Reasons to Be Happy

You know what else I realized later, after we finally left the parties where Dad had to put in an appearance, and met up with Izzy and Modesta back at Jasper’s house? I didn’t need my list anymore either.

Oh, don’t get me wrong. I’m not throwing it away. It’s a wonderful reminder of all I have to be grateful for. But as I stood there, overflowing with happiness, accepting a kiss from my smart, funny boyfriend, I knew there were too many reasons to write down.

Having a tribe of good family and friends

Helping someone

Accepting help yourself

Forgiving someone

Forgiving yourself

Someone snapped a picture of me with Jasper. Feeling beautiful.

So, so many reasons right here in this room.

Buttered popcorn

Theme parties

Jasper’s big fat cat Jazz

The Parmesan-artichoke dip Jasper’s mom makes

Putting on a pair of cozy jeans after being dressed up too long

Sitting with a bunch of friends snuggled on a couch with your legs all entwined

But the most important one? Knowing who you are.

“Hey, we should make a toast!” I called. I raised my Sprite. “In Modesta’s beautiful words, here’s to ‘leading our world into a better place.’”

Making a difference.

Have I put Kissing on my list?

Let’s not forget kissing.





1. Swimming with dolphins

2. Outrunning a forest fire

3. A hot air balloon ride

4. Seeing a shark fin while surfing but making it back to the shore intact

5. Hiking by moonlight

6. Making lists

7. Jumping on a trampoline in the rain

8. Ghost stories

9. Painting your toenails

10. Winning a race

11. Dark chocolate melting in your mouth

12. Pad Thai so spicy hot it makes your nose run

13. The way frosted grass crunches under your feet

14. Big wool sweaters

15. Exploring attics and basements

16. Fang-like icicles that make whole houses look like monster mouths

17. The way a knitted scarf gets crusty with ice when you breathe through it while you’re sledding

18. Making snow angels

19. The Styrofoam squeak your shoes make on really cold snow

20. The smell of Band-Aids

21. Cat purr vibrating through your skin

22. Hiking with Dad up on Arroyo Seco and seeing a mountain lion at dusk

23. Vampires

24. Playing with the rubbery residue after you let glue dry on your fingers

25. Running my hands through a barrel of beads

26. The way your skin smells when you’ve been in the sun

27. Pirates

28. Aunt Izzy’s purple house

29. An ice cream cone on a really hot day

30. Ice cold milk and Oreo cookies

31. Rainbows

32. Naps just because you have time to take them

33. Tandem bikes

34. Postcards from friends in cool places

35. Beach glass

36. Orange bougainvillea

37. Really great thrift stores

38. Chocolate-dipped strawberries

39. Rock climbing

40. The way ducks sound like they’re chuckling

41. The scent of vanilla

42. Revenge movies

43. The word “peevish” (I just like it)

44. Manatees

45. The way patriotic marches played by whole orchestras make me feel like I’m going to cry

46. Flannel sheets

47. Wearing pajamas to school

48. The word “serendipity”

49. Finding surprise stuff inside boxes at yard sales

50. Cashmere against your skin

51. Sleeping in on rainy mornings

52. Real whipping cream

53. Silly Putty

54. Slinkies

55. Hammocks

56. Running hurdles when you hit your stride just right

57. Icing sugar cookies

58. Lemon meringue pie

59. Gnawing on buttery crab legs, feeling like a real carnivore

60. Catching a fish

61. Old-fashioned keys (and wondering what they open)

62. Sun through stained glass windows

63. Blowing soap bubbles

64. Blowing bubblegum bubbles

65. Those great vivid first seconds of a brand new piece of bubblegum

66. Finally seeing a trailer for a movie you’ve been waiting for

67. That screeching sound of packing tape

68. Dogs wearing sweaters

69. Finger painting (especially when you know you’re “too old” to be doing it)

70. The smell of Play-Doh

71. Sand under your bare feet

72. Seeing a shooting star

73. Riding the front car of a roller coaster

74. Raw cookie dough

