BIO

ONE EYE LAUGHING, THE OTHER WEEPING is the third Dear America book that Barry Denenberg has written. He also wrote WHEN WILL THIS CRUEL WAR BE OVER?: THE CIVIL WAR DIARY OF EMMA SIMPSON and SO FAR FROM HOME: THE DIARY OF MARY DRISCOLL, AN IRISH MILL GIRL as well as one of the first two My Name Is America books, THE JOURNAL OF WILLIAM THOMAS EMERSON: A REVOLUTIONARY WAR PATRIOT. He is also the author of the popular non-fiction titles AN AMERICAN HERO: THE TRUE STORY OF CHARLES A. LINDBERGH and VOICES FROM VIETNAM, both ALA Best Books for Young Adults and New York Public Library Books for the Teenage. Denenberg lives in Westchester County, New York, with his family.

A Talk with Dear America Author Barry Denenberg
by Shannon Maughan

Barry Denenberg is an accomplished author who has written several well-received books for young readers, including two Dear America titles (WHEN WILL THIS CRUEL WAR END?: THE CIVIL WAR DIARY OF EMMA SIMPSON and SO FAR FROM HOME: THE DIARY OF MARY DRISCOLL, AN IRISH MILL GIRL) and one My Name is America book, THE JOURNAL OF WILLIAM THOMAS EMERSON. He's hard at work on more Dear America projects at his home in Bedford, N.Y., but took some time to answer a few questions for Kids Reads. Here's what he had to say.


Bookworm: What kind of research did you do for your Dear America books?

Barry Denenberg: When it comes to research, I really like to gather as much stuff as I can, especially first source materials. I come from a book background; in my early career I ran a bookstore, so I'm very adept at finding all kinds of rare and second-hand books. There is also a great staff at my local bookstore that helps me out.

Once I have the research materials, I know the book can be written. With all the books around I can really transport myself to the time period I'm writing about. I don't watch TV, or read anything else but the research while I'm working on the book. I prefer to over-research, and the more historical material there is, the happier I am.

Bookworm: What was the most fascinating or memorable thing you discovered in your research?

Barry Denenberg: Off the top of my head, I'd have to say that I had some real insights while researching SO FAR FROM HOME. I went to meet with the director of the Lowell Historical Society in Massachusetts; I looked at lots of photos from the time. There was a moment while working on this book that I came to understand that around 1847 women left their homes and their families for the first time and had money in their pockets. They were independent pioneers. This was an insight I had for the first time.

Bookworm: How difficult or easy was it to create a whole life for a character, while incorporating actual historic events?

Barry Denenberg: The ease or difficulty is in direct proportion to the material. The more material there is, the easier it is to create the character. When I was working on WHEN WILL THIS CRUEL WAR END?, I read 175 books on the Civil War and 25 diaries that were written by women. After that I had a real sense of what happened on the homefront and how Emma would think and act.

Bookworm: Sometimes kids believe that the diaries and people in the Dear America books are real. Do you see this as a problem or a compliment?

Barry Denenberg: I see it as a problem that's a part of this positive project. I get hundreds of letters --- I answer each one --- from kids who ask about the characters. Some kids probably know the the characters aren't real, but they're not sure. But most of the kids who read the books are sophisticated enough to know that these books are fictional.

Scholastic puts a disclaimer in the books, so readers will know it's not a real diary. And one thing I never do is use real historical figures, like John Hancock, in my books, to prevent confusion.

Bookworm: What kind of feedback do you get from kids, teachers?

Barry Denenberg: It's overwhelming to see how many kids take to this kind of writing [historical fiction]. They see these books as FUN, much better than studying presidents and kings. The books give the kids a chance to know what it was like to be alive in a different time.

The highest compliment I can receive is when a kid writes me a letter saying "I never read and I don't like history, but I love your books." That's what I was hoping for when I was writing these books; it's why I write. It's a great experience corresponding with kids; I'm very lucky.

Bookworm: Are you excited about the Across Dear America event?

Barry Denenberg: I've never done any book publicity events before this, but I'm doing it now because of these books. It's amazing to see the kids in the bookstores buying them. Dear America is a different way to teach history and people are really responding to it.

Bookworm: What are you working on now?

Barry Denenberg: I just turned in the manuscript for my next My Name is America book which is called THE JOURNAL OF BEN UCHIDA, CALIFORNIA 1942. It's about a boy who is placed in a Japanese internment camp. It's the first really modern book in the series and it was fun to write in a contemporary voice and use modern language.

I'm also working on a new, two-volume Dear America project called ONE EYE LAUGHING, THE OTHER WEEPING. It's about a girl named Julie Weiss who lives in 1938 Vienna. The first volume is about her life in Vienna and in the second volume she has immigrated to New York City. The first volume is scheduled for spring 2001, but that may change.

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