When my program was finished, I stayed with a family for two more weeks, spending a total of two months in Japan. I loved living and, when I understood mortality, it really scared me. Gratz lives in North Carolina with his wife and daughter. The entire book was oh I'm going to live!, oh wait no I'm not!, oh I'm going to live! But with betrayals and deadly risks at every turn, can the Allies do what it takes to win? Study Guide. The black soldiers who couldnt interact with the white soldiers. That allows a kid in fourth or fifth grade to not be scarred by something on the page. My biggest chunk of research is from books. Can Brandon surviveand escape? I received a letter last Christmas from a parent whose child had read Refugee. Definitely. The boy came to his mother and said that instead of getting Christmas presents, he wanted to donate money to UNICEF. Ive always wanted to visit Japan, and I was thumbing through a travel guide when I saw a picture of a Japanese man in a kimono throwing out the first pitch at a baseball tournament in 1915. If I hear a scene in my head, I scribble it down when the muse speaks, you listen and take notes! The first installment of a new middle grade series, Sara Shepard's "Penny Draws a Best Friend" follows young Penny Lowry as she navigates changing friendships, a family secret and her feelings of anxiety. Im trying to write a book that shows D-Day from many points of view and how it was a huge coordinated effort. You can help refugee families by donating money to one of the many groups who help refugees through every phase of their three lives. Two degrees of temperature rise. Kids arent really supposed to be on social media and, when they are, theyre not following authors. Then I hit the library, and for the next few months I only did research. at the World Trade Center in New York City. But there wasnt a book about the MS St. Louis for young readers. ), and then I began writing. And of course at the same time, I was seeing images on the news and on the Internet about the Syrian Civil War, and the millions of Syrian refugees looking for some place of safety. National Book Festival Still to this day, there are many American men who survived fighting in the Pacific who will never speak about what they saw or did. When I was in grade school I produced a newspaper called the Blue Spring Lane News for my street, and by fifth grade I had written my first book. I liked reading, but it took an exceptional book to hold my attention. Gratzs deeply moving writing paints vivid images of the loss and fear of those who lived through the trauma of 9/11. The biggest, most top-secret operation ever, with the Allied nations coming together to storm German-occupied France. Josef is a Jewish boy in 1930s Nazi Germany. The League of Seven is the first book in an action-packed, steampunk series by the acclaimed author of Samurai Shortstop, Alan Gratz. Images & Videos (born 1972). Look for him online at alangratz.com. To learn more about cookies and your cookie choices. But the American Library Association estimates that 85-97% of all book challenges and bans in the United States go unreported. All three kids go on harrowing journeys in search of refuge. If I ever did sell it, I think a lot of people I once knew would recognize themselves in it, and theyd probably sue me for defamation of character. He also told me not to come back. . Novels Two Degrees In the Sierra Nevada mountains of California, Akira and her horse struggle to escape a massive wildfire. So I spelled it the German way. Gratzs next books were Something Rotten (2007) and Something Wicked (2008), both part of the Horatio Wilkes Mysteries series. . Nope. (Pretty awesome, huh?) Ive been very lucky to have gotten terrific covers for each of my books a testament to the talents of mypublishersart departments! Nothing will ever be the same. But he told me that, when he was a kid on the island of Okinawa, the day that the Americans invaded, The Japanese army pulled me and all the other middle school boys out of school. Two of my favorite organizations work specifically with refugee children around the world. I get this question a lot, and it always surprises me. Wow! In line at the grocery store, reading a magazine, surfing the internet. Refugee follows the stories of three different children and their families, each attempting to flee their violent homelands, in different regions of the world and during different decades. Jack is one of the bravest people Ive ever met. Alan's award-winning books include The Brooklyn Nine, Fantasy Baseball, Starfleet Academy: The Assassination Game, Prisoner B-3087, and The League of Seven, the first in a series of alternate history middle grade fantasy novels. But covers are terribly important. Projekt is the German spelling of the word project, and Projekt 1065 was the real code name for the worlds first jet planethe Messerschmidt 262Me. The restthe mistakesare