Reddit reviews The Endless Steppe: Growing Up in Siberia

Wow! Four eighth grade girls crowding around a single chair to read “Salt to the Sea?” You’ve made my day. And thank you for your questions! Answers:

• I think fiction as a medium for learning about history can be extremely helpful but it’s essential that source material and the real stories be studied as well. After all, historical fiction sits on the shoulders of nonfiction, academic writing, history books, journals, memoir, etc. I love when students become historical investigators and set out to dig up the truth.

• Other WWII historical fiction novels I would recommend are “All the Light We Cannot See,” by Anthony Doerr, “Skeletons at the Feast,” by Chris Bohjalian, and Elizabeth Wein’s novels. An older book, “The Endless Steppe: Growing Up in Siberia” by Esther Hautzig is wonderful too:
https://www.amazon.com/Endless-Steppe-Growing-Up-Siberia/dp/006440577X/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1466460906&sr=1-1

• In terms of grants or fellowships, National Endowment for the Arts has some large grants available https://www.arts.gov/grants-individuals/creative-writing-fellowships
On a state level, I’ve known of historical authors who have received state grants through the Arts Commission or Humanities office.

Hope this is helpful and thanks for your questions!