Talya Pardo, librarian-extraordinaire at the Jewish Public Library, organized a wonderful set of school visits in Montreal in honour of Jewish Book Month. I met many awesome students, teachers and school staff!
Doing book presentations on Don’t Tell the Enemy is always difficult because it’s an emotional story about a real girl who was exceptionally brave and compassionate at a time when most people were not. As I said to one group of students, writing this story was like cutting out my heart. Talking about Krystia, Dolek and Leon during Jewish Book Month was especially poignant, as many kids in the audience had lost family members in the Holocaust. That, mixed with the current violence that’s been directed at Jewish people in these last number of weeks, made it sometimes hard to speak without a catch of tears.
Thank you, Talya, for your hospitality. And thank you to the Ukrainian Jewish Encounter, for travel funding.
I just recently interviewed an author, Marsha Skrypuch, through email. She writes novels for youth ages 9-14 but, people over the age of 14 still enjoy her books. Skrypuch’s novels focus on historical fiction ranging from the First World War to narratives about Vietnamese refugees.
I first started reading her books around the age of 10, with ‘Making Bombs for Hitler’. It is about a young Ukrainian girl, Lida, who is separated from her family in the Second World War. She is taken to a work camp where she is forced to make bombs for Hitler. Can she somehow sabotage the bombs? All the while, Lida wants to find her younger sister, Larissa.
Marsha Skrypuch recently released a new novel, Don’t Tell The Nazis, that follows a young Ukrainian girl, Krystia and how her family hid a Jewish family. This novel follows the struggles of a young girl trying to survive and the decision to risk her family’s safety to save her friends.
I have not yet read, Don’t tell the Nazis, but I look forward too! For more information about her latest book; click on this link: https://www.calla.com/wordpress/dont-tell-the-enemy/
This interview consists of 10 questions which range from her writing process to specific book based questions.
1. For some authors, there was a defining moment when they realized they wanted to become an author. For Marsha Skrypuch, writing was always in her life. In fact, she said “I’ve been writing since I was in elementary school. It’s how my brain works. I like to write stories that I can’t find to read. I very much enjoy the detective work that goes along with finding out historical stuff that others don’t know about.”
2. She realised that words have power when she wrote for her high school newpaper. She wrote “When I wrote for my high school newspaper and the wide reaction that I’d get. Up to that time I had thought of writing as something that was totally private. Writing for the high school newspaper made me friends and enemies, got me into some trouble but also gave me a buzz. It was interesting to witness the power of words.”
3. All authors, especially historical fiction authors, have to research before writing a book. There are many ways and for some, it is a lengthy process. Marsha Skrypuch tries to interview the people who lived through the time she was writing about. Reading diaries, memoirs, letters and interviews from people who have lived during the time period in which she is writing about is one of the ways Skrypuch does her research. Skyrpuch continues her research by reading government documents and academic studies, anything non-fiction. She avoids any fiction based in the same time period as the book she is writing as to not be subconsciously influenced. Her novels are accurate and true to the historical era as it takes around 5 years of research before she can write the novel. The first novel of her Second World War trilogy required the most research while the next two books took less research for she already had the characters and initial research.
4. The ways that Marsha Skrypuch stays true to the time period of her novels is by immersing herself in that time period with the research that she does.
5. Writing historical fiction is something that takes a lot of time and effort just like any other book but, if the novel is not historically accurate there may be backlash. Historical fiction novels are always scrutinized for glamorizing or biased information. Skrypuch keeps her novels accurate and did not sugar coat the harsh realities of war, hunger and suffering. Marsha Skrypuch wrote “I’m fascinated by the times in history and the people that no one seems to write about. I like to find the people whose stories have been suppressed, and shed light on them.”
6. In her novel, “Underground Soldier” (also published as The War Below), a companion novel to “Stolen Child” (also published as Stolen Girl) and “Making Bombs for Hitler”, a fourteen year old boy, Luka, is the protagonist. He works alongside Lida form “Making Bombs from Hitler”. After escaping the camp, he joins a group Ukrainian underground resistance fighters.
7. Most authors base their characters off somebody, whether they are a family member or an inspirational person. Marsha’s inspiration for Luka has been effected by the experiances of her ancestors as she wrote “My own great aunt was a sniper in the underground and she was executed by the Soviets and buried in a mass grave. My great-grandmother was exiled to Siberia (where she died) after the war because of her daughter’s war activities. I wanted to explore that whole historical era that no one seemed to write about. I couldn’t interview my great-aunt, obviously, but I based a lot of the actual scenes on Peter Potichnij’s experiences and other insurgent memoirs. Peter was in the underground as a young teen.”
8. When writing a book, there may be heart wrenching scenes and for Marsha, her hardest scene to write was when Lida was rescued by the Americans in “Making Bombs for Hitler”. In her very own words, ” That entire sequence of her rescue and being nursed back to health just broke me.” As I recall, the scene was emotionally charged and quite realistic and could have induced tears.
9. Many authors write characters from the opposite gender than themselves which may offer a challenge. Marsha Skrypuch wrote that after four books in a row from a female perspective, it caused Luka from “Underground Soldier” have a more female voice. Her editor had pointed it out and she had to change some qualities or reactions he had. For example, Marsha wrote “…replace him reacting by weeping to reacting by punching a tree.”
10. Finally, here is a link to for advice for aspiring writers from Marsha Skrypuch:
Where: Brantford Public Library, 173 Colborne Street, Brantford ON N3T 2G8
Authors Marsha Skrypuch and Van Ho will do a brief reading and talk about this true story about 4-year-old Van, who had to be left behind when her mother, brother and sisters escaped by boat after the Vietnam war.
Book signing and sales to follow. Book cost is $18.95 + GST = $19.95
I did an evening event hosted by the Manitoba Council of Reading Clinicians. It was a wonderful event with lots of good discussion. It was great to catch up with my MRA buddies!
One of the biggest pleasures of author travels is getting to meet with fellow creators. On this trip, I met with my friend, Carol Matas, whose books I’ve long admired. We had dinner, then popped in to the Grant Park McNally Robinson Bookstore to do a little promo.
A wonderful whirlwind trip to Winnipeg and Selkirk during the first week of October. Saw so many great students, librarians, educators and reading clinicians!
