Your Number One Fan (Whether You Like It or Not)

• Dear Mr. Korman,

   

  Holy smokes sir, I’m not one to reread books. At all. Except yours, over and over and over again. Your books didn’t just entertain me or give me hope (though both are true) – they made me want to write. Which is a dangerous kind of power to give a kid. You changed my life; your books live rent-free in my DNA.

   

  My personal favourites since I was a kid – I Want to Go Home! (top favorite of all time), the McDonald Hall series… and so on. My folks grew up reading your masterpieces – then I got hooked – at this point my future kids will be quoting Bruno and Rudy before they can walk.

   

  So here I am: proud Canadian, a high school kid who somehow got dumped in a Classical Academy charter school. Despite bombing Latin, you and your books have kept me sane… and alive. (No pressure or anything.) My mother told me you visited her class (in grade 6) in 1991 at Satoo Elementary in Edmonton, Alberta. (I was only slightly jealous.)

   

  I’ve lost track of how many times I’ve read I Want to Go Home! It gets funnier every time. The book looks like it’s been through a war… practically disintegrated. But it’s one of the only things I would call my life support. No questions asked.

   

  Thank you for simply existing. For being my hero. For not giving up. You’re incredible; you don’t know the half of what you and your books mean to me. So yeah… thanks for ruining every other author for me. You win. Best author. Ever. Try to stay humble.

   

  Hopelessly your number #1 fan for eternity,

  Eva