Q&A with Deborah Hopkinson

Deborah Hopkinson is the author of D-Day: The World War II Invasion That Changed History, a new book for kids. Her many other books include Titanic: Voices from the Disaster and Courage & Defiance. She lives near Portland, Oregon.

Q: Why did you decide to write a book about D-Day?

A: Although I’ve written two previous books about World War II, students kept asking for more! I’ve found young readers fascinated by World War II. And, in fact, so was I at that age.

Also, it seemed to me that I wanted to understand the invasion of Normandy better. It was, after all, not only one of the defining events of the war, but of the 20th century. Little did I know what I was getting myself into; just as the operation itself was massive, so was the research.

Q: How did you select the individuals you focus on in the book?

A: I find that one of the challenges in writing narrative nonfiction for young readers is to not have so many voices or individual stories that the work becomes overwhelming or confusing.

It’s also helpful to have first-person accounts or memoirs written fairly close in time to the events. These tend to be more vivid and detailed, as opposed to often-told stories many years later.

With that in mind, I searched for oral histories at the National World War II Museum and published memoirs. I also looked for individuals who represented a variety of experiences and roles at D-Day.

Q: How did you research the book, and did you learn anything that particularly surprised you?

A: I read many books and oral histories, including books about the assaults by Canadian and British soldiers, although in the end I primarily focused on the American efforts.

Since I had only general knowledge before I began, much of the information was new. And that helped shape my approach: The things I had trouble understanding might be, I thought, the same points that would puzzle young readers.

So I organized the book as an introduction, and tried my best to make the events of the day as clear as possible. For instance, we included several “Reader’s Invasion Briefings” and tried not to assume prior knowledge.

As far as what surprised me: I don’t think I fully appreciated that for many of the units fighting on D-Day were experiencing their first taste of combat. It’s a testament to the planning and training—and the courage of those young men— that things worked as well as they did.

Another surprise for me was the role that weather played in the planning, and just how fraught those last hours before launch were.

Q: What do you think are some of the most common perceptions and misperceptions about D-Day?

A: One common misperception comes to mind right away. At author visits, I’ve begun asking students (and teachers) what the “D” in D-Day stands for, and the answers are fascinating. Most students think that D is an abbreviation for “death” day, “doomsday,” or “demolition” day. 

However, usually there is one person in the room (and often a young reader) who knows that the “D” in D-Day is simply a military abbreviation for the “day” of the planned military operation, just as “H” is H hour in planning.

Q: What are you working on now?

A: Right now I’m working on a nonfiction book entitled Refugees and Survivors: Escaping the Nazis on the Kindertransport. My book follows several of the approximately 10,000 Jewish children who left their parents and went to Great Britain in 1938-39. I’ve been in touch with a few of the survivors who are still living. It’s been fascinating to learn more about 1930s Germany. The book is scheduled for Spring 2020.

Then, after that, I am heading to an entirely new (but old) time period. I’ll be writing about the Black Death.

Q: Anything else we should know?

A: I have two new books coming out in February 2019. CarterReads the Newspaper, illustrated by Don Tate, is a picture book about the life of Carter G. Woodson, founder of Black History Month. How I Became a Spy is a middle grade mystery set in World War II London in 1944. It includes cipher challenges, which I hope readers will enjoy.

--Interview with Deborah Kalb. Here's a previous Q&A with Deborah Hopkinson.

Oct. 26

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY
Oct. 26, 1880: Andrei Bely born.

Q&A with Stephen Fried

Stephen Fried is the author of the new biography Rush: Revolution, Madness & the Visionary Doctor Who Became a Founding Father. His other books include Appetite for America and A Common Struggle. He teaches at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism and the University of Pennsylvania, and he lives in Philadelphia.

Q: You've called Benjamin Rush "the great untold story of the revolution." What first intrigued you about him, and why did you decide to write this biography?

A: I was first drawn to Rush because of his connection to the history of mental health care, which has always been a big part of my journalism (including my last book, which I co-authored with Patrick Kennedy about his family’s history with mental illness and addiction, personally and politically).

But I also live just a few blocks from the area in Philadelphia where the nation was born, and always believed some day there would be a book for me in the Revolution.

When I started specifically looking at book ideas during that time period, Rush just leaped out—he was the only major founding father who hadn’t had a major biography, and the many areas in which he made a huge difference (mental health just one of dozens) felt not only very important but very contemporary.

The more I learned about him, the more I realized he was in many ways the best way to tell the whole story of the nation’s birth, and his own writing about it felt really modern.

