Best-Selling Author Tells Brooks Students: 'I Enjoy Scaring Children'

Author Adam Gidwitz, who readily admits he writes “messed up and bloody stories,” delighted Brooks Middle School 6th graders Friday.

“Why do I write messed up stories like this for kids? There are two answers,” the author of A Tale Dark & Grimm, In A Glass Grimmly  and The Grimm Conclusion said.

“The first one is I really enjoy scaring children. It’s fun. You can’t just go out on the street and go ‘boo.’ So I write it down, he said. “The second is all of the things that happen in my books not only are based on (the original Grimm) fairy tales but they are also based on things that actually happened to me. What I do for my books is I go through this book and find the grimmest, weirdest, funniest, bloodiest stories I can, and I weave them into one story.”

Gidwitz told the young Brooks writers his goal is to help them think about the feelings they have.

“My guess is all of you have been in a situation where people teased you or you were good at something and nobody recognized it. I have definitely felt that way,” the Brooklyn, NY resident said. “So when I write these books about scary, bloody things, I’m doing my part to help you and me think about our feelings…confusion, disappointment.”

The visit was sponsored by the Anderson’s Bookstore “Authors in School” program.