David Laskin, author portrait
© Tom Cobb

David Laskin

David Laskin is the author of The Children’s Blizzard, which won the Washington State Book Award and Midwest Booksellers’ Choice Award for nonfiction. The author of several other works of nonfiction, Laskin writes for the New York Times and the Washington Post. He and his wife, the parents of three grown daughters, live in Seattle.
What Sammy Knew
The Family

Books

What Sammy Knew
The Family

Books for Women’s History Month

In honor of Women’s History Month in March, we are sharing books by women who have shaped history and have fought for their communities. Our list includes books about women who fought for racial justice, abortion rights, equality in the workplace, and ranges in topics from women in politics and prominent women in history to

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Books for Jewish American Heritage Month

For Jewish American Heritage Month in May, Penguin Random House Education is celebrating the generations of Jewish Americans who have made up the fabric of American society. We have provided a collection of titles by and about Jewish Americans that includes fiction, memoir, Jewish history, and key issues in current events. The authors share their

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Facts into Fiction: How genealogy and local history enriched the narrative of What Sammy Knew

By David Laskin   After a long career successful in narrative nonfiction (The Children’s Blizzard, The Long Way Home, The Family), I decided a few years ago to jump the fence to fiction. My first novel, What Sammy Knew, is the story of a high school senior named Sammy Stein who, in the first months

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