Judging from the landslide of emails I received (both of them) after my recent outburst making for of the government for, more or less, outlawing children's books, I received the nicest email from a very famous best-selling author of books for young adults, T.A. Barron. If you aren't familiar with Mr. Barron, I'll let his website explain it all to you: The most likeable author in the world?
As for me, I greatly admire the man, have met him twice and find him even more personable in person, that is, person to person personable, that it lead me to cite his works in my previous blogs. Here's what he wrote in reply:
"Dear Bill the Book Guy,
This message out of the blue (actually, out of cyberspace, whatever color that may be) is to thank you for defending children’s passion for reading. It’s alive and well! That was true when you saw my event at the Southern Festival of Books (one of my favorite book festivals). And it’s still true today — to which I can testify after a book tour in 21 states last fall (for my new young adult novel, Merlin’s Dragon).
If we storytellers can craft tales that are exciting, funny, and deep enough — kids will read them. That is certain. Sure, there is more competition for young people’s attention today than ever before. We must be as visual as Google Earth, as rich as the Internet, as fun as a video game, and as fast as an action film. But if we do those things, we have something that no other medium possesses: the depth, meaning, metaphor, subtlety, and multiple points of view that we cherish in books.
Hope to see you again someday in Memphis!
Best wishes,
T. A. Barron"
Wowzer! Thanks again to Mr. Barron for allowing me to repost that. And here you thought your subscription fee (zero) was wasted.
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