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Another day in Freedom to Read week. What have you been reading? If you need some motivation, we have another concerned letter that you have to read! The writer worries about highly impressionable teens, damn cool pirates and rustlers, and some bad hygiene from church men.

Dear Five Rivers:

My fourteen-year-old son is not much of a reader, so I was very pleased when I found him immersed in one your books, which he had found in the school library. After a couple of days, though, I felt compelled to suggest that he put it down for a while and go outside to get some exercise. I was delighted when he agreed and said that he would go for a run.

Imagine my shock when he limped home ten minutes later, with his feet so cut, bloody, and blistered that I had to drive him to the clinic for treatment. He explained that he had been trying to do what Ivor did. Ivor, I discovered, was the hero of the book he had been reading, who had regularly run fifty miles a day, barefoot, over moors and mountains in ancient Scotland.

I have some Scottish blood in my veins, and I was horrified, having confiscated the book—which is called The Adventures of Ivor—to find Scotland described as full of pagans, rustlers, pirates, wizards, and monsters. The only holy man mentioned was described as suffering from severe BO problems! I think you should be ashamed to print such filth. You ought to recall every copy, and refund the price to everyone who bought it.

Yours sincerely,

Hedley McCavity (Mrs.)

We have to say if Dave Duncan’s The Adventures of Ivor is as fun as this letter (and it is!), then everyone should enjoy it.

Sorry Mrs. McCavity if your son ran until he bled from reading a book. We are more concerned about him reading Hunger Games. If you see a bow and arrows hanging around his room, better have that talk.

How has your Freedom to Read Week been going? Read any interesting books you would run 50 miles for? If not, try The Adventures of Ivor. Find it at Amazon, Kobo and Indigo. Fun, magic, and BO guaranteed! The running is up to you. We suggest footwear!

Happy Freedom to Read Week!