The Hope pioneer., 1922-03-23
PREFACE
-
Which Explain. Thinus

Fatner calls me Mary. Mother calls
me Marie. Everybody else calls me
Mary Marie. The rest of my name is
Anderson.
I'm thirteen years old, and I'm q
cross-current and a contradiction. That
is Sarah says I'm that. (Sarah is my
old nurse.) She says she read it once
that the children Of unlikes were al
ways a cross-current and q contradic-
ton. And my father and mother are
unlikes, and I'm the children. That
is, Tn the child. Tn all there is. And
now I'm going to be bigger cross
current and contradiction than ever,
for I'm going to live half the time with
Mother and the other half with Father.
Mother will go to Boston t. live, and
Father will stay here-a divorce, you
know.
I'm terribly excited over II. None of
the other girls have got a divorce in
their families, and always did like to
be different. Besides. it ought to be
awfully interesting, more so than just
living along, common, with your father
and neither in the same house all the.
time-especialiy If it's been anything
like my house with Ivy father and
mother in it!
That's why I've decided to make a
book Of it-that is. it really will be
book, only l. shall have to call it
diary, on account ef Father, you know.
Won't it be funny when don't have to
do things on account of Father? And
nf no CT he
living with Mother in Boston. But,
oh, my the six months I'm living
here with him-whew! But, then, l
can stand it. l may even like it
some. Anyhow, it'll be different. And
that's something.
Well. about making this into book.
AS l started to say, he wouldn't let
me. l know he wouldn't. He says
novels are a silly waste of time. If not
absolutely wicked. But, diary-oh,
he loves diaries. He keeps one him
self, and he told me it would be an ex-
celient and instructive discipline for
me to do 1t, too-set down the weather
and what did every day.
The weather and what I did every
day, indeed! Lovely reading that
would make. wouldn't it? Like this:
1.-THE sun shines this morning. 1
got up, ate my breakfast, went to
scheel, came home, ate my dinner,
played one hour over to Carrie Hey
woods, practieed on the piano one
hour, studied another hour Talked
with Mother upstairs in her room about
md f4,a fIn
Ate my supper. Was talked to by
Father down in the library about i'm
proving myself and taking care not to
be light-minded and frivolous. (He
meant like Mother, only he didn't say
it right out loud. You don't have to
say some things right out In plain
words, you know.) Then went to bed"
Just as If was going to write my
novel like that! Not much I am. But
shall call it diary. Oh, yes. shall
call it a diary-tili take 1t to be
printed. Then l shall give it its true
nalae-a novel. And I'm going to tell
the printer that I've left 1t to him to
make the spelling right, and put in all
those tiresome little commas and
periods and question marks that every
body seems to make such a fuss about.
III write the story part, can't be ex-
pected to be bothered with looking up
how words are spelt, every five min
utes, nor fussing over putting In a
whole lot of foolish little dots and
dashes.
AS If anybody who was reading the
story cared for that part! The story's
the thing.
love stories. I've written lots of
them for the girls. too-litlle short
ones, I.mean; not long one like this
is going to be, of course. And It'll
be so exciting to be living story in
stead of reading it-only when you're
living a story you can't peek over to
the back to see how It's all coming out.
shun't like that part. Still, it may be
all the more exciting after all. Dot -
know what's coming.
like love stories the hest. Fathers
got-oh, lots of books In the library,
and I've read stacks of them. even
some of the stupid old histories and