The Book of Life

On April 7, 2018, I attended PodCamp Western Mass , an unconference about social media and online marketing held at Holyoke Community College. You can see me right there in the front center (behind the reclining gals). As an unconference, it was really a series of intense conversations rather than presentations. Sometimes it was even like therapy. There was a session about personal branding, where I decided that my own tagline might be "proudly geeking out." Honestly, there was very little that was directly related to podcasting, but I did get some good technical tips about audio equipment from a guy who happened to be sitting at my lunch table. And I met a lot of nice people. I am pleased to announce that The Book of Life's hiatus will soon be over! I expect to revive The Book of Life by fall 2018.

Guest poster: Emily Schneider   This February, and Adar in the Jewish calendar, marks the 40 th yahrtzeit of Sydney Taylor, author of that timeless chronicle of the Jewish immigrant experience, All-of-a-KindFamily , and its sequels. Ella, Henny, Sarah, Charlotte, and Gertie became mirrors for Jewish girls, who grew up recognizing themselves in her nostalgic portrait of Jewish life. Whether you were raised on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, in suburban Long Island, the outskirts of Philadelphia, or any other American shtetl , you knew you could identify with one of the sisters, all richly drawn personalities, and yet so generic and lasting that the family did not have a last name.   The four sisters of Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women have also imprinted themselves on the consciousness of American girls since they first appeared in 1868.   This novel, with its idealized representation of New England family life during the Civil War, became a model for girls b...

The Sydney Taylor Book Award Blog Tour is taking place February 4-8, 2018. Today, one of the blog tour stops is here at The Book of Life! We are interviewing Antonio Iturbe, author of Teen Readers Category winner, The Librarian of Auschwitz . English is not Antonio's first language, so it was very kind of him to tackle these questions for me! How did you learn about the library in Auschwitz and why did you choose to write about it? The way I found this story was by following threads in books. Reading expert Alberto Manguel wrote a book called The Library at Night , in which he talked about the most famous libraries in history: Alexandria, the Library of Congress… and in one chapter, in just a few lines, he mentioned that in the Children’s Block in the Auschwitz Camp there was a small, clandestine library of just eight books. Then I found more information in the book of the American Holocaust expert Nili Keren: Anatomy of the Auschwitz Death Camp . It was the beginning...

The Sydney Taylor Book Award will be showcasing its 2018 gold and silver medalists with a Blog Tour, February 4-8, 2018! Interviews with winning authors and illustrators will appear on a variety of Jewish and kidlit blogs. Interviews will appear on the dates below, and will remain available to read at your own convenience. Below is the schedule for the 2018 Sydney Taylor Book Award Blog Tour. Please follow the links to visit the hosting blogs on or after their tour dates, and be sure to leave them plenty of comments! 2018 SYDNEY TAYLOR BOOK AWARD BLOG TOUR SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 2018 Tammar Stein , author of The Six-Day Hero Sydney Taylor Honor Book in the Older Readers Category At Walk the Ridgepole Kathy Kacer , author of To Look a Nazi in the Eye Sydney Taylor Honor Book in the Teen Readers Category At Bildungsroman MONDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2018 Richard Michelson and Karla Gudeon , author and illustrator of The Language of Angels Sydney Taylor Book Awar...

For More Information Contact: Susan Kusel, Chair Sydney Taylor Book Award Committee Association of Jewish Libraries sydneytaylorbookaward@jewishlibraries.org January 10, 2018 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Winners of the annual Sydney Taylor Book Award were announced by the Association of Jewish Libraries today. Named in memory of Sydney Taylor, author of the classic All-of-a-Kind Family series, the award recognizes books for children and teens that exemplify high literary standards while authentically portraying the Jewish experience.  2018 is the 50th Anniversary of the Sydney Taylor Awards. The first winner was The Endless Steppe: Growing Up in Siberia by Esther Hautzig in 1968, published by the Thomas Y. Crowell Company. GOLD MEDALISTS The Language of Angels: A Story About the Reinvention of Hebrew by Richard Michelson, illustrated by Karla Gudeon, published by Charlesbridge, won the Sydney Taylor Book Award in the Younger Readers category. This beautiful picture boo...

For More Information Contact: Aileen Grossberg, Coordinator Sydney Taylor Manuscript Award Committee Association of Jewish Libraries STMACAJL@AOL.com tinyurl.com/stma18 January 10, 2018 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE The Sydney Taylor Manuscript Award Competition committee is pleased to announce the recipient of the 2018 award. Judith Pransky, author of The Seventh Handmaiden , will receive the award at the annual conference of the Association of Jewish Libraries to be held in Boston, MA, from June 18-20, 2018. The Award is offered annually to an unpublished manuscript that has broad appeal to readers aged 8-13 and presents Jewish life in a positive light. Set in the time of King Xerxes of Persia, the novel begins with the kidnapping of a young girl and then flashes forward several years to focus on Darya, a young slave who is uncertain of her origins. The story follows Darya and her free friend Parvaneh from service in the household of a Persian army captain to positions in Xer...

