Author Suzanne Jurmain discusses why it's important for children to read non-fiction.

Our Children's Books of the Week are The Forbidden Schoolhouse: The True and Dramatic Story of Prudence Crandall and her Students, and The Secret of the Yellow Death: A True Story of Medical Sleuthing by Suzanne Jurmain

Commitment:  The Forbidden Schoolhouse is the story of Prudence Crandall, a white woman in Connecticut in the 1830s who ran a school for African-American women.  What inspired you to tell this story?

Suzanne Jurmain:  When I was about ten, I read a now out-of-print book about Prudence Crandall, and it was an eye-opening experience.  Nothing in the tolerant, multi-cultural New York world I knew as a young child taught me about the experience of racial prejudice, and I was deeply upset and angered by the injustice described in that book.  At the same time, I was awed by the courage with which Prudence fought racism and inspired by the fact that a woman was able to fight so bravely and selflessly for the rights of others.  As an adult I discovered that very few people were familiar with Prudence Crandall’s extraordinary story, and I knew it was a story I wanted to tell.

Commitment:  The Secret of the Yellow Death is the story of how four army doctors – including Dr. Walter Reed - sought to eradicate yellow fever, one of the world's most vicious plagues.  How did you first learn of these events?

Suzanne:  One of the joys I have experienced—both as a parent and as a children’s writer—is the joy of being able to share my own enthusiasms with a new generation.  It is no accident, therefore, that many of the stories I have chosen to tell as an adult are stories that made a deep impression on me during my childhood.

I have always read widely and voraciously; and, during my childhood, books opened my eyes to many different worlds.  One of those was the world of medicine and science—which I discovered in Paul de Kruif’s Microbe Hunters, a book that tells how scientists conquered various diseases.  All de Kruif’s stories were gripping, but the description of Walter Reed’s conquest of yellow fever left a lasting impression.  In retrospect I think this was because the story was so dramatic, but also because I was so deeply impressed by the willingness of the doctors and the experimental volunteers to risk their lives and health for the sake of others.  Such selflessness--which has always been rare—seems almost extinct in today’s “me first” world.  In fact, it is interesting to note that while Walter Reed had no trouble recruiting volunteers for his dangerous yellow fever experiments a century ago, I recently read that a great deal of current cancer research is hobbled by the unwillingness of many patients to participate in modern clinical studies.

Commitment:  The subjects you cover The Forbidden Schoolhouse and The Secret of the Yellow Death are quite different!  The former deals with the issue of Civil Rights in the pre-Civil War era, and the latter is medical mystery at the turn of the twentieth century.  You have also written George Did It, an account of the making of the first president of the United States.  How did you pick these widely divergent topics to write about?

Suzanne:  The Forbidden Schoolhouse, The Secret of the Yellow Death and George Did It have three things in common:  First, they are all good stories.  Second, they all deal with actual events. And, finally, they are all about courage—a subject that I find fascinating.

The Forbidden Schoolhouse tells the story of an ordinary white schoolteacher who—when confronted with the reality of racism—finds the strength to risk her livelihood, defy the law, and endure brutal public abuse in order to fight for the rights of African American children.  In The Secret of the Yellow Death, four doctors (and a host of volunteers) with faith in the power of science willingly chance their own lives to carry out experiments that they believe will save others from a terrible death.  George Did It  (a picture book for readers in grades 1-3) also deals with courage, but in a light and funny way. By describing how courageous George Washington struggled to overcome his fear of becoming our first president, it shows that even brave, famous people are sometimes just as scared as kids.

Commitment:  Both The Forbidden Schoolhouse and The Secret of the Yellow Death are non-fiction books.  Do you think it is important for kids to read non-fiction?

Suzanne:  I think it is important for kids to read EVERYTHING—fiction, non-fiction, poetry, and prose.  Reading is about exploration, and it is important for children to explore as much as possible.  Fiction offers one way to make discoveries; non-fiction offers another.  Because some badly written non-fiction is dry and “text-y,” non-fiction has sometimes gotten a bad rap.  But facts properly presented can truly be as fascinating as fiction; and, for this reason, I always try to make my factual books as exciting and as readable as any novel.

My special area of non-fiction is, of course, history—a subject that I think should play a role in the lives of all young people.  As children approach adulthood is this complex, frightening world, I think it is important for them to know that in the past real flesh and blood people encountered similar challenges, endured similar hardships, and managed to triumph over great difficulties.

Commitment:  Although they are children's books, both The Forbidden Schoolhouse and The Secret of the Yellow Death are detailed works of non-fiction.  How much research went into writing these books?

Suzanne:  A novelist makes up the dialogue and details that bring a story and characters to life.  A non-fiction writer has to do research to find the words and details that make an historical story live.  In my own search for telling dialogue and details, I have often gone to primary sources—to letters written by my heroes, to court records, old photos, lab notebooks, old newspapers, and even museum artifacts.  In the case of The Forbidden Schoolhouse, I even visited the house where Prudence Crandall had her famous school.  The more a researcher looks, the more treasures he or she finds, so much of the time (often 1-2 years) that I spend on a book, is devoted to research

Commitment:  What are you working on now?

Suzanne:  Right now, I am putting the final touches on The Worst of Friends a new picture book for younger children that will be out in 2010.  It’s the funny and poignant story of John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, two great American heroes who started as best friends, had a terrible fight about politics, and discovered—as old men—that people can have different ideas and still maintain a warm and caring relationship.  I am also doing research for several possible new books and trying to put together a proposal for a television show based on Tubby the Tuba, a famous musical story written by my father, Paul Tripp. But the truth is that my most important, delightful, and time-consuming current job is taking care of my six-month-old puppy!

Born into a theatrical family, Suzanne Jurmain made her acting debut at age four and appeared on numerous television programs during her childhood and adolescence.  An honors graduate of UCLA with specializations in English and history, she worked as an editor at TV GUIDE and at UCLA's Fowler Museum before becoming a freelance writer. Her award-winning books for children have been praised by many publications and organizations, including:  THE SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL, BOOKLIST, The American Library Association, the National Council of Teachers of English, the NAACP, the  Simon Wiesenthal Center, and the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators.

To purchase The Forbidden Schoolhouse, click here.

To purchase The Secret of the Yellow Death, click here.

To purchase George Did It, click here.