Calling all authors, illustrators, and jacks-of-all-trades: we need your help

On February 5, 2008, a terrible tragedy struck when a tornado swept through central Arkansas. Among those killed by the tornado were a beautiful 10-year-old girl named Emmy Grace Cherry, along with both of her parents, Dana and Jimmy. Emmy was a sweet, caring girl who loved animals and books, and wanted to be either an astronomer or a veterinarian. Her favorite author was Erin Hunter, author of the Warriors series. (Erin Hunter is a pen name for a team of writers who write the Warriors books: Victoria Holmes, Kate Cary, Cherith Baldry, and the newest Erin, Tui Sutherland. )



Lynn Wiman, owner of neighborhood bookstore Vintage Books, knew Emmy as a friend and frequent customer in the store. Lynn wanted to do something special to honor Emmy's memory, so she wrote to HarperCollins hoping to be able to get an autographed copy of one of the books for Emmy's school.

Lynn's letter kicked off a chain of events, as person after person who heard the story was touched by it. The Erins donated not only one book, but an entire set of books. I was contacted by Erin Hunter because they know that my online community has many Warriors fans, and they asked if I would consider posting something. I, too, was touched by Emmy's story, and gladly agreed to post something.

When I posted about the tragedy on my fan community, there was an outpouring of grief and condolences. Fans of the Warriors series gave Emmy the Warrior name Brightspirit, and they named Emmy's mother Dana, Shiningheart, and father Jimmy, Braveheart. Erin Hunter announced that she would include Brightspirit, Shiningheart, and Braveheart in a cameo appearance in Long Shadows, a forthcoming book in the Warriors: Power of Three series.

Emmy's surviving family, including grandmothers Elaine and Kay, were touched by this outpouring of love, and wanted to do something to bring some good into the world as a result of the tragedy. Thus, the Brightspirit Relief Fund was born. The Brightspirit Relief Fund will be raising money to help causes that would have been important to Emmy, including tornado relief, animal organizations, and literacy.

The Brightspirit Relief Fund will be holding an online auction to raise money for these causes. The showpiece of the auction is a complete set of the six books in the first Warriors series, signed by all three original "Erins" using their real names. This is the first time that any Warriors book has been autographed by Kate Cary, Cherith Baldry, and Victoria Holmes using their real names, and we expect this set to draw a lot of interest. A variety of other items have been donated so far by Erin Hunter and other authors, ranging from autographed books to personal items to signed pictures of the authors cats.

That's where you come in. The fund has some great items for the auction already, but more items would not only raise more money, but would also make the auction more interesting and bring more attention to it, and to the Brightspirit Relief Fund. We're hoping that more authors and illustrators will be willing to donate items for the auction, to help raise the profile of the auction and raise more money. If you are an author or illustrator reading this blog, please consider donating something: signed books, artwork, or anything else that would be of interest to your fans. Unique and interesting items would be especially valued.

If you aren't an author or illustrator, won't you consider donating something to help Emmy's causes as well? Any donation that people would be interested in bidding on would be welcome. Donations don't even have to be tangible items; if you provide specialized services, perhaps you could offer your services to the winning bidder? (I'd bid on someone to help me unclutter my house!) You can specify in your donation description that you will only provide the service within a certain geographic area.

The auction will be launched on September 20, at a special Warriors day in Russellville, Arkansas. Victoria Holmes herself will be the guest of honor at the Warriors day, and we expect this to be a high profile event. If you would like to donate something to the auction, please email me at sruth@wandsandworlds.com

If you don't have anything to donate to the auction, you could also donate new or gently used books to be given out to children at the Warriors day. Lynn Wiman and Emmy's family hope to encourage literacy by giving a book to every child who attends the Warriors day. This is a great opportunity to clear out any extra books you have, or you could buy a new book to donate. Books donated to be given out at Warriors day can be sent to:

Vintage Books
602 E Parkway
Russellville, AR 72801

Finally, I wanted to add a personal note to say how much this means to me. When I first read about Emmy, I cried buckets of tears. I've cried many more tears throughout this whole process, as I've been touched not only by Emmy's story, but by her family and friends, who are all, without exception, wonderful people. I hope that anyone reading this will consider donating something, small or large, to the auction to help literacy, animal organizations, and tornado relief, or sending books to be given out to the children at Warriors Day. Please email me at sruth@wandsandworlds.com with any donations for the auction.

