A wrinkle in time

She was one of my first favorite authors, and remains at the top of my list. What a mind! She made me feel smart + gave me my first look at the universe as full of wonderful and mind-blowing possibilities.

I'll have to dig out some of my old books...

Edited to add:

The chapter titles of "A Swiftly Tilting Planet", strung together, are the words to a medieval prayer:

In this fateful hour,

I place all Heaven with its power,

And the sun with its brightness,

And the snow with its whiteness,

And the fire with all the strength it hath,

And the lightning with its rapid wrath,

And the winds with their swiftness along their path,

And the sea with its deepness,

And the rocks with their steepness,

And the earth with its starkness:

All these I place,

Between myself and the powers of darkness!

"In my dreams, I never have an age," she said. "I never write for any age group in mind. When people do, they tend to be tolerant and condescending and they don't write as well as they can write.

"When you underestimate your audience, you're cutting yourself off from your best work."

-Madeleine L'Engle