Sunrise, Sunset

So, I just recently discovered that Janan sent an e-mail to the author of a book she had just finished.  We got this book at the Tucson Festival of Books (probably Mama's favorite Tucson event & Janan's second - the Gem & Mineral Show is first, of course) & after she finished it she said, "Mom!  This is my 8th favorite book EVER!" (That would be right behind all 7 Harry Potters.)

The book is called The Dark Mirror by M. J. Putney.  It's getting to the point where Janan reads faster than I can pre-read anymore, so I can't tell you what this book is even really about though Janan tells me it's about "magic" (of course) and "time travel".  She thought the time travel part was really cool, since my favorite book of all time is about time travel as well.  

She often finds books she really enjoys, but I was surprised to find she had written this author.  What really took me aback, when she showed me the e-mail, was out well written the e-mail was and how grown up my "little girl" sounded!  Here's her e-mail:

Hi, my name is Janan and I'm eleven years old. I live in Arizona and found the Dark Mirror at the Festival of Books. For a long time it was sitting on the top of the pile of books I got from the festival. (The pile is still there but with one less book on it.) I LOVE to read but I'm the kind of person who wants to re-read instead of reading new things. When I finally re-read every book I could think of (Including the Harry Potter series for the thousandth time.) I made myself read the first book on the pile.(It happened to be the Dark Mirror.) I read it in two days. Now it's my eighth favorite book.(After the Harry Potter series wich have been my favorite books since second grade.) I find myself only ever reading this book. My favorite part is probably when Allarde gets shot and Tory has to save him. I know you wrote this book for young adults but I've always been ahead in reading.(e.g. In third grade my reading level was eighth grade.) I can't wait until September when the Dark Passage comes out. Thank you for writing this wonderful book.

Janan was bouncing off the walls when she received the response.  The author herself had written back!  This was not a form letter response, but an actual e-mail from the author:

Dear Janan--

 

Thanks so much for the great letter!  I am very, VERY honored to be on your list right after the Harry Potter books, which are fabulous.  Like you, I was an advanced reader, and to this day I love rereading favorite books, though I love great new books, too!  The third book in the series will be DARK DESTINY, probably out summer 2012. (Sorry it's a long wait, but it isn't written yet!)

 

Also, in case you haven't found it, I wrote a short story called "Fallen From Grace" about how Allarde got thrown out of Eton.   It's a free story that you can find on Amazon or Barnes and Noble, and also on this St. Martin's Press YA site:  http://wordsnstuff.net/?e69ec9a0  You've have to search the Wordsnstuff site since I couldn't find a URL for the story, but I just looked and it's there.

 

To love reading is one of life's great gifts, so happy reading always--

 

M. J. Putney

Since then, they've exchanged more e-mails.  Discussing their favorite parts of this book and others.  The thing that seemed to excite her the most was when the author began signing her e-mails with only her first name.  

My baby continues to grow up in front of my eyes & I couldn't be prouder.  

Here's a picture I found of her reading the book while we were having lunch at Chipotle one day.