The 2011 Sydney Taylor Book Award Blog Tour

The Sydney Taylor Book Award is celebrating and showcasing its 2011 gold and silver medalists with a Blog Tour, February 6-11, 2011! Interviews with winning authors and illustrators are appearing all week on various sites across the blogosphere - catch the daily roundup at AJL's blog People of the Books, or just follow the links below!

THE 2011 SYDNEY TAYLOR BOOK AWARD BLOG TOUR

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2011

Carla Jablonski, author of Resistance
Sydney Taylor Honor Award winner in the Older Readers Category
at Jewish Comics

Leland Purvis, illustrator of Resistance
Sydney Taylor Honor Award winner in the Older Readers Category
at Shelf-Employed

Sarah Gershman, author of Modeh Ani: A Good Morning Book
Sydney Taylor Honor Award winner in the Younger Readers Category
at Biblio File

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2011

Linda Glaser, author of Emma’s Poem: The Voice of the Statue of Liberty
Sydney Taylor Honor Award winner in the Younger Readers Category
at ASHarmony

Claire Nivola, illustrator of Emma’s Poem: The Voice of the Statue of Liberty
Sydney Taylor Honor Award winner in the Younger Readers Category
at Lori Calabrese

Evelyn Krieger, author of One Is Not a Lonely Number
Sydney Taylor Honor Award winner in the Older Readers Category
at Ima On and Off the Bima

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2011

Barbara Diamond Goldin, author of Cakes and Miracles: A Purim Tale
Sydney Taylor Honor Award winner in the Younger Readers Category
at Great Kid Books

Jaime Zollars, illustrator of Cakes and Miracles: A Purim Tale
Sydney Taylor Honor Award winner in the Younger Readers Category
at The Book of Life

Susan Lynn Meyer, author of Black Radishes
Sydney Taylor Honor Award winner in the Older Readers Category
at The 3 Rs – Reading, ‘Riting & Research

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2011

Howard Schwartz, author of Gathering Sparks
Sydney Taylor Book Award winner in the Younger Readers Category
at Boston Bibliophile

Barry Deutsch, author and illustrator of Hereville: How Mirka Got Her Sword
Sydney Taylor Book Award winner in the Older Readers Category
at BewilderBlog

Dana Reinhardt, author of The Things a Brother Knows
Sydney Taylor Book Award winner in the Teen Readers Category
at A Chair, a Fireplace, and a Tea Cozy

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2011

Kristina Swarner, illustrator of Gathering Sparks
Sydney Taylor Book Award winner in the Younger Readers Category
And illustrator of Modeh Ani: A Good Morning Book
Sydney Taylor Honor Award winner in the Younger Readers Category
at Alice Pope’s SCBWI Children’s Market Blog

Sarah Darer Littman, author of Life, After
Sydney Taylor Honor Award winner in the Teen Readers Category
at Into the Wardrobe

Eishes Chayil, author of Hush
Sydney Taylor Honor Award winner in the Teen Readers Category
at Frume Sarah’s World

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 2011

Morris Gleitzman, author of Once
Sydney Taylor Honor Award winner in the Teen Readers Category
at The Fourth Musketeer

Sydney Taylor Award Winners – Wrap-Up
All winners, all categories
at The Whole Megillah

The 2010 Sydney Taylor Book Award Blog Tour

The Sydney Taylor Book Award will be celebrating and showcasing its 2010 gold and silver medalists and with our special Notable Book for All Ages with a Blog Tour, February 1-5, 2010! Here is a celebratory video for your enjoyment, and the schedule for the Blog Tour is posted below.

