I am very, very lucky to get mail like this: (Im thinking of hiring him to write all my fan letters!) Dear Kenneth Oppel, This story begins when I was very young. I didnt care for reading. People who read books were boring; reading was for people who didnt have lives to live, to read was to be dead. I hated school book clubs and often didnt read the material. I never went to the school library. My father was a strong advocate of education and was always pushing me to strive for more. He made ludicrous selections of reading material, making me read books halfway through a series I hadnt read and even a book about surviving in an unstable economy--not exactly material meant for a child. The effect was the opposite of what he anticipated; it made me like reading even less. But, eventually, during a class visit to the school library, something caught my eye: Silverwing, an adventure about a bat who becomes a hero. Being a huge bat fan at the time, I decided to put aside my dislike of books and take a chance. I believe that was one of the most important moments in my life. I know what youre thinking, “So a kid who didnt like reading read a book. Whats the big deal?” The moment I read the first word of Silverwing, a whole new world opened up to me. Not only the world in which the story takes place, but also the world of reading. A wise man once said the journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step, Silverwing was my first step. I guess the reason why I wrote this letter is because I wanted to thank you for letting me see a book as a magical escape, rather than an assignment or chore, for letting me delve into a world I might not have discovered without your help. You let me see through the eyes of another, to feel the joy, sadness and rage of someone other than myself. You helped to make reading part of who I am. George R.R. Martin once said “A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies . . . The man who never reads lives only one.” I want to thank you for letting me live a thousand lives.
Posted on: Thu, 22 Jan 2015 01:15:01 +0000
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