Gr 6 Up—Taking advice on writing from a masterful storyteller like Sepetys makes sense. Personal memoir and
writing prompts are woven together seamlessly for readers to tackle cover to cover or in sections in this book that
will certainly inspire the next generation of writers.

"When the creators put a piece of themselves into their work, it was much more likely to become successful. . . Some writers believe they must create from nothing. But often, creating from nothing results in a feeling of the same. Nothing."

A masterful roadmap to mining your life for writing material. Sepetys encourages writers to use emotional stakes or interesting personality quirks from their own life experience, but to put them in fictional stories. She also encourages writers to question their lens and learn to think about scenarios in a new way.

Sepetys is an expert at the craft, interspersing her own stories with how-tos on how to create emotionally gripping material that paints a scene for the reader. The prompts and writing exercises are interesting. I especially liked how Sepetys encouraged writers to dig deep by coming up with multiple scenarios for the same prompt. She recognizes that often, the first idea is not the most interesting idea.

This book will help ignite your own creative spark!

Thank you to Penguin Teen and NetGalley for the advance review copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. ( )