For example, there has been more than one person who read Xanth to alleviate the discomfort of illness, including chemotherapy treatments. There was a girl who was taken into a barn, attacked with a hammer, and raped. She didn't dare tell, but the experience shattered her. Then someone showed her Ogre, Ogre, which addresses a similar problem, and where the girl finds comfort at last with an ogre. This Mundane girl found an ogre (they aren't nearly as horrendous as they look, when you get to know one), and her life mended, and she wrote to tell me about it. There was the girl who survived an auto accident but lost her ability to remember things; she was a Xanth reader, and I attended her birthday party, and I think it helped her to remember. There are the mothers who have written to tell me that their children had no interest in reading until introduced to Xanth. There are the teachers who have told me similar things. I suspect that literacy is the most important skill for today's person; learning to read is vital, and it's getting harder to get folk to read. This sort of thing is causing me to reconsider the value of Xanth; it may be more than just passing entertainment.

And Jenny—yes, there is a real girl, Jenny Gildwarg, twelve years old, whose ordinary life abruptly became extraordinary, but not in a nice way. Jenny has a separate story, which for our purpose begins Dismember 9, 1988. Jenny is much like Jenny Elf in the novel, only her ears are round and her hands have five fingers. On this day she was walking home from school with several of her friends. She stopped at an intersection, looked both ways, and waited for a car to pass. The car slowed and stopped, and the driver motioned to the children to cross. They did so. Another car was approaching the intersection, but the driver was intoxicated and impatient; he passed the stopped car and took off. He struck Jenny and hurled her a fair distance. That was almost the end of her life.

A driver behind that one witnessed the accident, radioed for assistance, and ran out to help. The police and ambulance arrived promptly. They arrested the drunk driver, who was belligerent and had to be handcuffed. They administered first aid to Jenny and made ready to rush her to the hospital. The mother of one of the other children saw the whole thing, and came to tell Jenny's folks. A family friend went to the scene and identified her for the police and ambulance crew. He came home to report that there was a lot of blood, but that she was still breathing.