all on me. Hideki Kaneshiro is an Okinawa school boy when the US military lands on the island, April 1, 1945. What if I just wrote one book, and combined all three stories? You're awesome. What do we tell them? When and where do you do your writing? . Putting fictional kids in danger since 2006thats my tagline. Were Michael or any of the other characters real people? He also wrote plays, magazine articles, and radio commercials. Where did you get the idea for Fantasy Baseball? Scholastic Press, $17.99 Oct. ISBN 978-1-338-24571-4. Yes. Readers in eighth grade or high school. Look for him online at alangratz.com. But when the two of them collide in the middle of the battle, the choices they make in that single instant will change everything. This MG book will be a hit with my students & generate a bunch of conversations between them & their parents. As adults, we forget. We had to create our own detectives for that class, and thats when Horatio was born. I had planned to at least do a third book in the series, one calledSomething Foolish, whichloosely followed the plot of A Midsummer Nights Dream but the series never sold well enough to write it. Befriend. Prisoner B-3087 (2013) is a historical thriller based on the true story of a boy who was sent to several concentration camps during World War II. All rights reserved. I had been writing a bunch of different time periods and mysteries, sports, science fiction, and fantasy, then I was asked to speak with Jack Gruener, whose story was told in Prisoner B-3087. (Also because it looks really cool with a K in it!). How much of it really happened? It was a treasure trove to see different walks of life represented, unfiltered. The ball sailed over the pitchers mound, over first base, over the fence, and into the bleachers, where it hit my little brother in the arm. As someone who will never forget the sequence of that day, reading this pulled me back 20 years and definitely stirred up a lot of emotion. Its very easy to look at D-Day through the lens of being a military achievement. 2023 Oklahoma Sequoyah Intermediate Book Award Winner In time for the twentieth anniversary of 9/11, master storyteller Alan Gratz delivers a pulse-pounding and unforgettable take on history and hope, revenge and fear -- and the stunning links between the past and present. American author Alan Gratz was best known for writing books for middle-school children and young adults. Oh, and Horatios car is my best friends old hand-me-down car. Aside from the content perhaps requiring a slightly older age recommendation, why are you drawn to writing for this age group? When I felt like I could construct a chapter outline of my story, I stopped reading and started building the story. If you werent a writer, what would you be? Multiple titles for book club discussion groups, Juvenile Fiction / Action & Adventure / Survival Stories, Juvenile Fiction / Historical / Military & Wars. Meanwhile, Gratz continued to write stand-alone novels, many of which were thrillers. You're awesome. I made a commitment to stop writing books full of white people. It says Prisoner B-3087 is a novel. Ground Zerowill appeal to middle-grade readers, who were born after the events of 9/11, and to those adults who lived through it and will never forget. Alan lives in North Carolina with his wife and daughter. I also like building things, like chicken coops and woodsheds and catapults. And despite what my dad thinks, I really am in my office researching, outlining, writing, or taking care of writing business stuff all day. Created by the original team behind SparkNotes, LitCharts are the world's best literature guides. Jack and his wife Ruth took his story to Scholastic, and they immediately saw that it would make a great book. Yeah, this is difficult; its something I struggle with. Alan Gratz is an American award-winning, New York Times bestselling author of young adult fantasy novels. What does your research process entail? Wendi made a couple for Jo, and they were a hit. . They estimate that nearly 2/3 of the civilian population died and that there were almost no men over the age of 18 left alive. We either look back and think theyre all child and should be protected from the horrors of the world, or we think theyre all adult, they shouldnt be horsing around anymore. The idea for Code of Honor came from trying to write a contemporary thriller with a seventeen-year-old hero. Then gohere. Knoxville, Tennessee. A tour de force from acclaimed author Alan Gratz (Prisoner B-3087 . Is Samurai Shortstop saying its okay to commit suicide? We hope you and your family enjoy the NEW Britannica Kids. How do you balance representing the darkness of war with writing a book that is appropriate for a young audience? Alan gets a lot of e-mails and letters from fans asking him questions about his books and his life. And another. But Michael has a secret. Gratz has done an amazing job of capturing the