Susan+Campbell+Bartoletti

Ms. Bartoletti is the author of many award-winning books for young people, including //Black Potatoes: the Story of the Great Irish Famine// and //Growing Up in Coal Country//. She lives near Scranton, Pennsylvania, with her husband. They have two grown children. //Also by Susan Campbell Bartoletti// //Hitler Youth: Growing Up in Hitler's Shadow// A Newbery Honor Book A Sibert Honor Book An Orbis Pictus Award Honor Book A Sydney Taylor Notable Book Parents' Gold Choice Award IRA Notable Book for a Global Society CBC/NCSS Notable Social Studies Trade Books for Young People For me, a story begins with setting. Setting reveals a great deal about my characters: for instance, it determines how they look, dress, act, and even how they talk. When I begin a book, I need to know at least two dimensions of setting -- where and when the story takes place. But wait! Did you notice I said //two dimensions//? Are you wondering how many dimensions there are in story setting? According to Stephen Hawking, author of //A Brief History of Time//, there are four. (In his book, he explains story time in terms of the four coordinates of an event.) The four dimensions of story time, or setting are: 1. When the story takes place. 2. Where the story takes place. 3. How much time the story covers from beginning to end. 4. Level or degree of conflict in which the story's struggle occurs. This dimension will be explained a bit more thoroughly below. Using the first two dimensions, I will show you how my story was created. In order to write //The Boy Who Dared//, I had to understand a great deal about the time period during which the story takes place - those terrible twelve years known as the Third Reich. I found it helpful to understand the following historical terms and people (listed below). How did I learn about them? I looked them up. I read. I researched. If you look at the bibliography in //Hitler Youth: Growing Up in Hitler's Shadow,// you will see the sources of my exhaustive research. I read each and every one of those books - and took copious notes. But you should be able to do some pretty good research with a dictionary, an encyclopedia, and perhaps a Web site or two.
 * About the Author:**
 * Susan Campbell Bartoletti** encountered Helmuth Hübener's amazing story while writing //Hitler Youth: Growing Up in Hitler's Shadow//. She was so moved by his heroic actions that she wanted to flesh out his story into a fictional form. She also wanted to provide a dramatic meditation on the meaning of his short life that raises questions about moral courage, nationalism, and individual responsibility.
 * Setting:**
 * Understanding the Third Reich:**