Tom Durwood
Author Page
Tom Durwood
is a teacher, writer and editor with an interest in history.
Tom most recently taught English Composition and Empire and Literature at Valley Forge Military College, where he won the Teacher of the Year Award five times. Tom has taught Public Speaking and Basic Communications as guest lecturer for the Naval Special Warfare Development Group at the Dam’s Neck Annex of the Naval War College.
Tom’s ebook Empire and Literature matches global works of film and fiction to specific quadrants of empire, finding surprising parallels. Literature, film, art and architecture are viewed against the rise and fall of empire. In a foreword to Empire and Literature, postcolonial scholar Dipesh Chakrabarty of the University of Chicago calls it “imaginative and innovative.” Prof. Chakrabarty writes that “Durwood has given us a thought-provoking introduction to the humanities.” His subsequent book “Kid Lit: An Introduction to Literary Criticism” has been well-reviewed.
“My favorite nonfiction book of the year,” writes The Literary Apothecary (Goodreads). Early reader response to Tom’s historical fiction adventures has been promising. “A true pleasure … the richness of the layers of Tom’s novel is compelling,” writes Fatima Sharrafedine in her foreword to “The Illustrated Boatman’s Daughter.” The Midwest Book Review calls that same adventure “uniformly gripping and educational … pairing action and adventure with social issues.” Adds Prairie Review, “A deeply intriguing, ambitious historical fiction series.”
Tom briefly ran his own children’s book imprint, Calico Books (Contemporary Books, Chicago). Tom’s newspaper column “Shelter” appeared in the North County Times for seven years. Tom earned a Masters in English Literature in San Diego, where he also served as Executive Director of San Diego Habitat for Humanity. Bonus: Tom interview
Bonus: Tom interview:
https://www.circumlocution.net/2021/08/interview-with-thomas-durwood.html
Selected Books
The Adventures of Rubi Pi and the Aviation Girls: History of Flight in Stories
Fly along with Ruby, Sarra, Isoke and other young heroines as they take to the skies to save their families.
Nine scenarios, nine heroines, nine lessons in flight.
Gia travels from Manhattan’s Lower East Side to the Aleutian Islands to capture one of the most mysterious warplanes of all time – the Mitsubishi A6M Zero.
Young Yi-Tai Jo falls in love with the homely, misunderstood X-1 rocket jet. Heartbroken at X’s failure to break the speed of sound, she may have a solution.
One morning, bratty Anke has a bitter spat with her sister, Romy. Yet when Romy is kidnapped, Anke is the one who can save her – using an old war-kite to glide to the villain’s tower. Can she navigate gliding through the Black Forest and save Romy?
Ship-salvager’s daughter Sarra defies a garrison to save Father from Rome’s wrath. Can her home-made balloon win the day?
Author and Teacher Tom Durwood offers a collection of nine stories to challenge young readers.
For young adults and readers of all ages. With historical commentary by aviation scholars Tim Grove, Anne Millbrook, Michael Quetting and others.
Paperback – November 5, 2024 on Amazon
The Adventures of Ruby Pi And The Math Girls
Young adult fiction featuring gambling, bandits, swordplay, probability and Bayes’ Theorem. An English teacher hopes to engage students with colorful STEM adventures.
In this outstanding collection, Tom addresses the chronic problem of our young women dropping out of STEM studies. His stories lend adventure to scientific thinking.
(Tanzeela Siddique, Math Instructor).
The Illustrated Boatman's Daughter
An Egyptian girl fights amid intrigue and corruption for the completion of the world’s greatest man-made waterway.
Richly illustrated edition of a young-adult historical fiction novella. Unique entry into the robust universe of graphic novels and illustrated books.
An attention-getting front-list literary property featuring multicultural characters and settings. Classic adventure of enduring quality designed to backlist.
The Illustrated Colonials
Six rich kids from around the globe join the Bostonian cause, finding love and treachery along the path to liberty. A new perspective one on of history’s most fascinating moments. Amply illustrated edition of a young-adult historical fiction novella. Unique entry into the robust universe of graphic novels and illustrated books. An attention-getting front-list literary property featuring multicultural characters and settings.
Teddy's Tantrum
The epic tale of a popular president who unfairly persecuted a regiment of black soldiers in 1906. Sixty years later, a writer named John D. Weaver brought the case to light. In 1972, The U.S. Army issued a full apology.
Historian Lewis Gould called it a correction of “one of the most glaring miscarriages of justice in American history.”
In “Teddy’s Tantrum,” author Tom Durwood presents the full story of the Brownsville Raid. How did this injustice happen? Why was the story ‘buried’ so long?
The Adventures of Ruby Pi and the Geometry Girls
A collection of adventure stories featuring young heroines at turning points in history who use math to solve colossal problems.
Smart girls take on buried secrets, villains, tanks, mysteries, codes, and economics to save their people. “Stories, mystery and math go well together… a welcome addition.”
(Jeannine Atkins, author of “Grasping Mysteries: Girls Who Loved Math”).
Kid Lit: An Introduction to Literary Criticism
We are surrounded by narratives, in fiction and in our everyday lives. In this colorful collection of ideas, the author argues that understanding the components of our favorite children's stories can lead to a lifetime of critical thinking. Featuring exclusive interviews with notable literary scholars, including Amanda Lagji, Alexander Maxwell and Anna Kozak and others, the instructional content is catered for high-school senior to early college-level classes and/or homeschooling students.