heart of 9/11 and making it appropriate for this particular age group. I went to middle school and high school at Webb School in Knoxville, then went to the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, for both undergraduate and graduate school. Choose a language from the menu above to view a computer-translated version of this page. 1 i Samurai Shortstop Alan Gratz 2006 View on Amazon 2 i Something Rotten Horatio Wilkes, Book 1 Alan Gratz 2007 View on Amazon 3 i Something Wicked Horatio Wilkes, Book 2 Alan Gratz 2008 View on Amazon 4 i The Brooklyn Nine Alan Gratz 2009 View on Amazon 5 i Fantasy Baseball Alan Gratz by Jarrett J. Krosoczka. All I needed then was a story for him. Its been written about many times and [there are] lots of movies about it, but I wanted to write something accessible to middle school readers. As a joke, I suggested we pretend there were baseball teams in famous kids books, like the Neverland Lost Boys from Peter Pan, or the Oz Cyclones from The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Youve written historical fiction, fantasy, sports-themed, and contemporary novels. I finally found my way into it with Refugee. Its infamous, a day the world came together to begin to end WWII. Books that help them answer questions that they have about the world theyre seeing and form opinions about that world. When two planes hit the towers, Brandon and his father are trapped inside a fiery nightmare as terror and confusion swirl around them. What a read! How much was actually a failure and how astounding it is that it did work. Do you ever do tours or author visits? One morning we got up to walk on the beach, and we found a raft refugees had taken to come to the United States. In 2016, more than 300 books were challenged or bannedwhich means that thousands more happened without anyone ever hearing about them. I used to be an eighth-grade English teacher. I had two reasons for beginning Samurai Shortstop with a depiction of Toyos uncle killing himself. They kept asking when I would write more about WWII. Never. Yes! Id been trying to write books that are great reads and also mean something, but I didnt have a great way of referring to it. And there are characters in Refugee who share some of my characteristicslike Josef, all I wanted when I was a kid was to be a grown up, and like Mahmouds father, when things go bad I like to joke around. 2021 Amazon.com Childrens Top 20 Best Books of the Year So Far His childhood was quite carefree and humid, after which he joined the University of Tennessee and earned his College Scholars degree. I hope that, in some small way, Im following in the footsteps of Natalie Babbitt. It was incredible. Do I want my young readers to take something else away? Are you going to write a sequel to Code of Honor? Theres no question about it. I tell readers that people jump off cliffs, but I dont tell you what happens when they fall. Her family and village become targets when they decide to extend sanctuary according to Muslim tradition when he enters their home. I tried to show in the book that this is what happens when innocent people are caught between two bigger powers and myriad ways of killing. Three climate disasters. As to where I write, my family and I live in a house we designed and built (a lotof) ourselves, and I have a small office with a nice view of the woods. Alan Gratz. But every single thing that happens to them really happened to a refugee at some point. MAHMOUD is a Syrian boy in 2015. He showed us the whole picture and the true complexity of the world and wars which I'm sure was hard to do with such a still recent event. Thank you! He and his parents are spies. If I hadn't been forced to read it for school I wouldn't of. The French Algerian Muslims who fought in the resistance. Look for him online at alangratz.com. I was worried it was going to be an "us against them" approach. Life Alan Gratz was born in Knoxville, Tennessee. I hadnt planned on writing a bunch of books set during WWII. Brandon goes to work with his Dad on 9/11 who works on the 107 floor of the World Trade Center. So, the newspaper began interviewing anyone and everyone. Ive filled five and a half books in fifteen years. Ive had the idea for Grenade for quite some time but was trying to find my way in. Where did you get the idea for Refugee? They are adult enough to flip that switch. WWII was perhaps the one war where our reasons for fighting it were incredibly clear, especially in retrospect, when we see the actions of Nazi Germany clearly and we understand what we stopped. This book was real - I had both tears and chills. Grenade is your third novel set during WWII. I rewrite things that are choppy or dont work, bounce the story off trusted early readers, and then go through another round or three of corrections. My terrific editor, Aimee Friedman, knows Im trying to push the boundaries and its her job to push back a little bit