Harry Potter and Fan Mail

The final Harry Potter was birthed this summer. We were lucky enough to be Salzburg that fateful weekend when JK Rowling was released in the millions for one last time. We popped into a bookshop and bought it from the stack at the counter. We pushed and shoved one another just to share the authentic feel of those buying the book in the English speaking world. We did not camp out. We did not wake up early. We bought the book and went to a beautiful garden around the corner from the Mozart conservatory of music. My thirteen year old sat in the middle of the others and myself and he read to us. He read for an hour until he was thirsty and we got up to find some bottled water.
    It was the loveliest Harry Potter hour I had had in years, in two books worth of hours. All who read it, in my family, declared it a comeback, a return from overwriting, from unnecessary pages.
    When we were in Lakeville, Connecticut in August, we basked in the beauty of the Scolville Library. After burning through a load of good books, I decided that we ought to write some fan letters. There are some excellent children's writers who must have been burning with annoyance this summer, when Harry Potter was the only thing on the menu. So, we wrote letter to the likes of Jenny Nimmo and Nancy Farmer, just to give them a boost.
    It is not too late. Write to your favourite authors and remind them not to give up yet.