Q: You begin the book with an episode from Rush's life in August 1774. Why did you choose to start here?

A: I began with the day that he met John Adams, when the Massachusetts Delegation arrived outside of Philadelphia and was briefed by the local “Sons of Liberty”—among whom Rush was the youngest and most intellectually precocious member.

While Rush was already known in Philadelphia—as a professor at the nation’s first medical school, a physician, and a writer on important political issues (slavery, British taxation)—this was the moment when he first became known to the larger group of revolutionaries who changed the face of world history.

It was also a moment both he and Adams had described in some detail, on several occasions in their writing. And since their friendship is a huge part of this book, it felt right.

Q: How would you describe the relationship between Rush and John Adams and Thomas Jefferson?

A: In the beginning, Rush was a local doctor with a lot of political zeal but not much standing.

He met Adams in the First Continental Congress (during which Adams and other visiting congressmen often ate at Rush’s house, and he treated some of them medically) and Jefferson in the Second, and by the time the Declaration of Independence was ready to be signed, Rush had risen from an interesting local doc with big ideas to someone who really mattered: he was the one who convinced Thomas Paine to write “Common Sense” (which Rush edited and got published) and when a key member of the Pennsylvania delegation refused to sign the Declaration, Rush was elected to take his place and sign.

From then on, his relationship with both men grew. It became more intense during the decade when the U.S. capitol was in Philadelphia (1790-1800) when he saw them all the time (and discussed politics and life with Adams, and often religion and science with Jefferson).

And then, later in all their lives, Rush carried on an epic correspondence with both of them, which included his founding father therapy to get Adams and Jefferson, who hadn’t spoken since the 1800 election, back together.

Q: What is Benjamin Rush's legacy today?

A: Well, I hope that’s changing right now because of this book.

Rush has not been as well know as his other fellow founders—which would have baffled them, because they considered him (as did the public at the time) as important as Washington and Franklin—but one of the interesting things I discovered is why he isn’t as well known: it’s mostly because his family, and Adams and Jefferson, made sure much of his most intriguing writing and correspondence was suppressed for over a century, because it revealed too much about them (and about Rush’s challenging relationship with Washington).

Until recently, he has mostly been remembered as the founding father of American mental health care and the author of the first American book on mental illness—as well as the doctor who heroically battled the 1793 yellow fever epidemic, which killed 10 percent of the population of the U.S. capitol in three months.

Now I think his legacy can be much broader, as one of the most important founders and public intellectuals in America. And one of its most fascinating characters.

Q: What are you working on now?

A: Honestly, book touring, and cleaning up my office after five years of working on this book.

I’m also doing research for my next book subject, working on a project at Columbia to improve mental health journalism, teaching at Columbia and Penn, and writing for magazines.

And I still do some lecturing about my last history book, Appetite for America: Fred Harvey and the Civilizing of the Wild West—One Meal at a Time. We do a Fred Harvey History Weekend in New Mexico every year. When you finish reading Rush, read about Fred and come join us in Santa Fe. It’s great fun. Some day, maybe there will be a Benjamin Rush History Weekend every year in Philadelphia.

The most interesting part of writing narrative history, to me, is watching other people then dig into the subject you wrote about and find more. If we can not only bring Rush himself back to life, but also jump-start new research about him, that would be great. He should have a “papers” project just like the other major founders.

Q: Anything else we should know?

A: At the moment, everything I think you should know is in the Rush book. 

--Interview with Deborah Kalb

Q&A with Lynn Fulton

Lynn Fulton is the author of the new children's picture book She Made a Monster: How Mary Shelley Created Frankenstein. She lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Q: Why did you decide to write a picture book about Mary Shelley and Frankenstein?

A: When I was a graduate instructor working on my Ph.D., I used to teach Frankenstein to my freshman composition students. But the idea for the picture book didn’t come to me until 20 years later, after I’d left academia and written three novels for adults, all of which failed to get published.

So for about 10 years I gave up on writing, but then I started to miss it and longed to go back to it… if I could only find a story I wanted to tell.

So around this time, to prepare for a book group discussion, I was re-reading Mary Shelley’s Introduction to the 1831 edition, where she tells the story of how she thought of Frankenstein. I started thinking about what a great story that was, and I wondered whether I could turn it into a picture book for kids.

It’s a story about the power of the imagination, about persistence, and about the need to express the idea that’s in you. But it’s also a spooky monster story, so I thought those two elements together—the empowering themes along with the exciting story—could really appeal to kids. And then in thinking about telling how Mary found her story, I found mine, too.