until we find that right place in the middle. Hideki Kaneshiro is an Okinawa school boy when the US military lands on the island, April 1, 1945. It was really good and had a great climax. I wrote down stuff like airships, rayguns, secret societies, Native Americans, giant monsters, mad scientists, clockwork machine men, and brains in jars. Conscripted by the Japanese Army to be part of the Blood Iron Student Corps which was made up of Hideki is a middle schooler in Okinawa during World War II. Gratz returned to World War II in Grenade (2018) and Allies (2019). A new, third level of content, designed specially to meet the advanced needs of the sophisticated scholar. Books like Refugee and others help to open a window into a world that they may see briefly on television or hear about, but that they dont know in depth. 2023 Mississippi Magnolia Award Winner We did and saw the mess that happen after but it does make you wonder if it was all worth it. PW site license members have access to PWs subscriber-only website content. Some nonprofit organizations have very specific missions, like rescuing people fleeing the Middle East by boat or battling disease in refugee camps. All the runners scored. One of the characters is an Algerian girl who is a fighter in the Muslim French resistance. Not everything in my idea books will turn into a novel, but theyre great places to experiment and have fun without the pressure of turning them into a real story. I spent a week reading all of the Goodreads Choice Awards finalists in the Middle Grade category, complete with my entire thoughts on each book, and which books I think should have won and in what order. Go read it. So that first chapter has to be graphic and scary, otherwise we as readers wouldnt understand what the big deal is. "You can live as a ghost, waiting for death to come, or you can dance ." In his newest historical thriller, Grenade, WWII comes to Okinawa, where Japan demands that boys such as 13-year old Hideki defend their home against the American soldiers theyve been told to fear. Ice. A dozen or so books later, and I had a story about a boy blending bushido with baseball and . Request ADA accommodations five business days in advance at (202) 707-6362 or ADA@loc.gov. The Americans are about to land on the island Read full review. The tentative title is Operation D-Day. In that case Id be writing books about Iceland, Australia, and Machu Picchu. I do my best, then Ill get people to read and tell me what they know. Well, you sit down at your computer and start writing. In 2006, he published his first novel, Samurai Shortstop, an ALA 2007 Top Ten Book for Young Adults. It was only in passing that he told me, and I didnt get to sit down with him and learn more. 2023 Sakura Medal Nominee I was there for six weeks and worked with sixth, seventh, and eights grade students on writing historical fiction. Shop books by Alan Gratz below! There are clear bad guys and clear good guys and very little politics. No. This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers. Several of your books fall in between the categories of middle grade and young adult and are recommended for ages 10 and older. Theyre starting to look at the larger world and ask bigger questions. $ 4.19 - $ 13.89. Hes retired now, and works as a commentator for MLB Network. I think there are 10 to 12 points of view throughout, but its not like in Refugee. One devastating day. The Story of Brandon and Reshmina. One of the chapters I ended up cutting from Prisoner B-3087 was a scene where Jack runs into a kid in the Hitler Youth. but I never try to push past the inspiration in the outline phase. Some of his best known works include: Ground Zero (2021), Refugee (2017), Grenade (2018), Allies (2019), Projekt 1065 (2016), among others. Once I know in detail what is going to happen, I sit down to the keyboard and try to figure out how to tell it. 33 Resources1 . This website uses cookies to help deliver and improve our services and provide you with a much richer experience during your visit. Award-winning, critically acclaimed author Alan Gratz (Prisoner B-3087) returns with another gripping World War II story, this time about a spy in the Hitler Youth.Infiltrate. It would have been a very white book with just one perspective. I was an eighth grade English teacher before I was a full-time writer, so I suspect thats what I would be doing. In his newest historical thriller, Grenade, WWII comes to Okinawa, where Japan demands that boys such as 13-year old Hideki defend their home against the American soldiers they've been told to fear. Alan Gratz is the acclaimed author of several books for young readers, including Prisoner B-3087, which was named to YALSA's 2014 Best Fiction for Young Adults list; Code of Honor, a YALSA 2016 Quick Pick; Projekt 1065; and The Brooklyn Nine, which was among Booklist 's Top Ten Sports Books. Publishers Weekly Bestseller List There were