The Costco Connection

Lisa Scottoline is a Philadelphia-based best-selling author who has written more than 30 books—both fiction and nonfiction. Taking time away from her novels and weekly Philadelphia Inquirer “Chick Wit” column, Scottoline penned this Connection exclusive in which she addresses her nose, her love of books and her new novel, Damaged.

—Stephanie E. Ponder

BY LISA SCOTTOLINE

I GREW UP in a very loving Italian-American family with a lot of hugs, meatballs and carbohydrates. But not a lot of books. The only reading material I ever saw in my house was TV Guide.

I didn’t discover books until I went to elementary school, where I became a complete bookworm. The school librarian told my parents to take me to our local library, which my father did, though he didn’t come inside. He waited outside in the car like a dog. Because there was no TV in the library.

My parents adored me, but they never understood my love of reading. My mother told me that it would ruin my eyes.

She was kinda right. But no matter: They make glasses for people like me.

As a child, I chose my library books in lots of dumb ways, like by looking in the back and scrutinizing the signatures on the checkout card to see if people had good handwriting. (FYI, a library checkout card was something they had in the olden days, when people wrote with pens and pencils. Please tell me I’m not the only one who remembers these antiques.)

I also picked books that had a picture of a particular man on the spine, because he had a really big nose, like most of my family and me. (My mother always said we get more oxygen than anybody in the room. Like, if I breathe in, you might die. We Scottolines don’t mind having big noses, though I have cousins who can barely stand up.)

So I gravitated toward those big-nose books, only to learn later that the man on the spine was Sherlock Holmes, which, long story short, led to my career as a writer of mysteries and thrillers.

Impressed yet?

Bottom line, my love of reading was born and it couldn’t be stopped. I don’t have a to-read pile; I have a to-read room. If there’s no book around, I’ll read a cereal box. (This is how I learned the word “riboflavin.” I have no idea what it means, but it’s in cornflakes.)

I buy a lot of books, which is one of the many reasons I love Costco, because they have tons of books I want at the best price ever. And I never feel guilty about spending money on books, because reading is a habit that makes me feel good about myself. (My other habits are chocolate cake and the aforementioned carbohydrates.)

My love of reading is what inspired my new novel, because, ironically, it’s about a child who has dyslexia, a neurological disorder that causes difficulty reading. You may have heard that dyslexia causes people to reverse words and letters when they read, but that’s not the only thing it does.

Dyslexic children cannot put sounds to the letters or words on the page, and this is true even though these children are intelligent, motivated and burning with the desire to read. Sadly, their self-esteem suffers as they fall further behind.

That’s what happens to the little boy in my new novel, Damaged. His name is Patrick O’Brien, he’s dyslexic and, even though he’s in fifth grade, he can’t read. He’s smart, but he’s in a public school system that is not programmed for his dyslexia. Patrick needs a champion, and she arrives in the form of a crusading special-education lawyer who fights for children with special needs.

Her name is Mary DiNunzio, and she’s Italian-American. She loves to read. Also, she comes from a family with really big noses.

Coincidence? You be the judge.

Mary takes on the entire school system for Patrick—but suddenly the unthinkable happens in Patrick’s family, and Mary finds herself fighting for Patrick, even as she tries to solve a murder.

That would be the Sherlock Holmes part.
You have to read Damaged to find out
what happens. I can’t tell you how the book
ends. I can tell you where to buy it. But if
you’re reading this, you already know. C
arts & entertainment

AP RIL N AR BY

How reading led to writing

THE COSTCO CONNECTION
Lisa Scottoline’s Damaged (Item
#1083733, 8/16) and Corrupted
(now available in paperback; Item
#1083710, 8/2) are available in
Costco warehouses.
Big noses,