A Ritchie Boy - A Novel

Based on true events, A Ritchie Boy is the inspiring World War II tale of Eli Stoff, a Jewish Austrian immigrant who becomes a US Army intelligence officer, triumphs over adversity, and finds his place in America.

About the author

Linda Kass is the author of three historical novels, Tasa’s Song (2016); A Ritchie Boy (2020), an IPPY Gold Medal Winner in Historical Fiction in 2021; and Bessie (2023), named the Prose Finalist for the eighth annual Phillip H. McMath Post-Publication Book Award. Linda began her career as a magazine journalist and correspondent for regional and national publications. She is the founder and owner of Gramercy Books, an independent bookstore in Columbus, Ohio. Find her online at lindakass.com.

Summary

Based on true events, A Ritchie Boy is the inspiring World War II tale of Eli Stoff, a Jewish Austrian immigrant who becomes a US Army intelligence officer, triumphs over adversity, and finds his place in America.

Foreword

Publicist is Caitlin Hamilton Marketing, LLC, [e-mail], [phone].

• National media campaign, including TV and radio.

• National print and online campaign, including reviews, features, and original essays.

• 9-city national tour involving bookstores as well as book festivals, libraries, and associations: Columbus, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago, Lexington, Louisville, New York, South Florida, Baltimore.

• Publication date aligned with 75th anniversary of the end of World War II.

• Prepublication industry buzz campaign, including widespread galley mailings, author appearances, 1/3 4c ad in Publishers Weekly Winter Institute supplement, January 13, 2020 issue, full page sponsored profile ad in July 13, 2020 Publishers Weekly, and ads in other key trades. In addition, 75 galley give away with librarian-tailored insert, Publishers Weekly Pop Up booth, ALA annual trade show June 20-25, 2020.

• Targeted outreach to Ohio libraries and independent bookstores.

• Media campaign to Jewish media outlets (Jewish Book World, Lilith, Hadassah Magazine, The Forward, Jewishcommunityradio.org)

• Jewish Book Council “Authors on Tour” program for nationwide events (there are more than 100 Jewish Community Centers in their network).

• Reading group promotions and outreach to top book club sites; NetGalley giveaways.

• Outreach focus in trades about author as bookseller-novelist.

• Social media campaign, including prepublication outreach to bookstagrammers and Facebook and Instagram advertising.

• Content marketing.

Additional text

“Told as a series of interconnected stories, Linda Kass’s captivating, based-in-truth novel A Ritchie Boy is about assimilation, hope, and perseverance.”

—Foreword Reviews

“A mesmerizing kaleidoscope of stories about displacement, finding home, and the kindness of strangers. Haunting and heartfelt.”

—Fiona Davis, national best-selling author of The Chelsea Girls

“From Vienna during the Anschluss to booming post-war Columbus, Linda Kass has done her homework. Half historical novel, half family saga, A Ritchie Boy will charm readers who loved All the Light We Cannot See.”

—Stewart O’Nan, author of A World Away

“Linda Kass’s eagerly anticipated second novel, A Ritchie Boy, is an engrossing, deeply moving story of the immigrant journey, a profound and timely reminder of how refugees have woven their strengths, talents, successes, and sacrifices into the fabric of America.”

—Jennifer Chiaverini, New York Times best-selling author of Resistance Women

“A Ritchie Boy interweaves characters from Kass’s first novel, Tasa’s Song—providing a rich context of place and perseverance during the darkness surrounding World War II. The everyday human spirit is unmasked by the revelation of profound life experiences in this engaging tale that will appeal to public library customers.”

—Patrick Losinski, CEO, Columbus Metropolitan Library

“Linda Kass’s A Ritchie Boy is a splendid gathering of memorable characters and stories about what it takes to leave a home, to travel to a new country, and to find a way to not only survive there, but to thrive. This story of persistence will warm you with its indomitable belief in family and in love.”

—Lee Martin, author of Pulitzer Prize finalist The Bright Forever

“Filled with rich historical detail and strikingly beautiful turns of phrase, this novel-in-stories moved me, inspired me, and transported me to a different time and place the way only the best tales do. Linda Kass is a masterful storyteller with a knack for taking hold of the reader’s heart simply, gently, in a way that makes it easy to be swept away by her words. I highly recommend A Ritchie Boy.”

—Kristin Harmel, international best-selling author of The Room on Rue Amelie and The Winemaker’s Wife

“Historical fiction is a literary time machine. Thanks to the talent and imagination of Linda Kass, this journey back to the tragic days of World War II is both solemn and joyous – solemn because of the ghastly shadow of Nazism overtaking Europe, and joyous because of the forces of light that rose up to oppose it. These linked stories create a seamless and poignant whole, a deeply felt, richly described, and quietly moving meditation on faith, passion, sacrifice, struggle, and the everlasting power of family love.”

––Julia Keller, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author of Sorrow Road

“How did a whole generation of the Jews who were lucky enough to escape Hitler manage to re-invent themselves in America? In A Ritchie Boy, Linda Kass lovingly explores the spirit and the process of one such transformation. A compelling story of empathy, resilience, and the power of the American Dream.”

—Nina Barrett, Owner, Bookends & Beginnings

“Trust Linda Kass to write delicately and compassionately about the pain and bravery required of refugees. Although her milieu is the Second World War, and the host country is the American Mid-West, this gem of a book resonates profoundly even today.”

––Helen Shulman, author of Come With Me

“Linda Kass’s A Ritchie Boy is an American story of World War II Jewish immigrants and a wonderful account of families that came and helped others and the communities in which they lived. Its poignant telling makes me glad that there were some happy endings from such a horrific time in history.”

––Linda White, Owner of Sundog Books

Product details

• Authors: Linda Kass
• Publisher: Ingram Publishers Services
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Release: 01.09.2020, delayed
• EAN: 9781647420079
• ISBN: 978-1-64742-007-9
• No. of pages: 224
• Subjects: Fiction > Narrative literature; FICTION / War & Military, FICTION / Literary, FICTION / Historical / World War II, FICTION / Jewish