Somebody Loves You, Mr. Hatch

Somebody Loves You, Mr. Hatch by Eileen Spinelli is a treasure of a book. Mr. Hatch lives a solitary and repetitive existence, completing the same blah routine daily and having no meaningful connections with other people. One day he unexpectedly receives a huge heart box filled with candy and the note "Somebody Loves You." Subsequently, Mr. Hatch becomes a markedly different person: reaching out to others, helping others in need, and doing little things to bring joy to others (like baking brownies for the entire neighborhood). His entire countenance is different, and those around him are delighted.

In time, the mail carrier returns and sadly admits that the heart box was delivered to Mr. Hatch by mistake. Mr. Hatch is understandably disappointed and heartbroken and, feeling that his transformation was empty because no one loved him after all, he returns to his old blah self and his old routine.

In the end, the people whose lives he touched recognize that they love him and decide to show him in a major way. So somebody does love Mr. Hatch after all.

I think we can all relate to Mr. Hatch on some level, and this book has so many wonderful aspects that it's hard to know where to begin describing them. My favorite, though, is that one act of love tends to lead to another and also tends to give one a sense of purpose, of lightness, of connection with others that warms the heart and soul.