Students get insight into author’s process

After reading The Boy Who Dared, a group of eighth grade English students in Hopkinton were able to converse with the book’s author, Susan Campbell Bartoletti, through Skype, a computer program that allows the students to talk on the phone and see who they are talking with.

The Boy Who Dared is a novel based on a true story about Helmuth Hubener, a German schoolboy who stood up against the Nazis.

The students were part of a book club, an enrichment activity initiated by English teacher Alicia Cross and conducted by librarians Donna Zecha and Janet Moore.

During one lunch period a week, the book club met to read Bartoletti’s book as well as Epic, another book.

The Skype session last Wednesday was the second the students participated in, after having Skyped with the author of Epic in December.

Bartoletti, a Newbury Honor Book Author, treated students to a presentation of how she collected her information for The Boy Who Dared as well as her non-fiction piece based on the same era, Hitler Youth.

Afterwards, students were able to ask Bartoletti more questions.

Students questioned Bartoletti about things such as when and where she likes to write, what her favorite book is and how long it takes for her to write a book.

“It was really fun,” commented eighth grader Finnigan Chick about the conversation. “It’s interesting to listen to the writer’s perspective rather than the teacher.”

Zecha added, “It’s nice to connect with authors and let students have those conversations.”