75. Glitter

76. Watching documentaries

77. Root beer floats

78. The smell of crayons

79. Blowing out birthday candles

80. Extra stuff after the credits at the movies

81. Those cool old-fashioned diaries with locks and keys

82. Popping bubble wrap

83. Autumn leaves changing color

84. Haunted houses

85. Making jack-o’-lanterns

86. Trick-or-treating

87. Wearing a costume

88. The scuttle sound autumn leaves make on the sidewalk

89. Getting yourself all freaked out after a scary movie

90. Warm, fluffy towels straight out of the dryer

91. The skin on top of pudding

92. That smell when the first drops of rain hit concrete

93. Dancing like an idiot when no one is watching

94. Cinnamon and sugar on butter-soggy toast

95. Rubbing velvet the wrong way

96. Remembering dreams

97. Playing hooky with Mom

98. Catching a snowflake on your tongue

99. Laughing so hard you cry

100. Lambs

101. The sound of water lapping on the shore

102. The way Mom gave me butterfly kisses with her eyelashes when I was little

103. That lemon meringue lotion she used, so she always smelled like dessert

104. The way she called me beautiful

105. The way she’d actually listen

106. Mom’s smile when I walked into the room

107. The way she called me Hannah Banana

108. The look on her face the times I watched her studying my cities when she didn’t know I was looking

109. Our beach glass door frame in moonlight

110. Mom’s dorky birthday poems

111. The way Mom sang off-key to the car radio

112. The way Mom always smiled and never rushed her fans when they approached her

113. Dreams where my mom is still alive and healthy

114. BLUE ICING!

115. Being safe

116. Having a home

117. Never having been physically harmed by anyone

118. Having my entire body intact

119. The sounds of the rain forest at night

120. Fresh, hot (from the sun) pineapple out of the shell

121. Friends you can trust

122. Children singing in another language

123. Doing something you haven’t done in a really long time that you’ve really missed

124. Having more than you need

125. Seeing an elephant (not in a zoo)

126. Drum music

127. Weaver birds

128. That mouthwatering, stomach-growling aroma of grilling meat

129. Kissing

130. Perfect, unique, special personal gifts

131. A good run when you feel like you’re floating

132. Being in love

133. Kissing

134. Finding a live starfish and tossing it back in the water before it’s too late

135. Watching Dad bake fresh bread

136. The aroma of rosemary

137. Finding money you forgot about in your coat pocket

138. Sprinkles Cupcakes in Beverly Hills

139. Sun-dried laundry

140. The cool side of the pillow

141. Snapdragons

142. Girl Scout cookies

143. Spending hours in a book store

144. Receiving handwritten, personal mail

145. Receiving handwritten, personal mail from a foreign country

146. Sunday morning waffles

147. Fun jitters on race days

148. Hiking in the rain

149. Sleeping under the stars

150. Picnics

151. Polka dots

152. The smell of leather

153. Working your butt off for a test, then acing it

154. Cute videos of kittens when you’re having a stressful day

155. Fireworks

156. When your favorite song comes on in the car

157. White water rafting

158. Building sand castles

159. Indian food

160. Learning to make Indian food yourself

161. Learning a foreign language

162. The sound of anyone speaking Italian

163. Making homemade ice cream

164. Dr. Seuss

165. Cool museums

166. Splashing in puddles

167. Field trips from school!

168. Really good hair days

169. Beating your personal best in track

170. Sitting in a hot tub after running

171. Full body massages

172. Pumpkin pie

173. Roasting marshmallows over a campfire

174. Old photo albums

175. Puppies

176. The aroma of coffee

177. Hot cocoa with little marshmallows

178. Watching old black-and-white movies

179. Cotton candy

180. Ferris wheels

181. Henna tattoos

182. Finding a four-leaf clover

183. Love letters

184. Feeling strong

185. Trapeze artists

