Author Sarah Darer Littman at WNHH FM.
The reality of what Sarah Darer Littman had gotten herself into with her latest book hit home as she was reading the proofs.
The book is a young adult novel called Some Kind Of Hate. The story tracks how a high school student named Declan Taylor descends into the world of neo-Nazi hate. Published by Scholastic, the book comes out Nov. 1. (You can pre-order it now here.)
As she hunted the proofs for typos, Littman learned that an anti-Semitic gunman had held members hostage in a synagogue in Colleyville, Texas — precisely the kind of (sadly) on-the-increase hate crime that motivated her to write the book in the first place.
The climax of her novel involves a planned attack Declan participates in at his best friend’s synagogue.
Littman thought about all the details she had written about the fictional attack in her story. And she “panicked.”
“Wait a minute,” she told herself. “I don’t want to give anyone ideas.”
She returned to the copy and removed a page and a half from that section of the book. She sought to leave in enough details to capture the scene without seeding suggestions for real-life attacks. “Then I went through every part of the book trying to take out as much as I could.”
Some Kind Of Hate is Littman’s 19th book. During a conversation on WNHH FM’s “Dateline New Haven,” the local author spoke of how it was the hardest to write.
Click on the video to watch the full interview with author Sarah Darer Littman on WNHH FM's "Dateline New Haven."
“I really had to go outside of my comfort zone to research this book, including interviewing former neo-Nazis,” Littman said. “I wanted to understand what would make a young person go down this rabbit hole.”
In the novel, Declan gets injured after winning a state championship as a star pitcher. As he realizes he won’t be able to realize his dream, his father loses his job at a local factory. Subtly drawn into the world of online hate groups, he links up with a white supremacist group, redirecting his rage and giving him the illusion of power.
“One of the things that came out of my research was that the hate wasn’t the first part. The real draw was community, identity, and purpose. Once they get that, that sort of hate trickles in.”
In her research, Littman interviewed Jeff Schoep, a neo-Nazi leader who came to recant his actions. She familiarized herself with the Daily Stormer and white supremacist websites to replicate the use of code words and other lures to draw in recruits like Declan.
Littman is aiming the book at both teens and teachers; an educator guide will aim to promote classroom discussions.
“My goals with this is to hopefully start some important conversations … and help kids think things through for themselves,” Littman said. “We live in a polarized society. We need to have these difficult conversations or we will never have that perfect union.”