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST     🕮    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 2018 winners of the award.  Here's the official Sydney Taylor Book Award announcement: click here .  The Sydney Taylor Book Award Blog Tour will take place February 4-8, 2018. For details, click here . The Sydney Taylor Manuscript Award was mentioned in the interview: click here .   The National Jewish Book Award winners from the Jewish Book Council have also been announced! To see their winners, click here . CREDITS: Theme music: The Freilachmakers Klezmer String Band   Facebook: facebook.com/bookoflifepodcast    Twitter: @bookoflifepod   Patreon: patreon.com/bookoflife Photo: Sydney Taylor Book Award Committee Chair Susan Kusel with 2018 gold medalist titles Your feedback is ap...

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST     🕮    The winners of the 2018 Sydney Taylor Book Awards for the best in Jewish children's and teen literature will be announced on January 10, 2018 . Chair Susan Kusel gave The Book of Life an exclusive interview that will be posted on that date. In the meantime, here is her dedication to the hardworking awards committee.   Photo: STBA Committee: Left to right Front row: Ellen Tilman, Diane Rauchwerger, Kathy Bloomfield, Back row: Rivka Yerushalmi, Rebecca Levitan, Susan Kusel, Elissa Gershowitz, Heather Lenson Not pictured: Marjorie Shuster, Rena Citrin  

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST     🕮    In this twelfth anniversary episode of The Book of Life, we hear from listeners and past guests about some of their favorite interviews. If we missed YOUR favorite, check out the right-hand sidebar at bookoflifepodcast.com for past episodes or go to the Internet Archive at archive.org/details/@TBOL . During The Book of Life's coming hiatus, I may post occasional interviews if I come across something just too interesting to resist podcasting about, and I'll also post about any future podcasting plans, so watch this space! My new job at PJ Library includes overseeing the Author Newsletter, so if you're a creator of Jewish kidlit, be sure to subscribe to that newsletter here . Today's show includes clips from these shows; click on any title to listen to the full episode. March 2007 Why Is This Podcast Different From All Other Podcasts? Guests: dave horowitz (Five Little Gefiltes), Tami Lehman-Wilzig (Passover Aroun...

The Association of Jewish Libraries and the Jewish Book Council present the third annual reading challenge for readers of all ages, Readukkah! To participate, all you have to do is post about any #JewLit book (any book of Jewish interest) on the Facebook event discussion board—or share a link to your review anywhere online—and use the hashtag #Readukkah to connect with other readers! By sharing your Readukkah posts, your participation in this reading challenge helps spread the word about worthwhile titles, bringing them to the attention of more readers and supporting the publication of Jewish books!   JOIN THE EVENT HERE

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST    |    BUY THE BOOKS: ILLUSTRATED / PIRKEI IMAHOT     🕮    I convened a virtual roundtable among the creators of two books related to The Ethics of the Fathers, aka the Pirkei Avot. Goodness knows, this is a time when the world needs moral guidance! Why not turn to ancient and modern teachings of Judaism for help? I spoke with Jessica Deutsch, creator of The Illustrated Pirkei Avot: A Graphic Novel of Jewish Ethics , and with Lois Shenker and Rabbi Eve Posen, co-authors of Pirkei Imahot: The Wisom of Mothers, The Voices of Women . GRAND FINALE: In other news, I want to thank you all for the voicemails you've left me saying nice things about The Book of Life. You'll hear those messages, mixed with clips from the episodes they refer to, in our grande finale episode later in December 2017. I also want to let you know that I may post random episodes of The Book of Life now and then in the coming year,...

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST     |    BUY THE BOOK     🕮    Tasa's Song by Linda Kass is a story of a young musician in WWII Poland. I met the author at "A Book in Concert" where she read excerpts interspersed with musical performances by the Carpe Diem String Quartet . They played classical music that Tasa would have played herself, and they played the original piece "Tasa's Song," written by Charles Weatherbee as a tribute to the book. Linda is not only an author, she's also a bookseller! If you're ever in Bexley, Ohio, visit her bookstore, Gramercy Books ! GRAND FINALE: The Book of Life will go on hiatus after the December 2017 episode. YOU can be a part of my grand finale! Leave me a voicemail or send me an audio recording with your comment about what The Book of Life has meant to you, about a favorite interview, about new podcasting ideas for me, or any other thoughts you want to share. Your voice may end up on th...