The Secret of Clouds by Alyson Richman

THE SECRET OF CLOUDS by Alyson Richman is, in her words, “first and foremost a love letter to all the teachers I’ve had in my life who contributed to making me the writer I am today.” The main character is Maggie, a young teacher who tutors a homebound and sensitive student, Yuri. Maggie talks about her own passion for teaching: “the thrill of teaching children is that they don’t edit themselves, like adults do. … Deep down I believed that a story could change us, and that if we read it deeply enough, a good book could transform our souls.”  She later remarks, “I looked for clues in every one of my students’ work. … What I believed more than anything was that having something in your life that you loved deeply sustained you.” And Maggie and Yuri bond over his love of baseball. In fact, this book speaks quite a bit about love – like “food is love” when Maggie and her Mom reflect on the family traditions and stories. Another example is Yuri’s parents, Katya and Sasha, who “loved him with so much ferocity that it sometimes felt like a sharp shooting pain in his [Sasha’s] heart.”  Overall, THE SECRET OF CLOUDS is a gentle read, quietly underlining the impact which students and teachers can have on each other.