The Book of Life: Jewish Kidlit (Mostly)

SHOW NOTES: https://jewishbooks.blogspot.com/2023/10/am-yisrael-chai-tammar-stein.html

On October 7, 2023, the 50th anniversary of the Yom Kippur war, the terrorist group Hamas launched a brutal attack against Israel, murdering and kidnapping civilians young and old as well as striking military targets on multiple fronts. At the time of writing, Israel is at war. With Israel on my mind and in my heart, I went back and listened to Tammar Stein's 2017 interview on The Book of Life about her middle grade novel, The Six Day Hero, which is about the 1967 Six Day War. I thought you might like to hear it too. FYI, in 2020 Tammar published a companion book, Beni's War, about the 1973 Yom Kippur War. Both books are excellent.

I left the original "tune in next time" teaser on the end of the recording because I found it moving. It was Fawzia Gilani-Williams, author of Yaffa and Fatima, Shalom Salaam, dedicating her episode to the Sisterhood of Salaam Shalom because of their message of peace. There's a link to that interview in the show notes.

For a tikkun olam moment of my own, I'm making a donation to Magen David Adom, the Israeli version of the Red Cross. I invite you to join me.

Please see below for additional book recommendations and past podcasts about Israel-related youth literature.

LEARN MORE:

• Tammar Stein's website, The Six-Day War, and Beni's War
• AJL's Love Your Neighbor list #8: Israel
• Magen David Adom and American Friends of Magen David Adom
• Transcript of this podcast

SELECTED PAST BOOK OF LIFE EPISODES ABOUT ISRAEL

Yaffa and Fatima, Shalom Salaam with guest Fawzia Gilani-Williams

The Language of Angels with guest Richard Michelson

The Nazi Hunters with guest Neal Bascome

Unsettled: the Problem of Loving Israel with guest Marc Aronson

Hare and Tortoise Race Across Israel with guest Laura Gehl

Shalom Sesame with guest Veronica Wulff

Wherever You Go with guest Joan Leegant

The Last Shepherd with guest actors Uri Lifshitz and Roni Weissman, writer Gai Bosco, and post production manager Dovi Shraga

A Musical Israel @ 60 with guests Yuval Ron, Fran Manushkin, and Michael Dorf

SHOW NOTES: https://jewishbooks.blogspot.com/2024/08/the-state-of-middle-grade.html

I love middle grade books! But what defines a middle grade book? What are the challenges to publishing for this age group? What is the state of middle grade literature today? To learn more, I invited 2 experts on the genre:

~ Librarian Karen Jensen, author of "Treatise on the State of Middle Grade and Young Adult Publishing Today" and creator of the Teen Librarian Toolbox blog on School Library Journal's website

~ Chris Baron, author of Jewish middle grade fiction and founding member of the Facebook group For the Love of Middle Grade

LEARN MORE:

• Transcript of the episode
• Chris Baron's website
• Chris's books: All of Me | The Magical Imperfect | The Gray | The Secret of the Dragon Gems | On All Other Nights
• Teen Librarian Toolbox's "Mind the Middle" Project
• Karen's Treatise on the State of MG and YA Publishing Today
• Author support groups: For the Love of Middle Grade | Mighty Middle Grade Authors | Middle Grade Authorcade
• Evaluating Jewish Representation in Children's Literature: A Guide for Libraries
• Authors promoting middle grade: Rick Riordan Presents | Dav Pilkey's Little Free Libraries | James Patterson's imprint | Ambassador for Young People's Literature Jason Reynolds
• Karen's middle grade reading recommendation: A Snicker of Magic by Natalie Lloyd
• Chris's middle grade reading recommendation: Tale of the Flying Forest by R.M. Romero
• Podcast recommendation: Sold a Story: How Teaching Kids to Read Went So Wrong

SHOW NOTES: https://jewishbooks.blogspot.com/2024/04/project-shema.html

As you may remember, in December 2023 I participated in The Artists Against Antisemitism auction, which raised funds for Project Shema. Today we'll talk with April Powers, Vice President of Diversity Equity and Inclusion at Project Shema, to learn more about their mission and how it can help us kidlit folks.

LEARN MORE:

• Transcript of interview
• Project Shema
• Jewbian Princess
• "Skin in the Game: How Antisemitism Animates White Nationalism" article by Eric K. Ward
• Reading suggestions: The Source by James Michener, The Assignment by Liza Wiemer

Visit https://jewishbooks.blogspot.com/2020/10/the-mitzvah-of-voting-part-3.html for full show notes, or look for "The Mitzvah of Voting, Part 3" posted October 13, 2020 at BookofLifePodcast.com.

Welcome to the third and final entry in our series, The Mitzvah of Voting. It's October 2020 your favorite Jewish kidlit authors want all eligible US citizens to vote in the upcoming Presidential election, and listeners around the world to vote in their own local elections. My author guests will be sharing why they vote and they'll give you some recommendations for ways to keep democracy healthy. This time, we will leave you with some musical inspiration to carry you through Election Day.

Once again, I want to remind you that, as always, the views expressed on this podcast do not necessarily represent the views of our host organization, Congregation B'nai Israel of Boca Raton, Florida. One of today's guests, Sarah Aroeste, is not only an author, she's also a singer songwriter who performs in Ladino, the Judeo-Spanish dialect that became the tongue of Spanish Jews after their expulsion from Spain in 1492. I'm excited to tell you that Sarah is sharing a full song with us today, the title song from her album Gracia. The word GRACIA means THANKS and GRACE but it's also a tribute to the medieval Sephardic heroine, Doña Gracia Nasi who lived in the 1500s and saved hundreds of Jews from the Inquisition. The main idea of the song is that activists of the past inspire us to activism in our own time. See the lyrics below.

Guest authors include:

• Gail Carson Levine, author of Ella Enchanted and A Ceiling Made of Eggshells
• Lesléa Newman, author of Gittel's Journey: An Ellis Island Story
• Evan Wolkenstein, author of Turtle Boy
• Sue Macy, author of The Book Rescuer
• Sarah Aroeste, author of Buen Shabat, Shabbat Shalom and singer/songwriter of Gracia

Resources mentioned by guests include:

• The Matthew Shepard Foundation
• SURJ: Standing Up for Racial Justice
• Reclaim Our Vote
• Doña Gracia Nasi

Read the English translation of Gracia at https://jewishbooks.blogspot.com/2020/10/the-mitzvah-of-voting-part-3.html.

Your feedback is welcome! Please write to [email protected] or leave a voicemail at 561-206-2473.