Written for....

I love book dedications. It's always interesting to read the list of people who helped an author bring a story to life, but better still, is seeing who that one special person was who merited an especial thank you, the dedication. Parents and spouses are most common, it seems, followed closely by sons and daughters. Some people are mentioned by name only, and we the readers are left to wonder who Alice, Frank, Hector or Jane is. Someone special enough to warrant a whole dedication, for reasons known only to the writer and presumably the person so named. These are good dedications, and meaningful to both the dedicated to and the dedicated from. But some dedications suggest a story behind the story, and these are my favorites.

In some dedications, not only is thanks given, but the reason why is, and that, to me, makes the dedication more personal. Brandon Mull's Fablehaven was written "For Mary, who made writing possible." Anne Fadiman's collection of essays on reading, Ex Libris: Confessions of a Common Reader, was penned "For Clifton Fadiman and Annalee Jacoby Fadiman, who built my ancestral castles." Dragon Flight by Jessica Day George was written for the author's small child, "my own curious little monkey, who already loves books and whose naps made it possible for this one to be written." Holly Black's The Spiderwick Chronicles apparently was written in spite of itself: "For my grandmother Melvina, who said I should write a book just like this one and to whom I replied that I never would." I'd really like to know the story behind Diane Duane's dedication in the second of her Young Wizards series, Deep Wizardry: "For J.A.C. re: redemption, and fried zucchini".

Others say "thank you" in a uniquely personal way. Jessica Day George took a Norwegian folk tale "East of the Sun, West of the Moon" and wrote Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow, telling her parents: "You gave me life, you gave me love, you gave me a ticket to Norway. Thank you." Derek Landy, in writing Skulduggery Pleasant, wanted to express a similar sentiment to his parents, but perhaps he struggled a bit in finding the proper words: "I owe you absolutely everything, and y'know, I suppose it's entirely possible that I feel some, like, degree of affection toward the two of you..." Dean Lorey, author of Nightmare Academy, found that a simple statement works well: "For my wife, Elizabeth, and our sons, Chris and Alex. I love you guys."

R.L. LaFevers wrote her first two books in her Theodosia Throckmorton series to named individuals but also to general groups, who might seem familiar to her readers. Theodosia and the Serpents of Chaos was written in part "To clever girls everywhere who get tired of feeling like no one's listening"; Theodosia and the Staff of Osiris was written "For odd ducks everywhere. Remember, 'odd duck' is just another name for a swan."

Okay, true confession time. I'm a hopeless romantic. Or is that helpless romantic? Whatever. My two favorite book dedications come from books I read in the past year. Sarah Beth Durst, in taking the same Norwegian folk tale that Jessica Day George had, and giving it a contemporary setting in Ice, wrote "For my husband Adam, with love. I would go east of the sun and west of the moon for you." And Sarah Prineas dedicated her third Magic Thief book Found "To John, pretty much the best husband in the world."

Dedications like that are almost of themselves worth the price of the book.