This week I had the opportunity to visit with kids at a summer reading camp. As you can see, I fit right in. They were each given their own copy of PURE GRIT, and
I showed them different primary sources I had used in my research for the book.
It's always exciting for me to talk about the POW nurses, (not like homework at all) but I've rarely spoken to kids this young who are reading the book. What a privilege to see their interest in the topic! Their curiosity is thrilling.
Several students poured over 1942 copies of LIFE magazine, their eyes wide at the advertisements. Others read correspondence between nurses after the war, and examined photographs.
"Are these real?" they asked.
Looking at copies of official military records from the Army hospitals on Bataan, one
boy wanted to know, "What war was this? Do they have records of all the wars?"
Another student asked, "Where was Hitler when this was happening?"
A student looking at a newspaper article written about one of the nurses 25-years after the war said, "This is really old, right? But that's where you got some of the information for your
book."
Thanks a million to teacher Shannon Gilfeather for inviting me to visit her class! Talking with these kids keeps me centered, and on my toes. They are the readers I'm writing books for. And they're smart.
