It all started with a trip to "The Book Corner"

When I was 12 years old, my mom and I went into this paperback book exchange, and we were picking out some books that were on my summer reading list. While in this bookstore, I was going through my assigned reading list that the teachers provided ever summer. You must read three books before the start of the school year. There was always that ONE that EVERYONE read, and then there were two lists, and we had to choose one book from each list. Oy.

So, while I was busy on my scavenger hunt for the shortest, most interesting books to fulfil my requirements, my mom was leisurely walking the aisles for other books. She came across this book, Joni. She told me how I just HAD to read this book, and she just knew I would enjoy it. I am looking at this book. This book was obviously written in the late 70s. The font on the cover and the stylish haircut were dead give aways. The cover of the book showed this woman, with a pen in her mouth, sitting at an easel, having just completed a drawing of some horses. I remember being so amazed that she did such an amazing drawing with her mouth. The amazement did not stop there. That was just the tip of the iceberg, and the rest, as they say, is history....