Finland’s dark period, between 1930 and 1945, provides the source material for three of his historical novels written for both adult and young adult readers.

William Durbin will discuss three of his novels: “The Darkest Evening” (about the Finnish Americans who left for Karelia in the early 1930’s) “The Winter War” (which follows the first of the three wars Finland fought with the Soviet Union,) and his latest novel, “The Hidden Room,” (about a Jewish family in hiding in the Ukraine during the final months of WWII,) All three books give readers much to think about how war impacts children and families, not just countries. To place the novels into a contemporary context, Durbin will briefly share some of the parallels between Stalin’s unprovoked invasion of Finland and Putin’s ongoing assault on Ukraine. Durbin will talk about these books and how young readers can connect to both history and the larger contemporary world.

PRESENTER

William Durbin is a winner of the Great Lakes Book Award and a two-time winner of the Minnesota Book Award. He has published 14 novels for young readers, including Song of Sampo Lake, The Darkest Evening, The Journal of Otto Peltonen, and The Hidden Room. His other honors include a Junior Library Guild Selection, Bank Street College Children’s Book of Year list, the ALA’s Amelia Bloomer list, New York Library Books for the Teen Age list, Maud Hart Lovelace nomination, Jefferson Cup Series of Note Award, America’s Award commended title, and a Book Sense Summer Pick.