As if it isn’t enough that the child readers of Brandon Mull, author of the kids’ series Fablehaven, have made him a national best seller, now Mull will be charging to visit public schools, libraries and other public institutions—at the rate of $1,000 per day, his publicist adds in emphasized italics.

That’s a lot of money for public institutions to put up. But it doesn’t seem to bother Shadow Mountain, the Latter-day Saintsowned publishing company. So far, Mull and Shadow Mountain have prospered with four novels and two movie options, but in an ebbing economy, it appears they’ll settle for nothing less than the flow of appearance fees.

Alas, it appears that the vein of gold that was Silverstine and E.B. White’s has been sufficiently mined. All that is left in this Shadow Mountain is the fool’s gold of Mull and his publicist. By the way, his publicist, when asked if she thought $1,000 was too much to charge a public school, refused to comment.

Ryan Van Seters
Salt Lake City