Shadows of the Holocaust

McCormick Place: my rabbit hole When a book is released, a writer goes from a quiet, almost monastic existence to a minor celebrity's frenetic pace...overnight. Speeches, dinners, signings dramatically change the tenor of life. I often think of Dorothy's words in The Wizard of Oz, "I'm not in Kansas anymore." Yesterday, I signed books at the International Reading Association's conference at McCormick Place in Chicago, where I felt like another ...

The Sick Child by Edvard Munch Excerpted and paraphrased from an article in the New York Times by Susan Gilbert Adolescent and pre-adolescent girls who were overly anxious grew up to be roughly one to two inches shorter, on average, than other girls, according to a study published in Pediatrics. The reason: children and adults of both sexes with anxiety or depression have lower-than-normal amounts of growth hormone which stimulates ...

From Dr. Judith Lewis Herman's Trauma and Recovery, a definitive work on this subject: Dr. Judith Herman, author of "Trauma and Recovery" "The ordinary response to atrocities is to banish them from consciousness. Certain violations of the social compact are too terrible to utter aloud: this is the meaning of the word unspeakable. "Atrocities, however, refuse to be buried. Equally as powerful as the desire to deny atrocities is the ...

"They may try to avoid people and places that remind them of the trauma..." A library patron who attended one of my speeches sent me this comment: "I enjoyed your appearance at the Warren Newport Library yesterday... I have been married for 41 years and, as a result of your speech, I learned more about my wife. "Her mother died when she was 8. She was then passed from relative ...

This week, I met with my "Young Writers-in-Progress" class, a group of talented teenagers who hope to become writers. I wrote on the board this counter-intuitive statement: Motivation Productivity Productivity Motivation Exactly what does this mean? Motivation does not result in productivity. Productivity results in motivation. Once you start writing, you will keep writing. Do not wait for inspiration!

Whether set in Elizabethan England or the middle of the twentieth century, historical fiction shows today’s readers the differences and similarities of growing up in another era. This year’s top 10 list of historical fiction titles features books reviewed in the last 12 months in Booklist. Alchemy and Meggy Swann. By Karen Cushman. Clarion, Gr. 4–8. Ashes. By Kathryn Lasky. Viking, Gr. 8–12 Blessing’s Bead. By Debby Dahl Edwardson. Farrar/Melanie ...

Hardcover Fiction 1. The Last time I Saw You by Elizabeth Berg 2. Imperfect Birds by Anne Lamott 3. Solar by Ian McEwan 4. The Three Weissmans of Westport by Cathleen Schine 5. Matterhorn by Karl Marlantes Hardcover Nonfiction 1. The Big Short by Michael Lewis 2. The Bridge by David Remnick 3. This Is Not the Story You Think It Is by Laura Munson 4. Women Food and God ...

Edith Westerfeld Schumer My mother, Edith, who is now 84 years old, still types with two fingers and thinks that only birds "tweet," posted her first Facebook message on my wall yesterday: "Dear Fern, Congratulations--Thank You for bringing my story to the world. Love Mom" Note: She still capitalizes the pronoun "you," which is correct German grammar.

My barren trellis Three years ago, I spent way too much money on a large climbing rosebush which I hoped would weave an ornate blanket of apricot flowers through the trellis on the front of my house. The first year, the bush did not disappoint. In fact, it produced 47 roses. Believe me, I counted…every day. I patted myself on the back; my money was well spent. I looked forward ...

"Can I have your electronic autograph?" On Thursday evening, a reader approached me after my speech at Cook Memorial Library in Libertyville, Illinois and asked, "Can you sign my Kindle?" Ahhh, the limitations of technology.