Certain students stand out in teachers’ minds long after they’ve departed their classrooms. Longtime Park School English teacher Howard Berkowitz still recalls a playful and talented student named Adam Gidwitz who graduated nearly 17 years ago.
“He had a delight in being interesting,” Berkowitz said. “He works at being interesting. It’s part of who he is. He was a very creative kid.”
That’s why the recently retired teacher wasn’t surprised that Gidwitz became a nationally acclaimed author whose latest children’s book — “The Inquisitor’s Tale: Or, The Three Magical Children and Their Holy Dog” (Dutton Books for Young Readers) – was recently awarded the John Newbery Medal. The Newbery is a prestigious literary award given by the Association for Library Service to Children.
The 384-page book, illustrated by Hatem Aly, was one of three runners-up when the award was announced in late January. The book also was recently named a gold medalist by the Sydney Taylor Book Award, a prize for children’s and teen literature given by the Association of Jewish Libraries.
Publishers Weekly described “The Inquisitor’s Tale” as “[reaching] back to the Middle Ages for the legends and lore on which to base [Gidwitz’s] latest story, a quest starring three exceptional, persecuted children, an incredible dog, and a dragon who kills with flatulence.”
Living in Brooklyn, N.Y., and married to a college professor of medieval literature, Gidwitz, 34, evolved from an elementary school teacher to a writer of children’s books. He said he is guided by his playfulness and unique view of life, which routinely set the tone for his books.
Gidwitz said he loves mixing jokes and historical details in his books.
“I don’t think a lot of books combine the very detailed history that I put in this book with the crazy humor that I always employ,” Gidwitz said with a laugh. “Kids love learning and they love laughing, and if you can combine those two it’s usually a good combination.”
That worked well for “The Inquisitor’s Tale,” Gidwitz’s fifth book. It’s been in the top 10 of the New York Times best-seller list for children and has received stellar reviews.
Gidwitz said the book took him six years to plan and write. His projects often take long periods of time to flesh out, he said, and Gidwitz’s next book is tentatively titled “The Unicorn Rescue Society.” It is a project he is developing with another Park School alumnus, Jesse Casey, and should be released in the spring of 2018.
Gidwitz said he is immensely honored by the Newbery award and hopes it will encourage people to read his books.
“I look at the book with that shiny sticker [the Newbery award] on it and my chest swells up,” Gidwitz said. “It’s such a difficult and long process because you don’t know if your vision is going to be successfully realized when [writing].”
Gidwitz, who studied for his bar mitzvah at Har Sinai Congregation (but experienced the rite of passage in Chicago for family reasons), will return to the Park School of Baltimore on April 13 as the Gordon Berman ’68 Memorial Lower School Resident Author.
Whatever Gidwitz comes up for his next literary endeavor won’t surprise Berkowitz in the least.
“There was a kind of zany creativity,” said Berkowitz, who has stayed in touch over the years with his former pupil. “His mind is always looking for things. He’s always seeing connections.”
For information about the author, visit www.adamgidwitz.com/ .
Jeff Seidel is a Baltimore-based freelance writer
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