Q: How much knowledge about Frankenstein do you expect kids have when coming to your book?

A: I think all but the youngest kids have at least some idea of the pop culture version of Frankenstein—a green monster with bolts in his neck who goes “Aaaargh” and stomps around.

And older kids might know that the monster was built out of dead bodies by a "mad scientist” type. They might also have picked up on the idea that Victor Frankenstein used electricity to animate the monster.

But I don’t think many of them know that this monster originally came from a book at all, let alone a 200-year-old book by a 19-year old woman.

So I thought it would be fun to let kids in on that fact, and also introduce them to the idea that Shelley's novel is very different from most movies or TV shows or cartoons they’ve seen about Frankenstein. They don’t know about a Frankenstein’s monster that is articulate, well-read, and sympathetic.

Q: What do you think Felicita Sala's illustrations add to the book?

A: I think the illustrations add a wonderfully somber, spooky tone to the story. And I love the way the pictures pull in references to familiar Hollywood versions of Frankenstein—like the picture of the laboratory equipment, which seems right out of a movie—while at the same time providing great concrete images for the more abstract ideas in the book.

Two of my favorites are the picture of Mary Wollstonecraft all alone, surrounded by disapproving men; and the picture of the night and storm outside while the men inside are talking about conquering nature.

The first one really shows how unafraid Mary Wollstonecraft was, how true to herself because she is not even looking at the men who are all looking sideways at her; and the second adds a lovely note of irony, like nature laughing at the humans who think they can conquer her.

Q: What do you hope kids take away from the book, and what do you see as Mary Shelley's legacy 200 years after the publication of Frankenstein?

A: I hope kids can identify with Mary’s search for a way to express herself, to find her story.

She wants to be a writer but she wonders about her powers, especially as compared to these ambitious and intimidating men in her circle. But she draws on her own ideas and the influences in her life, and it all comes together into this unique gift that she has to give to the world.

I think lots of kids wonder, “How am I going to make my mark? How am I going to express what’s in me?”—even if they can’t articulate that in words.

So I hope they’ll find some resonance in Mary’s story. I hope they’ll learn not to be intimidated by people around them who seem to know more or have more. And of course I also want to remind kids of that time when women did not have a voice, and teach them a bit about Mary Wollstonecraft and her pioneering feminism.

As for Mary Shelley’s legacy today, I would agree with those who see her as a founder of modern science fiction. But I also think the message of Frankenstein is more subtle than a distrust of science or a warning against playing God. I think she’s saying, be careful what you do with science and make sure you take responsibility for it.

Victor abandons his creature—his “child”—and the result is tragic. The warning is not so much against creating life, but against not taking responsibility for it. As I imagine Mary asking herself, “What would happen to that lifeless matter once someone had given it life?”  

Q: What are you working on now?

A: I’m working on a science fiction novel for teens about a future where humans have traded the ability to reproduce for extreme longevity. They can live for centuries but they don’t have children or families.

I’ve been thinking about this for two years—and it took me almost that long to realize it’s kind of like another version of Frankenstein! That’s because it explores some consequences of creating life artificially, of messing around with Nature.

Q: Anything else we should know?

A: Only that I am by no means an expert on Frankenstein or on Mary Shelley—and if you want to learn more about her and her novel, there are oodles of fascinating books out there! And I really appreciate the opportunity to answer these questions!

--Interview with Deborah Kalb

Oct. 25

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY
Oct. 25, 1941: Anne Tyler born.

Q&A with Esty Schachter

Esty Schachter, photo by Samantha Liddick

Esty Schachter is the author of Pickled Watermelon, a new novel for kids. She also has written Anya's Echoes and Waiting for a Sign. Also a clinical social worker, she lives in Newton, Masssachusetts.

Q: How did you come up with the idea for Pickled Watermelon, and for your character Molly?

A: Pickled Watermelon was my way of preserving my memories of my grandparents, who lived in Naharya [a community in Israel] when I was a kid. The rest of the book is fictional, but Saba and Savta were written as I remember them.

While I was able to speak and understand Hebrew fairly well, Molly was a way to explore tricky things many kids experience related to confidence, communication and trying new things.

Q: Why did you choose to set the novel in Israel in 1986, and did you need to do much research to write the book?

A: I set it then so it would generally fit the story of how my grandparents came to Israel post-World War II. My family visited Naharya a number of times when I was a child, and I was there on my own as a teen on a kibbutz and a college semester in Tel Aviv. I did need to do some research to check my descriptions of places and things.

