Forget Family...Which MG Characters Would You Invite To Your Holiday Feast?

❓❓❓❓❓❓❓❓

Headless turkeys, ill-fitting pants, family estrangement due to polarized political viewpoints and, er…feelings of gratitude all point to the lard-laden holiday of Thanksgiving which will soon be upon us here in the States.

Living hundreds of miles from our nearest relatives has meant that my family is either traveling on some of the busiest, craziest, kerfuffliest days of the year with a 97.5% percent change of getting stranded in an airport overnight…OR opting to spend a quiet day of thanks hunkered down at home with our small crew of six.

We lean towards hunkering. 

After years of celebrating with our large, extended family, we’ve found the positive side of these lonely-ish holiday observances is the lack of bodily injury and/or need for noise cancelling headphones. On the downside, we miss the energy and camaraderie of these domestic get-togethers, as well as the lively and eclectic discussions that only seem to occur when people are forced together in a small space with large quantities of food, alcohol and fire code violations at hand.

Though my family will once again be on our own this year, I thought it would be fun to conjure a Thanksgiving gathering of all my favorite middle grade book characters in the absence of my blood-related characters. I mean, who needs real live people when you can live in a fictitious world created solely in the mind of another writer’s outrageously warped imagination!* See? Fun! (And not crazy at all!) 

So, please visualize the toasty glow of a fire in the hearth, the smell of rosemary and thyme wafting from the oven, and the repeated BANG!!! of semi-permanent disfiguring spells breaking through the silence as you ponder my Thanksgiving Day (dream) guest list (table for 10):

• Matthew Cuthbert sits at the head of the table next to a trough of brown sugar, while attempting to transfer his calm, loving energy to the motley bunch surrounding him. (Spoiler: He will fail. And now I'm sobbing, because...Matthew!!!) 
• Harry Potter is sitting closest to the cupboard looking alternatingly thoughtful and bemused, while practicing his Expelliarmus spell on...
• Percy Jackson who continuously siphons water from the kitchen sink to both douse Harry in retaliation AND refresh the water goblets while...
• Farley Drexel (Fudge) Hatcher whimpers next to Percy, because he needs some Pepto Bismol after the turtle he ate this morning, but...
• Stanley Yelnats is chastising Fudge for being a wimp, teasing, "Eat it or wear it!" because the soggy old onions Stanley ate were so, so much worse and--BAM BAM BUM...
• Steven Alper cuts Stanley off from his sorry-for-himself tirade by playing a righteous drum solo on the gravy boat, while...
• Meg Murry mulls over the stupidity of boys and her frizzy hair as she watches...
• Sunny Baudelaire gnaw on the leg of the mahogany table in vegan protest of the soul-killing meal, while
• Hermione Granger gives a speech on the "Rights of House Elves" (as they lovingly labor over the Thanksgiving Feast) next to...
• Raina who is adjusting her headgear, so she can actually fit something bigger than a cranberry into her mouth, and...
• I...have been relegated to the kiddie card table in the sub-zero front entryway.

Ahh...can't you just feel the passive-aggressive tension colliding in the air above stomachs that have been stuffed to five times their capacity?! In other words, the perfect Thanksgiving feast. 

~Amanda

***

Thankful Despite Doubt

Tis the season to think about all the things we're thankful for. But what about when things aren't so hot?

Sometimes the holidays become a time to realize how little we've achieved, especially when we're looking at others who have amazing things to be thankful for. People who have achieved the things we're just dreaming about.

Sure, we all try to be thankful. There's always something to be thankful for, but it can be tough not to be bitter when you're thankful for still breathing and the person next to you is thanking God for winning the lottery.

It's okay to feel that twinge, so long as you don't let it take over.

Us writers are often just living on faith. Faith that all our hard work won't be for nothing. Faith that we are good enough, or will become "good enough" with some more hard work. But we're not alone. Anyone with a dream not yet fulfilled is in this same boat. Hoping and praying and believing and... doubting.

The world is a scary place for those with dreams.

So there is one thing I'd like to share with all of my amazing dreamer friends (whether I know you or not).

Faith, and believing in yourself, isn't about knowing everything will be okay. It isn't about making a plan and expecting everything to fall into place. It's not about believing the dream will come easy, or without pain.

Faith is knowing that even if bad things happen (they will,) even when things don't turn out how we expect (they won't,) that some day, some how, some way, you will achieve your dream. You just have to keep moving forward.

Those with dreams will fail.

Those with faith with keep moving despite the failure.

Faith is getting up, dusting yourself off and moving forward even when you can't see where you're going.

Just as courage isn't the absence of fear, faith isn't the absence of doubt, and it certainly isn't the absence of failure.

The future is a scary blank page, and the only way to find out where it leads is to keep going.

That's all it takes. You don't have to be unfailingly positive. You just have to never, ever, give up.