The Night Gardener

Hester shook her head. "Don't confuse what you do with who you are, dearie. Besides, there's no shame in humble work. Why, Aesop himself, the king of storytellers, was a slave his whole life. Never drew a free breath, yet he shaped the world with just three small words: there once was. And where are his great masters now, hmm? Rotting in tombs, if they're lucky. But Aesop he still lives to this day, dancin' on the tip of every tongue what's ever told a tale." She winked at Molly. "Think on that, next time you're scrubbing floors."

From The Night Gardener by Jonathan Auxier 2014. Published by Puffin.