Q: What do you hope kids take away from the story?

A: Communication is always possible. That doesn't mean it's easy! 

Q: Who are some of your favorite authors?

A: I adored the All-of-a-Kind Family series by Sydney Taylor as a kid (and my sons did too!). Other favorites are Patricia Polacco, Dana Reinhardt, Lynne Reid Banks, Jacqueline Woodson and Linda Sue Park.

Q: What are you working on now?

A: I've started a young adult novel. It's exciting to be working on a new project.

Q: Anything else we should know?

A: Pickled Watermelon is also a story of persistence. A version of the book won an award in 2004 that led me to Joni Sussman at Kar-Ben. We corresponded periodically about the manuscript, and at one point I rewrote it, switching from third person to first person. Joni's feedback was crucial in helping me shape the book.

The first version of Pickled Watermelon was written more than 25 years ago. It makes it that much more special to see it on my bookshelf now!

--Interview with Deborah Kalb

Q&A with Allison Shapira

Allison Shapira is the author of the new book Speak with Impact: How to Command the Room and Influence Others. She is the founder and CEO of Global Public Speaking LLC. A former opera singer, she is an adjunct lecturer at Harvard's Kennedy School. She lives in Washington, D.C.

Q: Why did you decide to write this book, and how do you define public speaking?

A: I’ve been teaching public speaking presentation skills for over 15 years. I wanted to create a book that collected the stories of people I’ve worked with, and collect my methodology in one place.

I define public speaking very broadly—it’s any time you communicate with one or more people, with some purpose. It can be getting on a conference call, pitching someone in a small group, or speaking up in a meeting. Public speaking is something you do every day.

Q: What advice would you give someone who’s fearful of speaking in public?

A: I’d say public speaking is a skill and not a talent. If you think of it as a talent, you think you’re born with it or without it. If you think of it as a skill, anyone can learn it. You just have to practice and get better.

I tell people public speaking is not about being perfect but being authentic. Audiences connect with people who are real, not those who speak perfectly. If you give up the idea of perfection, you can relax and think about your message.

Public speaking is defined so broadly that you can practice every day, and get more confident every day. The book walks you through the process to write and deliver a speech.

Q: What impact did your training as an opera singer have on your public speaking?

A: My operatic background has had a huge impact on my public speaking. It taught me to connect with an audience and be confident on stage. It also taught me breath support—breathing is one of the techniques to calm yourself as a speaker.

It taught me to use my physical voice. It also helped build my executive presence, the way you stand, the way you walk into a room. Stage presence can become executive presence.

Q: Was it easy for you to transfer those concepts from stage presence to executive presence?

A: With the nonverbal [aspects], absolutely. In terms of content, it was a pretty steep learning curve! An opera singer doesn’t have to write their own words. My first job was in diplomacy—I had to learn about world affairs and write for people who would be quoted in the press.

Q: Overall, what do you hope readers take away from your book?

A: I want them to take away a framework that they can use any time they have a speech or a meeting. As a result of the book, I hope they feel more confident speaking up authentically.

I’d like them to see themselves in the stories—the book has many anecdotes of people I’ve worked with. People can see that they’re not alone, that everyone struggles [with public speaking].

I hope they feel so confident that they want to speak up more on behalf of themselves and their community. I hope to empower people.

Q: Are there any public speakers you especially admire?

A: There are so many great speakers out there. I struggle to come up with one or two. The people who impress me most are not people who are really comfortable with public speaking, but people in my workshops who hate public speaking, are scared of it, and then at the end of the workshop, they give an impassioned speech. They inspire me most.

Q: What are you working on now?

A: I run a training company that teaches [public speaking] skills. We’ve tripled in size over the past year, and we’re able to help so many people. My main focus has been helping the trainers and coaches work with more people around the world. And I teach public speaking at Harvard’s Kennedy School.

Q: Anything else we should know?

A: I’d like people to know that the book is available, and people can buy it or download it or listen on Audible.

It’s written to help people at all points in their careers, but the sweet spot is people moving into leadership positions. It can help people move from technical expertise to more general fluency speaking in any situation.

And it’s a book that, whether you’re an introvert or an extrovert, will help you. We’re not trying to turn an introvert into an extrovert, but to help everyone be impactful when they’re involved with public speaking.

It was written for everyone, but especially for people who have something they want to say, and [the book can help them] feel more confident when they speak up.

--Interview with Deborah Kalb