FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM FEBRUARY 13, 2020 • BUZZ • THE QUEENS COURIER 55
Whitestone author releases second
children’s book on Indy car racing
BY JENNA BAGCAL
jbagcal@qns.com
@jenna_bagcal
Last month, a Whitestone editor and
author released his second book, which
takes a deep dive into the world of Indy
car racing.
In February 2019, Lerner Publishing
Group approached Joseph Wolkin for an
opportunity to contribute to the company’s
Extreme Speed series. Th e six-book
collection includes Wolkin’s “Superfast:
Indy Car Racing,” an explainer for elementary
and middle school readers looking
to learn more about the sport.
“I’ve been interested in racing since I
was a little kid. Over time, combined with
my passion for reporting and writing,
it really coincided quite well with being
able to pursue that fi eld. Over the last few
years, I’ve been able to have some amazing
experiences interviewing everyone in the
NASCAR garage, the Indy Car Paddock
— it’s just been an incredible journey. So
that really helped spearhead this project
specifi cally,” Wolkin said.
Th e book began as a freelance project
aft er Wolkin fi nished an internship
at a TV station in Tel Aviv. He
had just graduated from college and
shared that working on the book
“helped me get the job I have now.”
Wolkin currently works at Anton
Media Group, where, among various
other roles, he serves as
the editor of the Long Island
Weekly’s automotive special section.
His automotive, NASCAR and
Indy car coverage has been featured
in publications like
NASCAR Pole Position
Magazine, Frontstretch.com
and RantSports.
He exchanged “initial
emails” with Lerner in
February and fi nished the
entire book by the end of
October 2019. Th e book offi cially came
out on Jan. 1, 2020.
“Th e good thing about writing this
book was that I know a lot of the people
who I was writing about already and
I didn’t need to do an insane amount of
research because of that,” said Wolkin.
“Overall, it was a very simple project for
me to work on just because of my knowledge
about the sport in general. It did
make me go back in time and it really
gave me a better understanding of the
motorsports history.”
He shared that writing his fi rst book,
“Grandma: Th e Story of a Boy and His
Grandma,” helped him to write for a
younger audience. He wrote his debut
book aft er his grandmother passed away
in an eff ort to “continue her legacy.”
“Once you start writing, you
just go with the fl ow and the
words write themselves. Th e
fact that I have the experience
writing the fi rst book helped
me to write this even quicker
because the original manuscript
didn’t even take that
long,” Wolkin recalled.
At times, the author did
fi nd it diffi cult to articulate a
comprehensive history
of Indy car racing
and
found that writing for a younger audience
required him to “editorialize” and be careful
with his diction.
“It’s very challenging considering my
daily routine is that I write for a very wide
audience. You’re taught to write in the
sense that no one else besides you understands
what you’re writing about. But it is
very diffi cult to articulate Indy car racing
history and one that’s very complicated
for elementary school kids,” he said.
“Nothing I’ve ever written has ever been
like this in terms of writing for middle
and elementary school kids,” Wolkin
added. “Knowing that it’s going to be in a
lot of classrooms throughout the country
is very exciting,” Wolkin said. “It’s a great
book. It’s something that excites people
about the racing world.”
“Superfast Indy Car
Racing” is available
in classrooms and
book fairs throughout
the country and
can be purchased
on Amazon, Lerner
Books and Target.
buzz
Joseph Wolkin
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