I can't breathe through my nose! I have not had a flu/cold like this since I lived up North. One visit to the Midwest in almost 10 years and I come home sick. Oh well, just one more reminder of why when I moved to Texas in the early 90s I decided that I never wanted to go back up North to live.

There was a pretty ratty looking sailboat docked at the wharf in Charlotte Amalie and it made me think of Jack Gantos' autobiography Hole in My Life. That and the smell of pot floating through the window the other day. There is still a lot of hashish and other drugs on this island and a fair amount of smuggling going on. Steve was talking to a couple of Coast Guard officers the other day who were waiting for a drug runner to reach the right latitude so they could pick him up. I can imagine how easy it must have seemed to a 17 year-old kid to sail to NY from the VI with a cargo of drugs and make big money doing it.

Gantos is one of those authors who writes for all ages, which can make it difficult for book selectors. Woe is me to the librarian or parent who purchases Hole in My Life for their middle schooler who loved the Joey Pigza books. Gantos' autobiography about his time in prison is not a pretty read, but it is one that teens who think they are invincible should read. Gantos didn't think he was going to get caught until he did. Reminds me a bit of Walter Dean Myers' Monster with a highly intelligent young adult who gets involved in something he shouldn't have because he just didn't think. Thank goodness Gantos got it together and became the writer he knew he could be or we wouldn't have delightful Rotten Ralph to read to our young kids or his great middle school age titles. But, Hole in My Life stands as my favorite Gantos book.

The cough medicine is kicking in and I am getting sleepy so I think I will go curl up with a book and read for a bit.