Book Buzz news: The Weight of Silence by Heather Gudenkauf

I was reading my USA Today Book email today and saw this at the end of the Book Buzz: What's New on the List and in Publishing (for the whole article go here)

'Weight' gets lift: Bookseller support is getting the credit for increasing sales of the debut novel The Weight of Silence by Heather Gudenkauf, which climbs the list to No. 22. Aggressive hand-selling in Borders stores is "what really moved the needle for this book," says publisher Mira's Heather Foy, as well as strong backing from independents and other outlets, including Target. Weight, which was published this month, is the story of two girls — one of whom is mute — who vanish. The first printing of 70,000 is up to 300,000. Gudenkauf, who lives in Dubuque, Iowa, was born with profound hearing loss. "The compelling story she wrote is influenced by her own hearing impairment," Foy says.

How awesome is that - and I have to say this is a great book - I need to do my review, but I read it and it is just wonderful. And I learned something new - I didn't realize Gudenkauf had hearing impairment. I hope this book continues to sell well and love that the chains are in on hand-selling too.