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 2010

Monday, February 1, 2010
April Halprin Wayland, author of New Year at the Pier: A Rosh Hashanah Story
Sydney Taylor Book Award winner in the Younger Readers Category
at Practically Paradise

Monday, February 1, 2010
Stephane Jorisch, illustrator of New Year at the Pier: A Rosh Hashanah Story
Sydney Taylor Book Award winner in the Younger Readers Category
at Frume Sarah's World

Monday, February 1, 2010
Margarita Engle, author of Tropical Secrets: Holocaust Refugees in Cuba
Sydney Taylor Book Award winner in the Teen Readers Category
at bookstogether

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2010

Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Robin Friedman, author of The Importance of Wings
Sydney Taylor Book Award winner in the Older Readers Category
at Little Willow's Bildungsroman

Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Jacqueline Davies, author of Lost
Sydney Taylor Honor Award winner in the Teen Readers Category
at Biblio File

Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Jonah Winter, author of You Never Heard of Sandy Koufax?
Sydney Taylor Honor Award winner in the Younger Readers Category
at Get in the Game: Read! and cross-posted at Examiner.com

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2010

Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Elka Weber, author of The Yankee at the Seder
Sydney Taylor Honor Award winner in the Younger Readers Category
at BewilderBlog

Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Adam Gustavson, illustrator of The Yankee at the Seder
Sydney Taylor Honor Award winner in the Younger Readers Category
at Great Kids Books

Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Judy Vida, daughter of the late Selma Kritzer Silverberg, author of Naomi's Song
Sydney Taylor Honor Award winner in the Teen Readers Category
at The Book Nosher

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 2010

Thursday, February 4, 2010
Jacqueline Jules, author of Benjamin and the Silver Goblet
Sydney Taylor Honor Award winner in the Younger Readers Category
at ASHarmony

Thursday, February 4, 2010
Natascia Ugliano, illustrator of Benjamin and the Silver Goblet
Sydney Taylor Honor Award winner in the Younger Readers Category
at The Book of Life

Thursday, February 4, 2010
Deborah Bodin Cohen, author of Nachshon, Who Was Afraid to Swim
Sydney Taylor Honor Award winner in the Younger Readers Category
at Ima On and Off the Bima

Thursday, February 4, 2010
Jago, illustrator of Nachshon, Who Was Afraid to Swim
Sydney Taylor Honor Award winner in the Younger Readers Category
at Jewish Books for Children

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2010

Friday, February 5, 2010
Annika Thor, author of A Faraway Island
Sydney Taylor Honor Award winner in the Older Readers Category
at Teen Reads

Friday, February 5, 2010
Ellen Frankel, author of The JPS Illustrated Bible for Children
Sydney Taylor Notable Book for All Ages
at Deo Writer

Host-A-Jewish-Book-Author.com

Host-a-Jewish-Book-Author.com moves to Center for Jewish Culture and Creativity

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Anna Olswanger (201) 791-4699
Bob Goldfarb (310) 652-5163

Host-a-Jewish-Book-Author.com, a free Web source of information on authors of Jewish-themed books worldwide, has been acquired by the Center for Jewish Culture and Creativity. Launched in late 2007 by literary agent Anna Olswanger of Liza Dawson Associates, it was selected as one of the "101 Best Websites for Writers for 2009" by Writers Digest magazine.

“I have wanted to take this site to the next level for some time," Olswanger commented. "Joining with the Center for Jewish Culture and Creativity lets us combine the proverbial strength with strength.” The president of the Center, Bob Goldfarb, added, “This great resource helps us continue our historic commitment to creative artists, with technology that makes it possible for us to serve them better.”

Host-a-Jewish-Book-Author.com is searchable by name, location, and genre. Each listing includes the participating author's city, book titles, lecture topics, areas of travel, and contact information. Also available are links to author interviews and podcasts. The site is designed to make it easy for bookstores, libraries, and other organizations to arrange programs with authors, especially around the
Jewish holidays.

Over 75 authors are participating in the Host a Jewish Book Author site, including Maggie Anton, Ron Arons, Haggai Carmon, Poopa Dweck, Michelle Edwards, Rabbi Dov Peretz Elkins, Barbara Kessel, Sarah Lamstein, Gregory Levey, Anna Levine, Sonia Levitin, Bob Morris, Rosalind Reisner, Rabbi Dennis Ross, Sylvia Rouss, Arthur Schwartz, Steve Sheinkin, and Yale Strom.

The Center for Jewish Culture and Creativity envisions making all participating authors "Center Artists" of the CJCC. It is also interested in adapting the software to launch similar services for visual artists, filmmakers, playwrights, and musicians.

The CJCC undertakes projects that address Jewish identity and Jewish community through the medium of arts and culture. “The acquisition of www.Host-a-Jewish-Book-Author.com will contribute to the growth of the organization and its existing
Website www.jewishcreativity.org,” noted Goldfarb.

