Award winning authors share journeys in writing – Lehigh Valley Press
Students in grades six and seven at Lower Macungie Middle School welcomed award-winning authors Ruta Sepetys and Steve Sheinkin Sept. 22. The visit was organized by LMMS Librarian Alice Boulrice.
The writers spent the hour sharing their journeys in writing, their latest book collaboration “The Bletchley Riddle” and answering questions fielded by the students.
Students Grace Whitaker and Theodore Felegy introduced the authors to the packed audience. Boulrice had recommended the author to Whitaker at the end of last school year.
Whitaker read “Between Shades of Gray” and “I Must Betray You” over the summer and thanked Boulrice for the recommendation when she returned to school.
At open house, Whitaker shared with Boulrice how much she enjoyed the books and Boulrice chose her to share her comments about the author and the books during the visit.
Similarly, Felegy shared with Boulrice how excited he was these two authors were coming to LMMS and Boulrice asked him to share his anticipation about the authors’ visit during the introduction.
Sepetys began by telling the students that “telling stories is the best job ever!” She informed the students “The Bletchley Riddle” is about two young adults who become codebreakers during World War II.
The story setting is 1940s Europe at Bletchley Park, which is a mansion in Buckinghamshire, England, U.K. The estate gained recognition as an Allied-code breaking center during World War II.
Sepetys and Sheinkin shared a slideshow presentation of historical photos and artifacts from their visit to Bletchley Park which included photos of Londoners living in subways, the Enigma and the mansion. Sheinkin and Sepetys agreed that making the visit was important to the historical research to be able to write the novel with authenticity.
While Sheinkin refers to historical research, Sepetys likes to call it “historical investigations.” Sepetys said when writers actually visit and explore the places used in their writings, it makes the writing more genuine.
She described Bletchley Park as “a polite, haunted house” in which young people, some as young as 13 years old, were called to serve their country during the war. Today, the mansion serves as a museum.
On their visit, the authors explored and if a door was locked, for example, they questioned why the door was locked. They would build their inquisitiveness about Bletchley Park into the dialogue of their characters.
In examining historical photos, the authors realized a hedge maze existed on the estate. “What a gift to writers!” Sepetys exclaimed. “If we had not done research/investigation using those historical photos, we never would have known about the hedge maze,” she admitted. “It is no longer on the estate today. Sepetys encouraged the students by telling them “sometimes, the story comes searching for you.”
Sheinkin displayed the “Official Secrets Act” which was a law in the U.K. and is still in existence in many countries today. He informed the students individuals who signed this paper had to agree “never to talk about it (what they did) to anyone for the rest of your life.”
Sheinkin continued to explain individuals of all different jobs were brought to Bletchley Park including musicians, chess players and mathematicians because each brought a unique talent to the needs of the country fighting this war.
The authors selected a student to recite the act pledge for the entire auditorium so they could now meet their “enemy,” the Enigma machine. The Germans thought the Enigma was unbreakable, but the people at Bletchley Park broke the code.
The authors emphasized skills from various content areas like language arts, social studies, science and math are all necessary when writing novels. They explained how spies would use codes to send messages during wartimes and to beat the enemy, you would have to know how to break the codes.
“The Bletchley Riddle” is the collaboration of both authors and their pursuit of intriguing young adults with historical fiction. Sepetys also reminded students “revision is a gift” and that she considers herself a “rewriter.” She explained “having the opportunity to change things and fix it to make it better” is a gift.
During the Q&A session, students asked about the title of the book, how the cover was designed and how the two authors met to write this book.
Sepetys shared both authors were at a panel event and she was asked if she could write a novel with anyone living or dead, who would it be? Sepetys said “he is very much alive and he is right there!” She said she was pointing directly at Sheinkin.
After that event, the two authors exchanged emails and decided to work together. Writing “The Bletchley Riddle” took five years because the authors mentioned many times writers work on more than one project at a time.
The authors would hold 2-3 hour Zoom sessions and brainstorm Sheinkin’s character “Jacob” and Sepetys’ character “Lizzie.” They noted they would create an outline and plan the next steps. Then, they each would take time to write their own chapters from their characters’ points of view and then reconvene.
Students also inquired about titles and covers for books. The authors explained both are tested on audiences of readers and different titles and covers are used in different countries for the same book.
Sheinkin is an American author of suspenseful books for young adults. A former textbook writer, he began writing full-time nonfiction books for young adults in 2008 and has been recognized for making historical information more accessible to young adult readers.
He had written three fictional graphic novels about Rabbi Harvey, a fictional rabbi who also serves as an Old West sheriff utilizing Jewish rabbinical wisdom as an alternative to solving problems rather than using firearms.
His novel “Bomb: The Race to Build- and Steal- the World’s Most Dangerous Weapon” is a 2013 Newbery Honor book as well as a Sibert Medal winner. He has also written “The Port Chicago 50: Disaster, Mutiny and the Fight for Civil Rights” which is a 2015 Carter G. Woodson Book Award winner.
Sheinkin’s work in “Most Dangerous: Daniel Ellsberg and the Secret History of the Vietnam War,” which won a Margaret A. Edwards Award, has been described as “the best study of the Vietnam War for teen readers.” His novel “Impossible Escape” received a Sydney Taylor Book Award Honor.
Sepetys is a Lithuanian-American writer of historical fiction who is a New York Times and international best-selling author who also earned a Carnegie Medal and accolades from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. She is the first American writer of young adult literature to speak before the European Parliament and NATO.
Her notable works include “Between Shades of Gray,” “Out of the Easy,” “Salt to the Seas,” “Fountains of Silence” and now “The Bletchley Riddle.”
She shared with the students she graduated from college with a degree in finance and started her own entertainment management firm representing songwriters and recording artists. These experiences led to her first novel in 2011. She describes herself as a “seeker of lost stories” who hopes to “give voice to those who weren’t able to tell their story.”
Sepetys was included in a commemorative postage stamp series in 2018 to celebrate the 100 year anniversary of Lithuania’s original independence.
The authors took time to personally sign books for students, staff and families who ordered them before they made their way to Eyer Middle School to present to the students there in the afternoon.
PRESS PHOTOS BY LISA DRAPERAuthors Steve Sheinkin and Ruta Sepetys promote their new book with help from students Theodore Felegy and Grace Whitaker, along with LMMS Librarian Alice Boulrice.
Theodora Krahulik-Knapp, center, earns a decoder pen from authors Ruta Sepetys and Steve Sheinkin for volunteering to take the secret code oath.
Authors Steve Sheinkin and Ruta Sepetys personally sign copies of their latest collaboration for students who purchased copies.
