The Book of Life

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST      |    READ THE PRESS RELEASE     🕮    Susan Kusel is the chair of the Sydney Taylor Book Award committee of the Association of Jewish Libraries. She joined us by Skype from her home in Falls Church, VA. to talk about the 2019 winners of the award (and so did her dog Harry).  This year's Sydney Taylor Book Awards are being announced at the ALA Youth Media Awards press conference in Seattle, WA during the ALA Midwinter Meeting on January 28, 2019 at 8am PT. You can watch a live webcast here (and check back later for a recording). Here's the official Sydney Taylor Book Award announcement with the full list of winners, honors, and notable books: click here .  The Sydney Taylor Book Award Blog Tour will take place February 10-14, 2019. For details, click here . The Sydney Taylor Manuscript Award was mentioned in the podcast: click here .   AJL's "Love Your Neighbo...

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST     |    BUY THE BOOK     🕮    The Book of Life's Canadian Correspondent Anne Dublin interviews author Eva Wiseman about her historical/paranormal romance for teens, Another Me . The book was a National Jewish Book Award Finalist in the Young Adult category for the Posner Award. CREDITS: Produced by: Feldman Children's Library at Congregation B'nai Israel   Supported in part by: Association of Jewish Libraries   Theme music: The Freilachmakers Klezmer String Band   Facebook: facebook.com/bookoflifepodcast  Twitter: @bookoflifepod Support The Book of Life by becoming a patron at Patreon.com/bookoflife Your feedback is appreciated! Please write to bookoflifepodcast@gmail.com or call our voicemail number at 561-206-2473.

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST     |    BUY THE BOOK     🕮    The Inquisitor's Tale: Or, the Three Magical Children and Their Holy Dog by Adam Gidwitz with illustrations by Hatem Aly is the 2017 Sydney Taylor Book Award winner in the Older Readers category, and it was a National Jewish Book Award Finalist in the Children's Literature category. Both these awards were announced in January 2017; I interviewed Adam long before that, soon after meeting him at a kidlit author speed dating event at the American Library Association convention in Orlando in June 2016. The Inquisitor's Tale has been receiving accolades from simply everyone. A particularly insightful review was the one by Betsy Bird at A Fuse #8 Production blog on the School Library Journal website. CREDITS: Produced by: Feldman Children's Library at Congregation B'nai Israel   Supported in part by: Association of Jewish Libraries     Theme music: The...

AJL's Sydney Taylor Book Award Committee, June 2016   January 11, 2017 was a big day for Jewish book awards - both the Association of Jewish Libraries and the Jewish Book Council announced winning titles! Many of these books have already been covered on The Book of Life podcast, and others are in the pipeline now. I Dissent: Ruth Bader Ginsburg Makes Her Mark by Debbie Levy, illustrated by Elizabeth Baddeley, won the Sydney Taylor Book Award in the Younger Readers category AND the National Jewish Book Award in the Children's Literature category. Hear from author Debbie Levy in this November 2016 podcast. The Inquisitor's Tale: Or, The Three Magical Children and Their Holy Dog by Adam Gidwitz, illustrated by Hatel Aly, won the Sydney Taylor Book Award in the Older Readers category AND was a National Jewish Book Award Finalist in the Children's Literature category. Hear my interview with Adam in this January 2017 podcast. Dreidels on the Brain by Joel...

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST     |    BUY THE BOOK     🕮    The Hired Girl by Laura Amy Schlitz won the 2015 National Jewish Book Award (Young Adult Category), the 2016 Sydney Taylor Book Award (Teen Readers Category), and the 2016 Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction . I recorded Laura's presentation at the Association of Jewish Libraries conference in Charleston, SC in June 2016, where she'd come to accept the Sydney Taylor Book Award. In this diary-format novel, 14-year-old Catholic farm girl Joan becomes a "hired girl" to a wealthy Jewish family. She learns about anti-Semitism and confronts her own prejudices as she gets to know the Rosenbach family. (Also, hijinx ensue.) [Update: The Hired Girl came under criticism due to stereotyped descriptions of Native Americans within the text. Please read A Native Perspective of Laura Amy Schlitz's The Hired Girl to learn more.]   CREDITS: Produced by: Feldman Children's ...

READ THE ARTICLE     🕮    I wrote an article for Multicultural Kid Blogs about Jewish Kidlit Awards, and you can read it here . It gives details about the Sydney Taylor Book and Manuscript Awards, the National Jewish Book Award, and the Canadian Jewish Literary Awards. If I do say so myself, it's a good comprehensive round-up.

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST    |    BUY THE BOOK     🕮    At the 2012 Association of Jewish Libraries conference, I sat with author Eugene Yelchin during lunch and snuck in a quick interview. He's the author of the 2012 Newbery Honor book Breaking Stalin's Nose , based on his own youth in Stalinist Moscow. He gave a very moving talk about freedom of information earlier during the conference. Yelchin is also the illustrator of Ann Stampler's picture book, The Rooster Prince of Breslov , named a 2011 Notable Book by the Association of Jewish Libraries and winner of the Jewish Book Council's National Jewish Book Award. CREDITS: Produced by: Feldman Children's Library at Congregation B'nai Israel   Supported in part by: Association of Jewish Libraries   Theme music: The Freilachmakers Klezmer String Band   Facebook: facebook.com/bookoflifepodcast  Twitter: @bookoflifepod   Your feedback is apprec...

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST    |    BUY THE BOOK     🕮    I bumped into Ann Redisch Stampler at Book Expo 2010. Ann is the author of the Jewish folktale picture book The Rooster Prince of Breslov , which (a while after our interview) was named winner of the National Jewish Book Award 's 2010 Louis Posner Memorial Award for illustrated children's books. It was also named a 2011 Notable Children's Book of Jewish Content by the Sydney Taylor Book Award Committee. Ann was a guest on The Book of Life in 2007 when she won the Sydney Taylor Honor Award for Shlemazel and the Remarkable Spoon of Pohost . CREDITS: Produced by: Feldman Children's Library at Congregation B'nai Israel Supported in part by: Association of Jewish Libraries Theme music: The Freilachmakers Klezmer String Band Facebook: facebook.com/bookoflifepodcast Twitter: @bookoflifepod   Your feedback is appreciated! Please write to bookoflifepo...