It’s like in the great stories, Mr. Frodo. The ones that really mattered. Full of darkness and danger, they were. And sometimes you didn’t want to know the end. Because how could the end be happy? How could the world go back to the way it was when so much bad had happened?
But in the end, it’s only a passing thing, this shadow. Even darkness must pass. A new day will come. And when the sun shines it will shine out the clearer. Those were the stories that stayed with you. That meant something, even if you were too small to understand why. But I think, Mr. Frodo, I do understand. I know now. Folk in those stories had lots of chances of turning back, only they didn’t. They kept going. Because they were holding on to something.
Frodo: What are we holding onto, Sam?
Sam: That there’s some good in this world, Mr. Frodo… and it’s worth fighting for.” –Sam Gamgee (J.R.R. Tolkien), Lord of the Rings
As a bookish, introverted nerd, Sheila Ruth is probably the least likely person to become an activist, and yet she finds herself on the front lines of the local progressive & resistance movements as a leader and activist. She credits her newfound courage to fictional heroes like Meg Murry, Sam Gamgee (the real hero of LOTR), Harry Potter, and Katniss Everdeen, as well as real life heroes like Harriett Tubman, who has been an inspiration since Sheila first read about her in the fourth grade. Sheila is committed to helping to increase diversity in children’s and YA books, especially #OwnVoices books, so that all children can see themselves as heroes.