6
FEBRUARY 2�9, 2022
FROM THE SHELF
CHECKING OUT THE
WORLD OF BOOKS
‘The Ambassador of Nowhere Texas’
By Lisa Britton
Go! Magazine
I
know I shouldn’t judge a book
by the cover.
But covers are becoming
more colorful and creative
every day, and I admit that it’s
often the cover art that draws
me to a book.
Especially in the kids section
of the Baker County Public
Library.
That’s where I found the
2021 novel “The Ambassador
of Nowhere Texas” by Kimberly
Willis Holt.
Aside from the cover, it was
the dedication that grabbed
me: “To the children of 9/11.”
At that same time my son
Max, who’s 10, was reading
“Ground Zero” by Alan Gratz,
so we’d been talking about the
events of Sept. 11, 2001.
“The Ambassador of No-
where Texas” follows the story
of Rylee, who is about to start
seventh grade in Antler, Texas,
in the fall of 2001. Her best
friend, Twig, is on vacation in
Spain and won’t be there for
the fi rst few weeks of school.
Anyone who has faced
starting a new school without
their best friend can probably
identify with how Rylee was
feeling. But she survives the
fi rst few weeks, and anticipates
the return of her friend.
Then Sept. 11 dawns. She’s
sitting in her fi rst class when
all the teachers are called to
the offi ce. Her teacher returns,
and tells the class that planes
had hit the World Trade Center
Towers in New York. Then she
turns on the TV.
As Rylee describes what
she saw, I couldn’t help but
remember where I was that day,
watching the scenes play out
on television. I was a senior at
Boise State University, and I sat
in silence with my roommate as
we watched the news coverage.
Twig comes home days late,
delayed by the cancellations of
fl ights and increased security.
She seems changed some-
how, and soon the two girls
drift apart.
Rylee fi nds herself mourning
the lost friendship and trying to
fi nd her place in life without her
best friend.
Then Joe moves in next
door with his mom.
He’s not impressed with this
small Texas town that he calls
Nowhere, but Rylee is deter-
mined to make him see its good
points by being a tour guide.
It takes awhile, but Rylee
learns that Joe and his mom
moved from New York City just
after 9/11. And she fi nds out
why his dad, a fi refi ghter, didn’t
come with them.
Let me pause here to say
I don’t remember crying over
books when I was a kid. Maybe
it’s because 9/11 is still so
fresh, even 20 years later, but
this story made me cry. Mul-
tiple times.
It is a sweet story of navigat-
ing childhood and friendships,
all in the midst of a very real
chapter in our nation’s history.
And I was reminded, as the
story of Rylee and Joe played
out, how friends — both old
and new — are so essential to
this life, especially when the
world seems broken.
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Lisa Britton/Go! Magazine
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