Keely Hutton is a novelist, educational journalist, and former teacher. She is the recipient of the Highlights Foundation Writers Workshop scholarship at Chautauqua. She has worked closely with Ricky Richard Anywar, the founder of the international charity Friends of Orphans who was a child soldier in Ugandan warlord Joseph Kony's Lord's Resistance Army, to tell his story in her first novel,
Soldier Boy.
Last month I asked Hutton about what she was reading. Her reply:
I have been reading two books that reveal courageous people and harrowing events of the past while shining a light on issues, such as refugees, leaks, and whistleblowers, at the forefront of news reports and political debates today.
I recently finished the eye-opening debut book How Dare the Sun Rise: Memoirs of a War Child by Sandra Uwiringiyimana. The book recounts 
Sandra’s childhood in the Democratic Republic of Congo and the attack that took place on the refugee camp where her tribe and family were forced to live. Surviving the massacre, Sandra’s family journeys to the United States, where Sandra struggles to find a sense of identity and eventually becomes a strong advocate for her tribe and refugees around the world. I had the opportunity to hear Sandra speak at the Rochester Teen Book Festival in May and was moved by her story and inspired by her strength and determination. She is truly as remarkable woman with a remarkable story to share.
I am now reading Most Dangerous: Daniel Ellsberg and the Secret History of the Vietnam War by Steve 
Sheinkin. My editor gave me a copy of the novel when I visited the FSG offices in November. This is a narrative non-fiction novel does not read like the non-fiction books teachers gave me when I was a teen. The story is fast-paced and exciting. It reveals how government analyst, Daniel Ellsberg, found himself at the center of a government scandal involving the Vietnam War and a cover-up that went all the way to the White House. It is well-researched, suspenseful, and eerily similar to news reports airing today.
Visit
Keely Hutton's website.
The Page 69 Test: Soldier Boy.
My Book, The Movie: Soldier Boy.
--Marshal Zeringue
Keely Hutton is a novelist, educational journalist, and former teacher. She is the recipient of the Highlights Foundation Writers Workshop scholarship at Chautauqua. She has worked closely with Ricky Richard Anywar, the founder of the international charity Friends of Orphans who was a child soldier in Ugandan warlord Joseph Kony's Lord's Resistance Army, to tell his story in her first novel, Soldier Boy.
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