---
Anna Olswanger, Literary Agent
Liza Dawson Associates
350 Seventh Avenue, Ste. 2003
New York, NY 10001
Direct tel.: +1-201-791-4699
www.olswanger.com
www.shlemielcrooks.com
www.host-a-jewish-book-author.com

New Holocaust Books for Youth

Farrar Straus Giroux Books for Young Readers

Roaring Brook Press

Imprints of Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group

Jeanne McDermott • Director of Marketing • 646-307-5756 • Jeanne.Mcdermott@fsgbooks.com

From the Anne Frank House

ANNE FRANK: HER LIFE IN WORDS AND PICTURES,

A FAMILY SECRET, and THE SEARCH

“Heartbreaking . . . the medium’s intimacy and immediacy help boil down a vast subject to a few lives that young readers, and old ones too, can grasp.” – The New York Times

“A must for the Holocaust curriculum.” – Booklist, starred review

“[The Search and A Family Secret] are must-haves.” – Kirkus, starred review

It is through the narratives of victims, perpetrators, bystanders, and survivors that we become aware of the human side of the Holocaust. Every person who lived in Europe during that terrible time has a unique, personal story. Statistics tell us what happened, but the stories let us know how it felt.

Fortunately, these stories survive, thanks in part to museums, archives, libraries, and more.

We’re proud to publish for the US market three books developed by the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam: Anne Frank: Her Life in Words and Pictures is a book to read and pore over as it includes many photographs of the Frank family never published before. In A Family Secret, we read about the experiences of a fictional Dutch family during World War II. Powerful storytelling, combined with the narrative energy of the graphic novel format, convey the details of this horrific moment in world history. In another equally powerful graphic novel, The Search, the main facts about the Holocaust are revealed through the eyes of another fictional family affected by the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands. Each of the latter books presents information related by eyewitness accounts.

These meticulously researched visual books bring a new accessibility to this moral turning point in modern history and forge a connection to the events of the past for children living in today’s very visual culture. In addition, children will be aware of a new Disney film project: http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/movies/2009/08/12/2009-08-12_the_diary_of_anne_frank_to_return_to_the_big_screen_david_mamet_will_write_direc.html#ixzz0NzSVSoWN

If we may provide more information about the books or provide review copies, please let me know (see contact information above).

And please see our free, downloadable guide, TEACHING THE HOLOCAUST: http://us.macmillan.com/annefrank-2#guides

The Anne Frank House is an independent organization entrusted with the care of the Secret Annex, the place where Anne Frank hid during World War II and where she wrote her diary. It brings her life story to the attention of people all over the world to encourage them to reflect on the dangers of anti-Semitism, racism and discrimination, and on the importance of freedom, equal rights and democracy. Their American partner organization is The Anne Frank Center USA.

Anne Frank: Her Life in Words and Pictures • by Menno Metselaar and Ruud van der rol; translated by Arnold J. Pomerans

Roaring Brook Press • HC: 978-1-59643-546-9 •PB: 978-1-59643-547-6

A Family Secret • by Eric Heuvel; translated by Lorraine T. Miller

Farrar Straus Giroux Books for Young Readers • HC ISBN: 978-0-374-32271-7 • PB ISBN: 978-0-374-42265-3

The Search • by Eric Heuvel, Ruud van der Rol, and Lies Schippers; translated by Lorraine T. Miller

Farrar Straus Giroux Books for Young Readers • HC ISBN: 978-0-374-36517-2 • PB ISBN: 978-0-374-46455-4

On Sale October 2009

Say You’re Sorry

Tablet Magazine has an interesting way of celebrating the High Holidays this year: the Say You're Sorry hotline! Here's how they explain it:

Yom Kippur is right around the corner, and we all have things to repent for. That, dear readers, includes you. Maybe you said something nasty to a friend, maybe you’ve told a little lie, maybe you stole $50 billion dollars and sent the global economy into a tailspin. Whatever it is, we want to hear about it for our new Daily Sorry feature. Starting in early September and running every day until Yom Kippur, we’ll run one reader’s message of atonement. (Or more than one, if we get lots. Or maybe not every day, if we don’t.) It’s very simple: call our hotline, leave us a short message saying what you’re sorry for (don’t worry—there’s no need to give us your contact information, or even your name), and we’ll run it on the site. And you’ll feel much, much better about yourself.

