The Book of Life

White supremacists are targeting the Jewish community with a "National Day of Hate” on February 25, 2023. Publicly, they are planning for vandalism and intimidation, but it will be unsurprising if violence occurs as well.  At this time, I call upon all Book of Life listeners, and everyone who cares about peace and justice, to let the world know that you stand with the Jews. Whether you are Jewish or Gentile, please join the Anti-Defamation League in taking action. This horrific day of hate is taking place two days after my birthday. I would consider it a great gift  if you were to join me in doing any of the simple advocacy actions below: Let your elected representatives know that hate is not OK, at  https://www.adl.org/take-action/advocate-with-adl .  Choose any action on The Book of Life's "Justice" page, and do it today. See  https://jewishbooks.blogspot.com/p/stand-up.html Use and share the Association of Jewish Libraries' "Love Your Neighbor" book

The Jewish Book Carnival is a monthly roundup of Jewish literary links from across the blogosphere. Sponsored by the Association of Jewish Libraries, it is hosted by a different blog each month and shares book reviews, author interviews, essays, and other blog posts about Jewish books. Visit the Jewish Book Carnival HQ for the upcoming schedule, past Carnivals, and to learn how to participate! On STORYSTORM, Tara Lazar's month-long idea project at the blog Writing For Kids (While Raising Them), forthcoming Jewish board books were featured on Day 12.   Illustrator Ann D. Koffsky offers a new Tu Bishevat coloring page , with a picture of a reader relaxing under a tree. On her blog Book Q&As with Deborah Kalb, Deborah  interviewed Omer Bartov  about his new novel, The Butterfly and the Axe . Gila Green interviewed author Stephen J. Gordon about his new thriller The Student and the  challenges of writing Israel-based books. Batya at the blog A Jewish Grandmother reviewed   Charr

4th National Joint Conference of Librarians of Color St. Pete Beach, Florida February 8-12, 2023 On February 9, 2023 I presented "A Place at the Table: The Jewish Community Within the Library Diversity World" at the Joint Conference of Librarians of Color, an event sponsored by JCLC, the Joint Council of Librarians of Color . This umbrella organization addresses the common needs of ALA affiliates for BIPOC librarians:  the American Indian Library Association (AILA), the Asian/Pacific American Librarians Association (APALA), the Black Caucus of the American Library Association (BCALA), the Chinese American Librarians Association (CALA), and REFORMA: The National Association to Promote Library & Information Services to Latinos and the Spanish-speaking. The main thrust of my presentation was a crash course in the marginalization of Jews and the interconnection between antisemitism and racism, with the goal of demonstrating why Jews should be included in equity, diversity, an

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST     |    READ THE TRANSCRIPT     🕮    The winners of the 2023 Sydney Taylor Book Awards, recognizing the best Jewish children's and young adult literature of the year, were announced on January 30, 2023 at the American Library Association's Youth Media Awards event. Martha Seif Simpson is the current chair of the Sydney Taylor Book Award committee, and she joined us to discuss the 2023 winners of the award. In these troubled times, when book banners are attacking America's school and public libraries to try to preserve white, straight, Christian dominance by suppressing diverse books, it is all the more important that we celebrate Jewish literature. The Jewish children's and young adult titles recognized by the Sydney Taylor Book Awards celebrate the beautiful diversity of our community and offer a wonderful bridge building tool. Support Jewish books! Read them, request them from your library, buy them if you can, talk about them with you

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST     |    READ THE TRANSCRIPT     |    BUY THE BOOK     🕮    When the Angels Left the Old Country is Sacha Lamb's debut novel. It's a young adult historical queer fairy tale about an angel and a demon who immigrate together through Ellis Island to the Lower East Side of New York. From labor unions to dybbuks to a heist, this extremely Jewish tale has everything you need for a thoroughly satisfying adventure. Sacha is a 2018 Lambda Literary Fellow in YA fiction, a graduate in Library and Information Science and History from Simmons, and a reviewer for the Jewish Book Council . They are also a part-time stepparent to a small flock of miniature goats. LEARN MORE: Visit Sacha Lamb's website Buy When the Angels Left the Old Country Read Sacha's short stories Epistolary and Avi Cantor Has Six Months to Live Tikkun Olam suggestion: Sundown Towns Database    Other books mentioned:   The Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wecker Good Omens by Neil Gaima

Last year I did an unofficial shortlist and it seemed like people found it helpful, so I thought I'd do it again. As y'all know, I'm a former member and chair of the Association of Jewish Libraries' Sydney Taylor Book Award Committee, and a cofounder of The Sydney Taylor Shmooze mock award blog, so I have a deep and abiding interest in seeking out the best Jewish kidlit of the year. I'm not actually making predictions about what will win; rather, I'm telling you that these are the books that I think deserve your attention (with the caveat that while I probably read the majority of Jewish children's or YA books published in 2022, I did not read ALL of them, so there may be other titles I'd consider worthy if I'd had the chance to read them). I've listed the titles within their age categories alphabetically by author's last name. We'll find out whether the Real Sydney Taylor Book Award Committee agrees with me when the winners are announ