Celebrated Author Visits Lakewood Middle Schools

LAKEWOOD, OH - Reading can open portals to new worlds and cultivate a sense of awe at the world. Writing can allow people to open portals into their own minds, crawling around until they discover something they didn't know they had within them.

Author Susan Campbell Bartoletti shared her insights on the joys of writing with students at Garfield and Harding Middle Schools on Oct. 4.

The award-winning author of primarily non-fiction books for children and teenagers such as Hitler Youth, The Boy Who Dared and Growing Up in Coal Country, shared her method of writing and answered many interesting questions from the students.

Bartoletti’s books focus on historical events or eras. She has won a Newbery Honor Medal among numerous other awards. She shared with the students how often she spends a year or more researching her subject before writing even begins. A new book can take her anywhere from two to four years to finish. She shared how a novel is structured and how she always looks for “the moment when everything is different” to find the hook to start a book.

Before becoming a full-time writer, Bartoletti taught 8th grade English for 18 years. She said she never passes up a chance to visit with middle school students.

Bartoletti’s visit was made possible by the District’s partnership with the Lakewood Public Library.

Image from Lakewood Schools