I really enjoyed reading The Book of Story Beginnings by Kristin Kladstrup. It had many of the conventions of children’s literature that I like–adventure, time travel, likeable kids fighting tyrannical adults. But I got most excited about the book’s theme: that the stories we tell ourselves determine the choices we make.

The plot revolves around a magical book called The Book of Story Beginnings into which the children write their own story beginnings. The story beginnings take on a life of their own, becoming real and pulling the children into living (thus creating) the middle and end of their stories.

I won’t give away more of the story, but suffice it to say that, as the author of a couple of unfinished novels, I could relate to the struggling protagonists who lose themselves in their story and try to find their way to a satisfying ending.