Obsession??

Update September 1st, 2009

After I wrote this blog I also sent an email and link to this blog to the author. I have copied his reply so you can have a read. When I told the little one I got a email from Mr. Barcley she was so excited. I then mentioned to her he would be in Mississauga's literary festival and at Toronto's Word on the Street. If she wanted I would take her to one of them so she could see him and maybe meet even meet him! She had a big smile on her face and has now gone upstairs to figure out just what the perfect outfit would be for such an exciting event. Too Funny!

I must say, Carolin, of all the letters I've received this one is perhaps the most curious. If it's the edition I think it is, perhaps it's the sleeping girl on the cover that appeals to her. I've heard from children as young as 12 who have read and enjoyed the book, although I must say I hadn't intended it for that young an audience.
I will indeed be at Word on the Street. I'm in the Bestsellers Tent a little after noon, part of a panel on genre fiction. It would be my pleasure to meet your daughter.
Cheers
Linwood



All you out there with kids know how they can get fixated on something and they just wont let it go. Think about how much they bug you to buy a certain new cereal, or to go see a movie. When our kids are small and they have there attachments its cute. I can't count the number of times over the years our whole family has had to search the house for the little ones 'Teddy'. The most special possession (we thought) she had. But for the past 9 months or so the little one has had this massive obsession with a book. She sleeps with it, brings it to the dinner table, packs it when we go away, has taken it to school with her.

I know I should be thrilled she loves books. But its not like that, she enjoys having stories read to her like most kids her age. But this book she has never read, and I don't think she has any real plans to read it anytime soon. Let me give you a little background, last winter my Aunt Penny gave me a bag full of paperback books to read after she was done with them. This is a common thing lots of people do it. The bag sat on our laundry room for a few weeks till I could get around to going through it. On night after I had went through the books and picked the ones I wanted to read I had left a small pile by the door to give to away. The little one walked by and saw the pile of books and went through them, for what ever reason this one book stood out to her. She asked if she could have it and at the time I wasn't paying a lot of attention and said sure. That evening she brought it to bed and I asked her why she had the book, she said she wanted to read it. Again I didn't make much of it as I figured she would loose interest soon enough and forgot about it.


A few months later while at the little ones school, her teacher came up to me asking if I new that the little one was bringing this book to school and that she insisted on carrying it with her every where she went. I though it was kinda funny and told them I would talk to her but didn't think it was a big deal as she wasn't reading it.


After that I started to notice where ever she was the book was with her. Also as she did when she was much younger, she would not go to bed unless she had her Teddy and her book. One night I asked her to bring it into bed with us and we would read it together. I read the first two pages and then asked her what it was about. She said she didn't know, I then asked her why she carries the book with her everywhere? She just said because she liked it and when she grows up she wants to read it. We talked about not taking it to school anymore as it has become a bit of a distraction. She was OK with this but asked me if she could take it with her to other places. Which I said yes.

While we were in Port Stanley for the weekend, we went to the library there and she went to the computers. When I looked over to see what she was doing I noticed she had searched the authors website and was getting excited because he had a new book coming out. Since then that is all she talks about and keep asking me if she can have his other books for Christmas?

I bet by this time you are dying to know what the name of the book is that has captured my 9 year old interest. So I have attached a link to the authors website for you to have a look at http://www.linwoodbarclay.com/news.html. The name of the book is No Time for Goodbye and if you would like to read it don't go looking in the children's section of your local bookstore. You will need to go to the adult department and you should find it with all the other thrillers! I would love to give you a review but after reading the first two pages the book was to scary for me.

I wonder if Mr. Barclay ever thought his book would appeal to such a young audience. And would he be flattered to have a 9 year old little girl from the suburbs absolutely obsessed with his books or maybe a bit weirded out by it.