Catherine Sell

Dear Cinda Williams Chima,

Feelings, moods, emotions, whatever you want to call them, everyone has them. Sometimes they are good and happy, and sometimes they are not. When I have a strong emotion, it will sometimes effect another person, or not at all, but I found out from your book The Wizard's Heir, that it's very hard to control your emotions. I tend to get mad at my little sister over stupid little things like when she touches my stuff. Your character, Seph McCauly, burned down a building!

I know I may feel angry or upset and that's okay, I just need to find my own special way to release it. This book helped me do that. My special way is to sit down take deep breaths and listen to some calm quiet music while I think about what made me so angry.

Your book also taught me how to resist doing what other people want me to do. It can also be called peer pressure. Seph's teacher was trying to get him to do something that did not feel right to him. I have felt that way too, I used to have a friend that would want to take my sister's stuff and use them; sometimes she did not want to give them back. I soon realized that it was wrong and told her to stop, she eventually stopped but not before she tried to convince me that it was just a game.

This book made me realize that the easiest thing to do might not always be the best thing to do. For example stealing something instead of earning it yourself might be easier, but it isn't right. Cheating might be an easy way to ace a test, but that doesn't mean that you should. Both of these examples are wrong, and Seph chose to do the right thing. I am really glad you wrote this book because it taught me about peer pressure, how to control my feelings, and that you can't just take the easy way out all the time.

Sincerely,

Catherine Sell