Sold by hand, sold by heart: the independent booksellers

We speak of independent booksellers as selling by hand, and that they do, and for that, we (readers and writers) are grateful.  But it is also enormously true that independent booksellers sell by heart.  We see that each time in the Indiebound lists are unveiled—booksellers putting themselves on the line for books and, consequently, for those who write them.

Today I send this flower—a burst of light, an otherworldly shimmer—to Mandy King of The Boulder Book Store in Boulder, CO, who put her heart on the line for Dangerous Neighbors, suggesting it to the Autumn 2010 Children's Indie Next List, where it joins a remarkable slate of new titles.  She's bigger and brighter and better than this flower.  My picture is but a mere approximation.