some really terrible things that happened during the Battle of Okinawa that my first draft of Grenade included. Then I realized I could have an Irish kid as my main character, but because he was thirteen years old, he would have to be in the Hitler Youth, and would be my hero. When I think about what an idiot I was at that age, I cannot imagine the burden put on those kids. Of course, I was doing a lot more research about this time, this one mans story, and stories like his. In time for the 20th anniversary of 9/11, Ground Zero delivers a pulse-pounding and unforgettable take on history and hope, revenge and fearand the stunning links between the past and present. You can look the place and people up online to learn more about them. Why is Projekt 1065 spelled with a K? We understand why the sacrifice was worth it. But I love it for a different reason: it talks to the two people these readers are. So we weren't able to do anything but follow the news, imagining the worst as we waited for the travel agency to get back to us with updates as to whether or not my grandma and her sister were scheduled to visit the Twin Towers that day or were in the area during the attack. Then I learned that Ireland had been neutral in World War II, and so they had diplomats and ambassadors in Nazi Germanydiplomats and ambassadors who were really working as spies! Gratz spoke with PW about the appeal of stories set during WWII, his mission to write social thrillers, and the importance of writing for children who are transitioning into adulthood. Are there going to be any more Horatio novels? A Tear jerking story of survival that I won't forget anytime soon. Michael O'Shaunessey, originally from Ireland, now lives in Nazi Germany with his parents. JOSEF is a Jewish boy living in 1930s Nazi Germany. Believe it or not, you still find a lot of controversy. I heard a really great podcast interview with Jordan Peele, who referred to Get Out as a social thriller. I heard that, and a bell went off in my head. Take a minute to check out all the enhancements! I meet lots of people in my travels and, once they know what I write about, everyone has a story to share. But Ive always been a greater fan than player. Many others weren't as lucky though, and this story was definitely an important one to be told and to remember the lives that were lost and the brave souls who sacrificed their lives helping others. Thats what Toyo is fighting against the whole time. And eventually I came up with the characters, setting, and plot that became the League of Seven trilogy! This book was very hard to read and upsetting, due to the nature of the subject matter. So many of these stories are incredible, theyre about people showing incredible bravery, particularly when they were young, fighting in a war. You have successfully joined Alan's newsletter list! I made it all up! Its the 75th anniversary next year. I leave that up to the imaginations of my readers and thats the only concession that I make. Weve been busy, working hard to bring you new features and an updated design. I also wish I could draw comics. WWII books, particularly for MG, have been really, really strong. Typing on the computer is so much faster, and allows me to cut and paste and rework with the words right in front of me. One mission in common: ESCAPE. If I were still teaching 6th or 7th grade reading, this author would be one I could recommend to certain students. When he is drafted to fight for the Japanese army, he is handed a grenade and told: Don't come back until you've killed an American soldier. That is, hes seventeen years old in Rotten, and Id been writing about Horatio Wilkes since I took a Mystery and Detective Fiction class in college seventeen years before he ever made it to print. . And did I mention you actually have to sit down at your computer or your notebook and start writing? His 2017 novel. The first is UNICEF, the United Nations International Childrens Emergency Fund, which is working to keep Syrian children from becoming a lost generation by providing life-saving medical services, food, water, sanitation, and education both within Syria and wherever Syrian refugees have fled. But none of my characters is ever completely me. You write a lot about baseball. He did an exceptional job at showing us that it isn't "us against them". Three different threats. A must-have. Call:1-800 -278-2991 (outside US/Canada, call +1-847-513-6135) 8:00 am - 4:30 pm, Monday-Friday (Central). Once an eighth-grade teacher, Alan Gratz now writes books for middle schoolers that entertain while encouraging readers to ask questions of the world around them. Once I heard Jacks account of his time in the camps, I couldnt resistit was such an incredible story! A soldier gets hurt and Reshmina gets her family to help him but at what cost. He finds his class conscripted to fight as the island bears up for the battle of Okinawa. But then I can talk to them