They’re more worldly because the world is coming at them and they are looking for books that deal with that. They’re watching television shows and movies that have a lot more sex, language, and violence than ever before. They see and hear hateful rhetoric from politicians on the news. They’ve been going through active shooter drills since elementary school. They have classmates and people in their communities and churches who are refugees.

How do you see the themes of war and discussion of the refugee crisis resonating with today’s readers?įor one thing, I think kids are experiencing more of the world than ever before. When I realized that, at least for the moment, I was having a lot of success with WWII books, the idea for Grenade percolated back to the surface. I’ve had the idea for Grenade for quite some time but was trying to find my way in. WWII books, particularly for MG, have been really, really strong. I was accidentally on the front end of a trend. Kids were really responding to Prisoner, though.

I’ve always been interested in writing about history, but I was more interested in different time periods. I’m fascinated by WWII and always have been. They kept asking when I would write more about WWII. I’ve received more about Prisoner than all my other books combined. Then, I started getting fan mail from kids. My next book was Code of Honor, which is a contemporary thriller. His story was incredible, and I was happy to help him tell the story then I went back to writing other books. 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. So, with Grenade, there are three that are specifically set at that time. I also had a story in Brooklyn Nine, way back at the beginning of my career, that took place during WWII. Refugee has a WWII angle to it one of the three stories is set during WWI.

Prisoner B-3087 and Projekt 1065 are both set during WWII. I hadn’t planned on writing a bunch of books set during WWII. What is it about this time in history that keeps drawing you back? Grenade is your third novel set during WWII.

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