David Laskin is the author of the novel What Sammy Knew, about a Jewish high school senior named Sammy Stein who runs away from his Long Island home and gets in way over his head in the political ferment of 1970. The book touches on themes of Jewish identity, Black and Jewish relations in the 1960s and 70s, and issues of racial and religious injustice that the book raises. The book is set in and around New York City.