Today I visited the 5th and 6th grade class in Lancaster, Minnesota. It was my first school visit to talk about Breath of Wilderness. The teacher asked me last spring if I would be willing to come speak to the class. She read the book over the summer and then read it aloud to the students once school started this fall. Lancaster is a 15 minute drive from my house and on the way I spotted five (!) bald eagles, which I accepted as a good omen.  These kids were an attentive group, anxious to ask lots of questions and to learn more about Sig, the wilderness and the writing process. Afterwards, we took a photo and then they swarmed around me with requests for my autograph. We said our good-byes and as I left the room, I overheard a girl comment, “well, she seemed nice.”

I found out recently that Breath of Wilderness was reviewed by The Midwest Book Review and featured in their August 2014 issue of “Library Bookwatch.”

They wrote:

“Enhanced with the inclusion of a US Conservation Time Line; Places to Visit; Take It Outside; To Learn More; Major Sources; and an Index, “Breath of Wilderness: The Life of Sigurd Olson” is specifically written for a young readership ages 9 to 12 and highly recommended for school and community library collections.”

I know stealing is wrong and should not be encouraged, yet I couldn’t help smiling when my book disappeared off the shelves at my local library. Disappeared, as in stolen, and not by being checked out. Apparently, someone wanted Breath of Wilderness enough to swipe it. This shouldn’t be the way to sell books, but hey just this once I won’t complain.