instilled that same love in me.
One final thank you to my parents, Joanne and Craig VanSickle, who gave me an ideal childhood on which I can build other worlds and dreams.
About Vikki
Vikki VanSickle grew up in Woodstock, Ontario and now lives in Toronto with her two wonderful roommates and a cat who loves nothing more than to help her revise.
She is the author of three books about Clarissa Delaney and her loyal friend Benji, and is an active member of the children’s literature community.
She also reviews children’s books for several publications and on her blog. When she is not writing and reviewing, Vikki works as a children’s marketing specialist and sees as much musical theatre as she can.
Other books by Vikki VanSickle
Words That Start With B
Love Is a Four-Letter Word
Days That End in Y
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Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication
VanSickle, Vikki, 1982-
Summer days, starry nights [electronic resource] / by Vikki VanSickle.
Electronic monograph in EPUB format.
Issued also in print format.
ISBN 978-1-4431-2499-7
I. Title.
PS8643.A59S86 2013 jC813’.6 C2012-907856-5
Text copyright © 2013 by Vikki VanSickle.
Cover image © Trent A. McMahon.
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First eBook edition: June 2013
Summer Days, Starry Nights Page 18
