The Mystery of the Autographed Copy

Last week we came upon a mystery, I ordered the The Celestial Globe (Part II after Cabinet of Wonders by Marie Rutkoski) from Amazon and it came signed! So, I decided to do a little investigating!  The rest can be told from the email train below….

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Meg Pickert to Marie

show details Jan 16 (7 days ago)

Marie,
I’m a 4th grade teacher in Houston, TX and I was introduced to The Cabinet of Wonders by a student. Now, many of my students have read it. My kiddos and I were very excited to get The Celestial Globe. I ordered it from Amazon, and it came signed. I tried to find a copy of your signature on the internet (to see if it was real), but it just seemed strange that it came signed! Could you, would you, be able to help my students and I solve this mystery?
Thank You!

Meg Pickert

Marie Rutkoski Marie to me

show details Jan 19 (5 days ago)

Dear Meg,

I’m so glad to know your students enjoy my books! As for the signature, that’s a little strange that Amazon has a signed copy, but not impossible. I’ve signed a lot of books, and my publisher might have sent some signed copies to Amazon. I guess I could try to send you images of my signature to compare, but the way I sign my name can vary a great deal; I have my sloppy “I’ve got to sign a ton of these fast!” signature, and I have my careful “Even though my penmanship sucks, I’m trying hard for this to look nice,” one. If you send me an image of the signature you have, I can tell you whether it’s mine or not.

Does that help?

Best,

Marie

Meg Pickert to Marie

show details Jan 20 (3 days ago)

Marie,
I told my kids all about the new development in our mystery today. Now that they know an author may write back, they want to look up every book they’ve ever loved and email the author. It is highly entertaining. Thank you for writing back. We really do appreciate it!
Attached is a photo of the signature. Let me know!
Take care,

Meg

Marie Rutkoski to me

show details Jan 22 (1 day ago)

Dear Meg,

How wonderful that your kids are now eager to email authors! I loved writing to authors when I was a kid, and was so excited when Beverly Cleary sent me a postcard in response. I still remember every word she wrote (not hard, since it was just “Dear Marie, I’m glad to know you enjoy my books!”).

That signature is mine!

Best,

Marie

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Watching children get excited about reading is one of my favorite things about being a teacher. Corresponding with an author over a mystery involving a book brought a lot of excitement to my classroom (and to me). Thank you so much Marie Rutkoski for writing such an awesome series and for helping us solve the mystery of the autographed copy.