Author Adam Gidwitz Talks with Our Middle Schoolers

February 2024

Our Middle Schoolers had a very special assembly when they hosted Adam Gidwitz, author, podcaster, and Newbery Honor recipient. Adam spoke about his work as the New York Times bestselling author of the The Inquisitor’s Tale and the acclaimed A Tale Dark & Grimm book series. He also gave a sneak peek into his latest book, Max in the House of Spies: A Tale of World War II, which will be released this month.

Adam spoke about a childhood family friend named Michael Steinberg, with whom he made an early literary connection and whose story inspired Max in the House of Spies. In the book, two supernatural characters named “Stein” and “Berg” help the eponymous protagonist along his journey of survival and self-actualization! Our students are excited about the forthcoming release of Max in the House of Spies and are eager to take out one of the many copies that the ISB Library plans to have on hand. Asked by our students about his work as a writer, Adam shared that he loves writing for a living, because his job is essentially “to think up the coolest, scariest, and funniest things he can imagine!”