Ben is a film and theatre maker with an emphasis on big, inclusive stories with heart. He wrote, directed, and co-starred in the ultrareal psychological thriller HIDE, touring America this October for Domestic Violence Awareness Month, and co-directed the dramatic short TYPE 1 with Anthony Rapp. He recently directed three music videos raising awareness about mental health, cyberbullying, and trans identity. Ben attended Tufts University and the British American Drama Academy, is a dual citizen with Canada and lives in Brooklyn. MASTER OF SECRETS is Ben's debut novel and tells the inspirational true story of bravery and resilience derived from interviews with Holocaust survivor John Saunders—a staggering tale of one child surviving the war through wit and guile with dreams of emigrating to America. Born in Stanisławów, Poland as a Jewish boy with blonde hair and blue eyes, John is warned by his father to keep his secrets, or he will become a slave to them. Pretending to be Christian, John fools first the Soviets, then the Ukrainians and Nazis, as they force his family into the ghetto and then on to Pawiak Prison and the concentration camps. Always one step ahead of the Nazis, John comes of age carrying his secrets, outfoxing his captors as he escapes Auschwitz-Birkenau, making eccentric allies and evading the horrors around him. With a child's charmed resolve, he survives the war, only to set out alone on the hardest journey of his life: emigration to the United States, and the path to citizenship. An immersive retelling in first-person, present tense, John's story grows up with him. Emotional and ultimately uplifting, MASTER OF SECRETS is equally suited for a new generation of readers first discovering the Holocaust and those looking to expand their understanding further. MASTER OF SECRETS is a testament to the power of children to survive the impossible with dreams of the future.