Sue O’Connor Inspired by Dark Tide

Say hello to Sue O’Connor, an English teacher at Concord-Carlisle (MA) High School, who also teaches a U.S. history course for immigrant students learning English. She was inspired by Dark Tide to write a middle-grade “Novel in Verse” about the molasses flood.

Several years ago, Sue’s book club read Dark Tide and went with me on a tour of Boston’s North End, the neighborhood in which the molasses flood took place. Sue said the book “stayed with me” and inspired her to write a middle-grade novel-in-verse called Molasses Rising. It tells the story of two young teens — an Italian shoemaker’s apprentice and the daughter of an Irish cobbler –as they navigate the aftermath of the 1919 molasses flood. I was honored that the book inspired Sue to undertake such a project! Sue is currently shopping her manuscript to potential agents in the hope of landing a book deal soon! Good luck Sue!