Ready to say you’re sorry? Call us at 718-360-4836, and tell us what you’re sorry for. We can’t forgive you, but we can make repenting more fun.

Torah Aura Webinars

Torah Aura, publisher of Jewish educational materials, now offers free webinars for educators! A webinar is a seminar offered live via Internet. Because a webinar is live, teacher and students can interact, just as in a regular classroom situation. However, webinars are recorded and can be viewed later (non-interactively) by those for whom the scheduled webinar time is not convenient.

Torah Aura's webinars expand upon the company's printed materials, talking about ways to use various titles and also furthering the discussion on each book's topic. Webinars currently listed on the Torah Aura site address issues such as prayer, lifecycle, Israel, and Jewish heroes.

Torah Aura explains how easy it is to partipate:

Basically, you just need any Mac or PC that is connected to a high-speed (not dial-up) internet connection. In order to hear the presentation, you’ll also need computer speakers (or you can listen to the audio over a plain-old phone connection, like dialing into a conference call). You can ask questions by simply typing them in (kind of like typing in a chat room or instant message), or you can ask via audio using a microphone connected to your computer or your phone handset. In a nutshell: as long as your computer isn’t totally ancient, and as long as you have an internet connection that’s faster than dial-up, you’re good to go.

To learn more or to sign up for a webinar, visit http://tapbb.wordpress.com/2009/07/09/torah-aura-professional-development-webinars/.

Promote Your Book Sale

Book Sale Manager is a site that helps you find book sales where you can go shopping, or you can list a book sale that you are hosting. Visit booksalemanager.com to try it out. When I tried looking up Florida book sales, I found listings for Friends of the Library sales in South Florida including Plantation, Weston and Parkland, as well as sales further afield. Give it a try!

American Jewish Fiction

The lastest issue of Jewish Book World (the journal of the Jewish Book Council) features a very interesting essay by Josh Lambert called "What Makes a Book Jewish?" This age-old question cannot be answered in a single essay, of course, but Josh suggests possible criteria such as Jewish authorship, or a Jewish feeling (he quotes Saul Bellow "who characterized a Jewish book as one in which 'laughter and trembling' are 'curiously mixed'"). I like his conclusion, where he says that to him, the way to answer this question is to consider why you think anyone should read such books.

Are these books meant to bring Jewish closer to God? To explain Jewish life to non-Jews? To educate, entertain, to perplex, to enlighten? Personally, I hope Jewish books can do all of these things.

This essay was written not only to explore the definition of Jewish literature, but also to introduce Josh Lambert's forthcoming book, American Jewish Fiction: A JPS Guide. The essay helps him define his criteria for inclusion or exclusion of various titles within this collection of short reviews. He acknowledges that readers might have differing opinions about what constitutes a Jewish book, or which titles should be included in such a compilation. To that end, he has created a companion website at www.americanjewishfiction.com, where you can read book reviews or even suggest additional books.

New Podcast Episodes

For your podcasting enjoyment, please visit:

AJL Podcast's newest episode, "How to Run an Effective AJL Chapter" - a panel discussion recorded at the 2008 Association of Jewish Libraries convention.

The Book of Life Podcast's newest episode, "Sing, Little Birdie" - an interview with Orit Shimoni, leader of the Canadian band Little Birdie.

JTEC: A Jewish Education Website

Here is an email I received about a new Jewish education website. Check it out!

Dear Colleague,

We are delighted to present to you the MOFET JTEC Jewish Portal of Teacher Education - http://jtec.macam.ac.il/portal

The objective of this International Portal is to improve the flow of pedagogical knowledge and research in Jewish education by helping teacher educators, teachers, researchers, and other stakeholders keep abreast of the wealth of publications in the field.

The portal's uniqueness results from the coordinated processes of collecting, filtering, processing and distributing relevant research and non-research papers and other resources on Jewish formal and informal education and teacher education within one integrative clearinghouse using defined categories and key words.

Portal users are invited to make use of the site's online response system to interactively share their knowledge and insights about the portal's contents with other users.

