“Between the Lighthouse and You” is our very own Dr. Michelle Lee’s debut novel, published January 11, 2022. This is a magical middle-grade novel about a town that receives messages from the dead, and it is about a young girl and boy who connect by reaching out to their lost loved ones and, through their grief, form an unlikely friendship. Dr. Lee brings us with her into a world based on the simple thought of “what if?”
Dr. Lee has been an English professor at DSC for 13 years. She believes that “Reading student writing is always helping me keep the reader a forefront in my mind.” Hearing the way her students and others talk, reading the way they write, and talking with them informs her own writing. As a professor, she has learned that with our world changing and affecting us all, it is better to keep some things the same. It is, however, good to constantly change your approach as well. She does not let all these changes get to her, as English department chair Richard Vollaro can attest. “Dr. Lee is a gracious colleague who provides positive energy to the department,” Vollaro said.
Dr. Lee got the idea of this book by walking along the beach one day and wondering about the idea of how people would react to getting a letter from someone who had passed away. This was just the beginning of the story. Instead of focusing on the religious part of it, she chooses to leave it up to the reader to imagine where these people are and how the letters are coming to them. With kids, rather than focusing on religious aspects, she chooses to look at more of the emotion that comes with loss. She believes the philosophical part of it might have been too heavy, so she decided to focus on action and reaction, one’s ability to react to something that is happening in the moment.
“My family laughs because there are little, tiny things in books that they always go, ‘Oh there it is, that’s us,’” said Dr. Lee. She likes to use a mixture of her family’s aspects in the book’s community and even the main character’s families share various characteristics with her husband, daughter, and herself.
This book is mainly about the main characters, Leo and Alice, but it shows their families being together through times of grief and joy. “I almost finished the whole book in one sitting; it’s that good,” said Dr. Heather Eaton, DSC professor of English. “This book reminds me of what is good and possible in the world. A great gift for kiddos and for anyone, adult or child, who loves a good story, a vivid setting, and smart characters.”
Dr. Lee will be leaving Daytona State College after this upcoming fall term to pursue her writing career. She already has a new book in the works that will be published in 2023, a book full of even more fun and magical moments. So, if you’re looking for your next read, don’t forget to check out “Between the Lighthouse and You” and keep on the lookout for her upcoming work.
Abigail Romeo
Staff photographer