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Steve Sheinkin

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http://stevesheinkin.com/

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From: http://stevesheinkin.com/about/

I was born in Brooklyn, NY, and my family lived in Mississippi and Colorado before moving back to New York and settling in the suburbs north of New York City. As a kid my favorite books were action stories and outdoor adventures: sea stories, searches for buried treasure, sharks eating people… that kind of thing. Probably my all-time favorite was a book called Mutiny on the Bounty, a novel based on the true story of a famous mutiny aboard a British ship in the late 1700s.

I went to Syracuse University and studied communications and international relations. The highlight of those years was a summer I spent in Central America, where I worked on a documentary on the streets of Nicaragua.

After college I moved From: http://stevesheinkin.com/about/

I was born in Brooklyn, NY, and my family lived in Mississippi and Colorado before moving back to New York and settling in the suburbs north of New York City. As a kid my favorite books were action stories and outdoor adventures: sea stories, searches for buried treasure, sharks eating people… that kind of thing. Probably my all-time favorite was a book called Mutiny on the Bounty, a novel based on the true story of a famous mutiny aboard a British ship in the late 1700s.

I went to Syracuse University and studied communications and international relations. The highlight of those years was a summer I spent in Central America, where I worked on a documentary on the streets of Nicaragua.

After college I moved to Washington, D.C., and worked for an environmental group called the National Audubon Society. Then, when my brother Ari graduated from college a few years later, we decided to move to Austin, Texas, and make movies together. We lived like paupers in a house with a hole in the floor where bugs crawled in. We wrote some screenplays, and in 1995 made our own feature film, a comedy called A More Perfect Union (filing pictured below), about four young guys who decide to secede from the Union and declare their rented house to be an independent nation. We were sure it was going to be a huge hit; actually we ended up deep in debt.

After that I moved to Brooklyn and decided to find some way to make a living as a writer. I wrote short stories, screenplays, and worked on a comic called The Adventures of Rabbi Harvey. In 2006, after literally hundreds of rejections, my first Rabbi Harvey graphic novel was finally published.

Meanwhile, I started working for an educational publishing company, just for the money. We’d hire people to write history textbooks, and they’d send in their writing, and it was my job to check facts and make little edits to clarify the text. Once in a while I was given the chance to write little pieces of textbooks, like one-page biographies or skills lessons. “Understanding Bar Graphs” was one of my early works. The editors noticed that my writing was pretty good. They started giving me less editing to do, and more writing. Gradually, I began writing chapters for textbooks, and that turned into my full-time job. All the while, I kept working on my own writing projects.

In 2008 I wrote my last textbook. I walked away, and shall never return. My first non-textbook history book was King George: What Was His Problem? – full of all the stories about the American Revolution that I was never allowed to put into textbooks. But looking back, I actually feel pretty lucky to have spent all those years writing textbooks. It forced me to write every day, which is great practice. And I collected hundreds of stories that I can’t wait to tell.

These days, I live with my wife, Rachel, and our two young kids in Saratoga Springs, New York. We’re right down the road from the Saratoga National Historical Park, the site of Benedict Arnold’s greatest – and last – victory in an American uniform. But that’s not why I moved here. Honestly. ...more

Combine Editions
Steve Sheinkin’s books

Average rating: 4.08 · 53,892 ratings · 10,698 reviews · 36 distinct works • Similar authors

	Bomb: The Race to Build—and Steal—the World's Most Dangerous Weapon 4.13 avg rating — 19,836 ratings — published 2012 — 22 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Port Chicago 50: Disaster, Mutiny, and the Fight for Civil Rights by Steve Sheinkin, Dominic Hoffman (Narrator) 4.03 avg rating — 6,472 ratings — published 2014 — 11 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Most Dangerous: Daniel Ellsberg and the Secret History of the Vietnam War 4.19 avg rating — 5,896 ratings — published 2015 — 12 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Notorious Benedict Arnold: A True Story of Adventure, Heroism & Treachery 3.82 avg rating — 4,993 ratings — published 2010 — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Lincoln's Grave Robbers 3.82 avg rating — 4,435 ratings — published 2013 — 12 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Undefeated: Jim Thorpe and the Carlisle Indian School Football Team 4.18 avg rating — 3,014 ratings — published 2017 — 8 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Fallout: Spies, Superbombs, and the Ultimate Cold War Showdown 4.34 avg rating — 1,918 ratings — published 2021 — 7 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	King George: What Was His Problem?: Everything Your Schoolbooks Didn't Tell You About the American Revolution by Steve Sheinkin, Tim Robinson (Illustrator) 4.22 avg rating — 1,428 ratings — published 2005 — 23 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Impossible Escape: A True Story of Survival and Heroism in Nazi Europe 4.50 avg rating — 1,080 ratings — published 2023 — 6 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Two Miserable Presidents: Everything Your Schoolbooks Didn't Tell You About the Civil War by Steve Sheinkin, Tim Robinson (Illustrations) 4.22 avg rating — 881 ratings — published 2008 — 13 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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Series by Steve Sheinkin