186. Homemade Valentines

187. Eating with chopsticks

188. Sushi

189. Wasabi

190. Holding Sean and Laila’s newborn baby

191. The sound of a baby laughing

192. The sound of my father laughing

193. Watching the Olympics

194. The thick, sweet syrup at the bottom of a Sno-Cone

195. Eating peanuts at a baseball game

196. Jasper’s music

197. Good movie versions of your favorite books

198. When dewdrops hang on spider webs and look like diamonds

199. New Year’s resolutions

200. A kiss at midnight on New Year’s Eve

201. Fog

202. People-watching in airports

203. People-watching at zoos

204. That sweet anticipation waiting to see someone you love in an airport

Having a tribe of good family and friends

Helping someone

Accepting help yourself

Forgiving someone

Forgiving yourself

Feeling beautiful

Buttered popcorn

Theme parties

Jasper’s big fat cat Jazz

The Parmesan-artichoke dip Jasper’s mom makes

Putting on a pair of cozy jeans after being dressed up too long

Sitting with a bunch of friends snuggled on a couch with your legs all entwined

Making a difference

Kissing





My Reasons to Be Grateful (in no particular order):

1. My wonderful parents, Butch and Beverly Kittle, for instilling in me a love of reading, words, and books.

2. My supportive sister Monica, her husband Rick, and my smart, funny niece and nephew. Amy and Nathan never cease to amaze and inspire me with their creativity.

3. Lisa Bankoff, the best agent an author could ever dream of having. She has enriched my life in many ways beyond our professional relationship and introduced me to a new reason to be happy: heated mattress covers. (Life changing!)

4. Daniel Kirschen and Tina Wexler, also at ICM, for their expertise and efforts on my behalf.

5. Rebecca Frazer, dream editor, at Sourcebooks Jabberwocky; thank you for your passion and belief in Hannah and her world.

6. Todd Stocke, Aubrey Poole, Kristin Zelazko, Kelly Barrales-Saylor, Gretchen Stelter, and so many others in my Sourcebooks family, for your loving shepherding of this book into the world.

7. Dr. Diana G. Ackerly, who helped me understand bulimia and its treatment.

8. Bill Glisson (best boss I ever had), then principal of the Miami Valley Middle School, who let me travel with him and eight students for three weeks in Ghana that altered my life.

9. Sharyn November, editor extraordinaire, who wrote to me after reading The Kindness of Strangers, asking if I’d ever considered writing for a younger audience because she loved Jordan’s and Nate’s voices. At the time, I hadn’t. This is all your fault. :-)

10. All of my former students at Centerville High School and the Miami Valley School, for challenging me, inspiring me, and teaching me as much as I ever taught you. I’d like to especially thank the MVS students who participated in the daily “Reasons to Be Happy” list on my whiteboard. You’ll find many of your contributions in this book. Special love and thanks to Ellen, Libbi, and Claire.

11. Brooklyn, where I lived while writing this book. Beloved borough, you too altered my life.

12. Rachel Moulton, amazing friend and writer, first and last reader of all manuscripts. Thank you for believing in this story when I had stopped. And for the rock story. And for all the lattes. And for seeing some reeeeally bad movies with me and still calling me friend.

13. The Antioch Writers’ Workshop, for over a decade now of inspiration and community.

14. Culture Works, for two sustaining individual artist fellowships.

15. My incredible tribe of family—aunts, uncles, cousins, Nana—and cherished friends, both near and far. I am lucky.





Katrina Kittle’s reasons to be happy include:

1. her overflowing garden in Dayton, Ohio,

2. her fat cat, Joey,

3. coffee,

4. dark chocolate,

5. zombie movies, and

6. starting every morning in her writing office, doing what she loves most

She once had a goat under her bed in Ghana. She is the author of four other novels. You can visit her website at www.katrinakittle.com.