I'd really appreciate it if any bloggers reading this would consider helping me spread the word.

For more information:

Brightspirit Relief Fund web site

My original tribute to Emmy, and the response from the fans

A message from Emmy's family, and one from Erin Hunter

A big thank you to everyone. I'm sorry that this message was so long.

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Book Review: Seekers: The Quest Begins

Seekers: The Quest Begins
By Erin Hunter

Seekers is the story of three very different bears, each on a quest that is destined to bring them together. Kallik is a young polar bear traveling to land for the summer with her mother and brother. When her mother is killed and Killik is separated from her brother, Kallik sets off on a quest to find him.

Toklo is a grizzly bear cub trying to survive with his mother and his brother Tobi, who is very sick. Toklo loves Tobi, but he also resents him, both for slowing down the family, and because it seems that their mother loves Tobi more because of the attention she lavishes on him. Tragedy also strikes Toklo's family, and Toklo finds himself alone and lonely, on the edge of survival. Toklo sets off to follow the North Star, which is the spirit of a lonely bear imprisoned in the sky, because Toklo identifies with it.

Lusa is a black bear cub living in the zoo. Lusa loves climbing trees and playing with her friend Yogi. The zoo is the only home she knows and she's happy there, although she's curious about what life in the wild is like. When a strange new bear arrives at the zoo from the wild, it awakens Lusa's desire to see the wild. When the new bear dies, Lusa promises her that she will escape and carry a message from her to her son in the wild.

The Quest Begins is a promising start to a new series by Erin Hunter, author of the highly popular Warriors series. It's an animal fantasy similar to Warriors, although there does seem to be a bit more of an element of magic realism that comes into play later in the book. The characters and situations are interesting, and the book should have strong appeal to fans of the Warriors series, as well as anyone else who loves animal fantasy.

As sometimes happens with the first book in a planned series, The Quest Begins is occasionally slow as it sets things up for the rest of the series. There is plenty of action, and interesting things happen throughout the book, but at this point there is no one central conflict driving the story. Each of the bears has his or her own central conflict, and a quest that is destined to bring them together, but since the bears don't meet until the end of the book (and then only two of them) their stories don't come together as well as they might.

I do think that once the bears come together, this is going to be an interesting and enjoyable series. As with Warriors, the bears have their own culture and language, and we see the world through the bears' eyes. What differs, however, is that each bear species has its own culture and its own beliefs. The north star, for example, plays an important role in each of the stories, but each bear believes something different about the north star. It will be interesting once the bears come together to see how their conflicting beliefs and cultures interact, and I think there's a lot of story potential there.

Overall, I found The Quest Begins to be an enjoyable book, and I look forward to the rest of the series.

Pages: 293
Total 48-hour book challenge pages read: 1172
Total 48-hour book challenge books read: 4
Total time reading and blogging: 20 hours and 10 minutes

Book Review: Firestar's Quest

Firestar's Quest
Warriors Super Edition
by Erin Hunter

Several months have passed since the battle with BloodClan, and life in ThunderClan is settling back to normal. But then Firestar begins having visions of a strange gray cat with white patches, and of a group of terrified, fleeing cats. What does it mean? Then Firestar learns that there used to be a fifth clan, a clan that was driven out of the forest by the other clans, apparently with the consent of StarClan. Did StarClan lie when it said that there have always been four clans in the forest? Accompanied by Sandstorm, Firestar sets out on a quest to find and restore the lost clan. But can anything restore Firestar's faith in StarClan?

A standalone book set between the first and second Warriors series, Firestar's Quest is probably the best Warriors book so far. The quest format drives the story along, while the themes of faith and responsibility give it depth. It's quite satisfying watching Firestar and Sandstorm assemble a ragtag group of cats into a true clan. The fact that it's a story that's been done before—for example, in sports movies from The Bad News Bears to Major League—doesn't reduce its power as a story, and it's very well done here. It's also satisfying to finally see Firestar work out his relationship with Sandstorm, and work through his conflicted feelings about Spottedleaf. We were cheated on seeing that bit of his life, since The New Prophecy books start with the relationship pretty settled and Firestar a family man.

Firestar's Quest is a must read for fans of the series; longtime fans will especially appreciate the return to Firestar's point of view. Those new to the series should find that this book stands fairly well alone, although some time will be needed to acclimate to the Warriors culture and terminology.

By the way, it's hard to tell from the cover image, but the cover isn't yellow, it's a beautiful gold foil.