Tag: Making Bombs for Hitler

Roberts Elementary author visit

I had a wonderful visit with Roberts Elementary in Gwinnett County, Georgia last week. I’ve been virtually visiting students at this school for a number of years and have such respect for their media specialist, Tiffanie, who has an infectiously positive and generous perspective on life. I also love how her students come up with the BEST questions. There were about 9 classes participating in the session and each one had 3 questions. My favorite question from yesterday was, if you could tell your younger self something, what would it be? My answer: that the people who told me I was a slow learner were wrong. I was a different learner, and that would ultimately be a gift.

Have to say, meeting with students is one of the most wonderful aspects of being a writer.

Tiffanie made my day when she emailed this after the session: WOW! WOW! WOW!

You have a magical way of engaging our students sparking curiosity that lasts way beyond your visit! You answered their questions with such grace, care, and honesty. We loved it!

A visit with Riverside ES

My very first virtual visit was with Riverside ES in Gwinnett County, Georgia last Thursday and it was great to be back there, as I’ve visited a few times in the past. Ms Bartholomew always has her students prepped and it’s such a pleasure to answer their considered questions. Internet gremlins foiled us though. We got through the first session with just minor hiccups, and the second session was pretty much a wash. So this morning I did the second session again. It was nice to see the same students, sitting with smiling anticipation. I started where I left off last week and there was plenty of time for questions. And Zoom liked us this time! Here are some pics from last week’s session.

Visiting Deretchin School, October 20th

I have been corresponding with Cristofer Mattern, librarian-extraordinaire at Deretchin school for several years so when I finally got to present in person, it felt like coming home.

All of the presentations and lunches were in the library, which was a cozy and comfortable place to do them. I got so many heartfelt questions and responses from kids and educators — just wonderful!

Visiting Clark Intermediate

Jennifer C. Minichiello greeted me with a giant table of books to sign, and as the day progressed, the piles grew taller. I think there were even more than at Mitchell, but I managed to get them all signed over the day!

The cafetorium was big enough to hold half the 5th grade students at a time, so I did two back to back 45 minute presentations in the morning. Kudos to Jennifer who was able to get the students in and out so efficiently.

The middle of the day was a combo of book signings and having lunch with students (one of my favorite things to do!)

In the afternoon, it was time for 6th grade students, again, in two 45 minute sessions, back to back.

Here are the students who came up to the front to ask questions — and they were GREAT!

Visiting Dolly Vogel Intermediate

Tuesday October 17th was the day for my Dolly Vogel visit. Librarian Michelle Thomas expertly organized two assemblies and lunch visits with students, and I also got to do my all-time favorite thing, which was to give a writers’ workshop. The students in the workshop were FANTASTIC! Wonderful brainstorming session, followed by a very brief time to write, but every single participating student wrote up a storm and every student shared their writing with me. In fact, nearly all of the students read their works aloud to everyone in the workshop, which can be daunting, seeing as they were selected from all different classes. Here are some pics from the assemblies.

London Christian High

My final in-person visit of the school year was with Ms Weverink’s grade 10 English students on May 25th. The class had read Hope’s War together, but they also had Making Bombs for Hitler on their literature list so it was really neat to talk about both of these books because one was the seed for the other. In fact, Hope’s War was the seed for my two WWII trilogies. The students asked a lot of nuanced questions about character development and research and what compels me to write a story about a particular time in history. That led to a discussion about writing on topics that are suppressed and why it’s so important to advocate for people who have been silenced. I pointed out that every single one of them had been bullied at some point and so they should use that experience to put themselves in the shoes of others and advocate accordingly. Some of the students had the refugee experience in their own families so this was a resonant discussion.

I love the banner above that says, “Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you’ll still land among the stars.”

Maryvale Middle School

It was wonderful to do my first in-person US school visit since spring 2020 on May 19th with Maryvale Middle School in Cheektowaga NY. It was a busy day with three assemblies, two “donuts and discussion” roundtables with selected students plus a whole whack of book signings. There was a Scholastic Book Fair being held in the middle school library while I spoke in the high school auditorium, so students bought a LOT of books. Ms. Cortese was concerned that there wouldn’t be enough time for me to autograph them all but I assured her that I’d stay as long as necessary. I love face-to-face autographs. It’s such a neat opportunity to meet students. I thought it was also interesting that students with the same first name came in clusters to have their books signed. How nifty is that?

Maryvale has students from Ukraine, so it was also good to speak with them about the current war.

My hometown of Brantford and the Buffalo area are connected in an unusual way. The first 50 Ukrainian families came to Brantford not from Ukraine, but from Buffalo. They were employed by the Pratt & Letchworth foundry in Buffalo and when they opened up another foundry in Brantford, 50 of their employees from Ukraine settled here to work at the new plant. And the street many of them lived on in Brantford? Why Buffalo Street of course. Want to read more? Here’s an article I wrote about it way back in 1988!

The Cheektowaga Bee’s Elijah Robinson did a lovely interview and has given me permission to post it here.

This is how thick Oliver Twist (the first book I read) is. But I like to write shorter books because I try to leave out the stuff people skip over.
The photo behind me is of Rhea Clyman, one of the rare journalists who told the truth during the Holodomor. Most journalists took bribes from Moscow and suppressed news of the millions of deaths by forced starvation.
Students had fabulous questions.
Sometimes it’s nice to get right inside the audience to answer questions face to face.
Such an honor to sign books and meet readers face to face.
An author’s dream: a LOT of books to sign!
It’s so awesome having the opportunity to speak to small groups of students!
One of two donut and discussion sessions with selected students. Some really great questions.

First visit of 2023

The wonderful Ms Bartholomew invited me to Riverside Elementary, Suwanee Georgia, for two back to back visits this morning. I think this is the third time I’ve visited Riverside and always, the students are such a pleasure to speak with. Thank you, Ms Bartholomew and Riverside educators for your great prepping!

I didn’t think to ask for a photo until the second session was almost over — that should tell you how excited I was to get back in the class with students after the holiday break. This spring I have a number of in person visits scheduled and I’m really looking forward to that.

Look at these smiling faces!

Ukrainian rights for Bombs trilogy

Books – XXI has acquired Ukrainian rights to Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch’s Making Bombs for Hitler. The middle-grade novel is described as a pulse-pounding novel of survival, courage, and hope that shows us a lesser-known piece of WWII history. The deal was arranged by Scholastic Canada’s Maral Maclagan in cooperation with Literary Agency OVO in Ukraine. The publisher has acquired the three books in this trilogy: Making Bombs for Hitler, Stolen Child, and Underground Soldier.