June 4, 2025
Ivy Hill Elementary in Arlington Heights, IL
—
Some time ago, I received a lovely question from a student in the U.S. about how I came to write Swimming with Spies. I wrote her a nice, long answer. She returned and introduced herself as a Ukrainian immigrant, who was super happy to find my book at a Scholastic Book Fair and even more excited because she shared the same name with my protagonist: Sofiia! A few letters later, and her teacher arranged an online visitation with me.
—
I met with Sofiia’s colleagues from the Literary Intervention group; all fifth graders, they, like me, speak multiple languages and come from multiple backgrounds. They were prepared with questions! We talked about Swimming with Spies, about how to keep your nose in a book in a digital age, how to persevere at something you want to do, and the importance of writing and rewriting. I was positively delighted to meet with them. And there was a resounding request for a sequel to Swimming with Spies! They asked me for it three times!