Peering Through Life's Window

  A Warm Welcome to Carol Raj Carol shares the story behind Charlotte Masterson Gets A Life . I always loved books. When I was a child, the greatest punishment I ever got was my father taking away all my books until I earned them back, one by one, with good behavior. My favorite present was a book. But why did my relatives ruin the pristine pages by writing on them? “To Carol. Love, Aunt N and Uncle P.” At the time, it seemed desecration. Now, older and wiser, the books I keep from my childhood, I keep precisely because of those precious inscriptions. It seemed fitting that, after years as a stay-at-home mom, I took a job as a high school library assistant. I pictured myself leading wide-eyed readers to new favorites. But most of the students who came to the library were the disruptive ones the study hall teachers didn’t want to deal with. One girl wanted a book on state laws. What did she want to look up? Statutory rape. Her boyfriend was eighteen and she was only fifteen. Was it ...