July 4, 2026

Summer Reading: Monkey Beach

“The day promised to be a scorcher, but out on the ocean with the spray cooling my face and the wind drying it away, the heat was bearable. I wished summer would never end. I wished I could do this all year and never have to go back to school. I wished I could pick berries and go fishing with Ma-ma-oo and spend all my days wandering.” —Monkey Beach

For my first Summer Reading essay of the season—during a week in which all days were scorchers—I wrote about rereading Monkey Beach—such a fantastic novel. Paid subscribers can read it here!