Time Twisters (5 books)
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Steve Sheinkin

3.49 avg rating — 642 ratings

Quotes by Steve Sheinkin (?)

“If you think atomic explosions in Asia wouldn't affect Americans, consider this. A study published in Scientific American in 2010 looked at the probable impact of a "small" nuclear war, one in which India and Pakistan each dropped fifty atomic bombs. The scientists concluded that the explosions would ignite massive firestorms, sending enormous amounts of dust and smoke into the atmosphere. This would block some of the sun's light from reaching the earth, making the planet colder and darker - for about ten years. Farming would collapse, and people all over the globe would starve to death. And that's if only half of one percent of all the atomic bombs on earth were used.

In the end, this is a difficult story to sum up. The making of the atomic bomb is one of history's most amazing examples of teamwork and genius and poise under pressure. But it's also the story of how humans created a weapon capable of wiping our species off the planet. It's a story with no end in sight.

And, like it or not, you're in it.”
― Steve Sheinkin, Bomb: The Race to Build—and Steal—the World's Most Dangerous Weapon

tags: atomic-bomb, war

28 likes

“In the end, this is a difficult story to sum up. The making of the atomic bomb is one of history's most amazing examples of teamwork and genius and poise under pressure. But it's also the story of how humans created a weapon capable of wiping our species off the planet. It's a story with no end in sight.
And, like it or not, you're in it.”
― Steve Sheinkin, Bomb: The Race to Build—and Steal—the World's Most Dangerous Weapon

17 likes

“Here at great expense,' [Colonel Groves] moaned to Oppenheimer, 'the government has assembled the world's largest collection of crackpots.”
― Steve Sheinkin, Bomb: The Race to Build—and Steal—the World's Most Dangerous Weapon

tags: manhatttan-project, military, physics, science, world-war-two

12 likes

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Polls

What book should we read in November?

You may write in titles, provided the book is a 2013 Newbery contender and already published.

The Great Unexpected by Sharon Creech

22 votes 34.9%

Bomb: The Race to Build--and Steal--the World's Most Dangerous Weapon by Steve Sheinkin

14 votes 22.2%

Starry River of the Sky by Grace Lin

14 votes 22.2%

One Year in Coal Harbor by Polly Horvath

3 votes 4.8%

Bomb (write-in)

3 votes 4.8%

The Great Unexpected (write-in)

3 votes 4.8%

Starry River of the Sky by grace Lin (write-in)

1 vote 1.6%

one year in coal harbor (write-in)

1 vote 1.6%

bomb (write-in)

1 vote 1.6%

Iron-Hearted Violet by Kelly Barnhill (write-in)

1 vote 1.6%

63 total votes

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Topics Mentioning This Author

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YA Reads for Teac...: June 2012 - YA Nonfiction - Bootleg: Murder, Moonshine, and the Lawless Years of Prohibition	19	48	Jul 01, 2012 10:49AM
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YA Reads for Teac...: November 2012 - Nominations - YA Nonfiction	4	45	Oct 23, 2012 05:42AM
Mock Newbery 2025: Our Mock Newbery	32	245	Jan 31, 2013 10:11PM
YA Reads for Teac...: March 2013 - Nominations - YA Nonfiction	8	18	Feb 18, 2013 08:14AM
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Reading with Style: Spring 2013 20.8 - Joanna's task - Presidentially	21	36	Mar 07, 2013 10:57AM

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