The Book of Life

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST    |    BUY MUSIC WAS IT / BERLIN BOXING CLUB      🕮    Next month the 2013 Sydney Taylor Book Award winners will be announced, but for now we are still celebrating the wonderful winners that were named in January 2012. At the Association of Jewish Libraries annual conference this summer, I did a joint interview with winners Susan Goldman Rubin ( Music Was It: Young Leonard Bernstein ) and Rob Sharenow ( The Berlin Boxing Club ). Both were charming and personable, a delight to speak with as they talked about the inspiration for and ties between their two books. 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 boo...

The Association of Jewish Libraries has created “Hanukkah Read Up!,” a list of Hanukkah books for children recommended by the Sydney Taylor Book Award committee. The colorful 2-page flyer is available on the AJL website . All the titles on the list have been recognized by the award committee as gold or silver medalists or as “Notable Books.” A special section is devoted to the Hanukkah works of prolific author Eric A. Kimmel, a past Sydney Taylor Body-of-Work Award winner. The list should prove interesting and useful for families seeking Hanukkah titles for their children, to read together or buy as gifts, as well as for librarians who wish to purchase titles for their holiday shelves. AJL members and friends are welcome to distribute the list, digitally or printed out, to their own library patrons. Happy Hanukkah and Happy Reading!

Welcome to the Jewish Book Carnival for the month of November, 2012!  The Jewish Book Carnival is a monthly online event celebrating Jewish literature, hosted by the Association of Jewish Libraries . Our October host, The Prosen People, explained it so well that I'm going to borrow their description: "The series is a monthly event where book bloggers who promote Jewish literature come together to share some of their best content from the past month. Each month the round-up of posts can be found on a different Jewish literary blog, so be sure to check out Jewish Book Carnival HQ for future (and past!) hosts (and posts!)." This month we've got some great links for you. We hope you'll join the conversation by sharing and commenting on the blog posts represented here! David Levy at JewishBoston.com sent in this interview with Anna Solomon , author of The Lobster Mafia Story . This "trayf" short story is being distributed all over town for The...

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST    |    BUY THE BOOK     🕮    The Book of Life's Canadian correspondant, Anne Dublin , speaks live with author Lesley Simpson before the Ashkenaz Festival in Toronto. They discuss Lesley's new picture book A Song For My Sister , and talk about the writing life. 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 bookoflifepodcast@gmail.com or call our voicemail number at 561-206-2473.

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST    |    BUY THE BOOK     🕮    I met author Betsy Rosenthal  at the ALA (American Library Association) conference, and grabbed a quick interview on the showroom floor. Betsy is the author of Looking For Me in this Great Big Family, a fictionalized tale of her mother's experience growing up as one of twelve Jewish siblings in Baltimore, Maryland during the Depression. 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 bookoflifepodcast@gmail.com or call our voicemail number at 561-206-2473.

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST    |    BUY THE BOOK     🕮    Dr. Reuven Firestone was the opening plenary speaker at the June, 2012 Association of Jewish Libraries conference in Pasadena, CA. He gave a fascinating talk called "Jews in the Koran, Jews on the Koran" to a packed house. In this brief interview, Dr. Firestone describes the theme of his talk, and also mentions his new book, Holy War in Judaism: The Fall and Rise of a Controversial Idea . 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 Photo: Left to right: David Hirsch, Reuven Firestone at 2012 AJL Conference 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     🕮    Enjoy this interview with Marc Tyler Nobleman , author of Boys of Steel: The Creators of Superman , and other untold stories about underdog heroes! Check out his blog Nobelmania ! 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 bookoflifepodcast@gmail.com or call our voicemail number at 561-206-2473 .

A tribute by the Sydney Taylor Book Award-winning author of Tropical Secrets, Margarita Engle Freedom of expression is a right so precious that we must constantly work to protect it. In 1939, when he was only fourteen, my father made a courageous effort to speak out against the atrocities of the Holocaust. Instead of being praised, he was punished. Recently, after receiving an invitation to a junior high school reunion, he sat down and wrote a letter to the school, revealing a secret he had kept for 73 years.  -- Margarita Engle Dear Mr. Jordan and the Mount Vernon Reunion Committee, Thank you for inviting me to the coming Luncheon for past Mount Vernon students. I remember many positive things about my three years at Mount Vernon Junior High, especially the many fine teachers with whom I was fortunate to study. In particular, members of the art faculty whose encouragement, I believe, helped me to prepare for my future career as an artist and art teacher. There is one dar...