about the Holocaust, the Hitler Youth, terrorism, war, and refugees and they go with me. Alan Gratz is the New York Times bestselling author of several books for young readers, including Allies, Grenade, Refugee, Projekt 1065, and Prisoner B-3087, all of which have won numerous awards and accolades. Some of them were in Poland, some of them were in the Czech Republic, and others were in Germany itself. Alan Gratz. So yeah, Im a fan. Alan was also the co-winner in 2003 of the Kimberly Colen Memorial Grand from Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators. They see and hear hateful rhetoric from politicians on the news. To say that my favorite food is pizza is like saying that my favorite thing to breathe is air. Sign up for our Children's Bookshelf newsletter! I will never ever know as much as a person from that community. Game show host. My terrific editor wrote to me one day and asked me what I would do with a story about baseball and different generations of a family, and I came back to her with the idea of nine innings nine generations of one American family and their connections to baseball throughout the decades. Sometimes too honest, and I dont want to talk to her for a few days, but then I get over it. Ive received more about Prisoner than all my other books combined. Shop best-selling, new, classic and award-winning books and toys for kids of all ages. It felt like this was a story that needed to be told. Gratz attended Webb School (Knoxville) and the University of Tennessee. Many of them didnt have to use the second grenade; when they ran up against American servicemen, they were killed very quickly and easily. My greatest Little League moment: I misplayed a long drive to left field, then absolutely launched the ball, trying to throw a runner out at the plate. 336 pages, Hardcover First published February 2, 2021 Book details & editions About the author Alan Gratz 43 books3,243 followers Follow Alan Gratz is the bestselling author of a number of novels for young readers. I cant imagine writing a book I wouldnt read! If I didnt like what I was writing, it would be awful and the books probably would be too! 2022-2023 Ohio Buckeye Book Award Nominee Can they survive when their army is after him? My favorite part was the eighth graders; I could do without administration, grading, and parents, but being in the classroom with the students was awesome. September 11, 2001. Im kicking around a couple ideas for after. I would have preferred to have read Brandon's novella first and then Reshmina's with the author bringing them together at the end. Part of National Book Festival ; 2023 National Book Festival. There have been books about it, and movies, even an opera! TM & Scholastic Inc. All Rights Reserved. September 11, 2019. I also share a lot of the emotions and frustrations of my characters at times, but Im not Toyo, or Horatio, or Jack, or Kamran, or any of the characters in The Brooklyn Nine or The League of Seven. Prisoner B-3087: Introduction A concise biography of Alan Gratz plus historical and literary context for Prisoner B-3087. Gratz was born on January 27, 1972, in Knoxville, Tennessee. I was born in 1972. The idea for Samurai Shortstop had been percolating for a month or two when I thought of the title and a rough story idea. When I visited Japan, it was because I wrote a book about Japan; that was really why I got invited over. Like the other boys in his school, Michael is a member of the Hitler Youth.But Michael . Are any of the three main characters in Refugee real people? A bowl of popcorn. In Grenade American and Japanese forces clash during the Battle of Okinawa, while Allies (2019) follows several soldiers and civilians during and after D-Day. Where did you grow up and go to school? With the threat of concentration camps looming, he and his family board a ship bound for the other side of the world Isabel is a Cuban girl in 1994. Flood. Yes and no. Is Ichiko a real school? Were all the books in Ban This Book really challenged or banned? Many people were wrapped up in it, not just white, middle class American men. Brooklyn Nine (2009) follows nine generations of a Brooklyn, New York, family connected through baseball. Alan lives in North Carolina with his wife and daughter. Then Id come out of my office mad that I hadnt gotten words on the page. So yeah, Id read my own books even if I wasnt the author. I like to think Im doing something like that for my readers, that Im assuming maturity and intelligence of my readers and that they think about things. I voluntarily reviewed this book. I mentioned earlier how so much of WWII is black and white, but, in the Pacific, its not as clear. Rewarding for teachers, easy for families, fun for kids a love of reading is inside every Book Box. I read books, yes, but I didnt always have my nose buried in a book all the time the way some people do.
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