In order to keep updated, we recommend that you register for the periodic MOFET JTEC Portal newsletter, free of charge. Each newsletter is sent directly to your electronic mailbox and contains references to all the new items added to the portal.

If you wish to register simply write your email address under "Free Newsletter" (located top-right in the portal). Click the "Subscribe" button and follow the confirmation request that will be sent to your email mailbox.

At this opportunity, we also invite you to browse through our website and view some of the other activities that take place in this framework.

We welcome you aboard and thank you in advance for spreading the word…

The MOFET JTEC Portal Team

Podcasting for Smarties

Torah at the Center, a publication of the Union for Reform Judaism (URJ), has come out with an issue focusing on ways Jewish educators can take advantage of new technologies. I am pleased to announce that on page 7 of this "Technology at the Center" issue, you will find an article written by yours truly, Heidi Estrin, called "Podcasting for Smarties." Check it out here!

(Back issues focusing on other topics may be found here.)

Jewish/ Irish Music

Just for fun on St. Patrick's Day, I thought you might enjoy these videos which combine jazz, klezmer, and Irish folk music styles!

Very Short List's Jewish Gems

I subscribe to an e-newsletter called Very Short List, self-described as "a collection of distinct, free, daily e-mails that each recommend one must–see gem a day." Every now and then they turn up an item of Jewish interest. Below are two recent entries that caught my eye.

THE BELIEVERS

The Believers by Zoe Heller follows her 2003 novel Notes on a Scandal. Here's how Very Short List describes the new book:

"The believers in question are the Litvinoffs — an unhappy Jewish family like the kind you’d meet in certain Woody Allen films. When the family’s patriarch, a radical left-wing lawyer named Joel, suffers a stroke, the group’s established dynamic comes unglued. Suddenly, the poison-tongued wife, the holier-than-thou daughter, the fat ignored daughter, and the adopted dope-fiend son have to confront the fraying veneers of their own, imagined righteousness."

HIDDEN MELODIES REVEALED

The Sway Machinery includes members from other bands, including Jeremiah Lockwood from Balkan Beat Box. Sway Machinery has just released its first album, Hidden Melodies Revealed. Very Short List says:

"Hidden Melodies Revealed features Lockwood singing the Hebrew verses he learned from his grandfather, a famous cantor named Jacob Konigsberg. (Lockwood’s pedigree also includes a stint in the New York City subway system supporting bluesman Carolina Slim.) But if Lockwood’s inspirations are rooted in the past, the album itself is emphatically forward-looking, fusing elements of Afropop, blues, jazz, and post-rock, and capturing the sweep and intensity of the Sway Machinery’s high-energy stage shows."

Where the Wild Things Aren't

Laurel Snyder, an author friend of mine, has written a very interesting article for Nextbook.org called "Where the Wild Things Aren't." In this article, she critiques the current state of Jewish children's literature as being too tame. I was honored to have the chance to talk with her about this article before it was finalized, and I took the opportunity to point out to her the advances that have been made in the genre, which I discussed in my earlier article, "Contemporary Jewish Youth Literature" for MyJewishLearning.com. Whether you agree that we've made great strides or that we have a lot further to go, I urge you to read Laurel's article (and mine if you wish) and to join the conversation by posting your own comments. As some previous commenters at Nextbook have stated, Jewish authors have created a rich and complex literature for adults, yet somehow our books for children often end up back in the shtetl. What's blocking us?

In my personal opinion, one of the difficulties in the way of creating good contemporary Jewish kidlit is the fact that Jewish characters can "pass." If the characters are not Orthodox, there are no visual cues that they are Jewish. So how does the author signal their ethnicity? The easiest and most frequent solution is to have them celebrate Jewish holidays or use Jewish (usually Yiddish) vocabulary. It's especially difficult in the picture book arena, where subtle cues used in chapter books (like Jewish last names) may go over the heads of the target audience. So this is the challenge: how do you create identifiably Jewish yet culturally assimilated characters for a Jewish yet culturally assimilated audience?

Jewish Publication Society Offers

E-Newsletter Gift Certificate

The Jewish Publication Society is giving away a $25 gift certificate to anyone who signs up for their
e-news letter before the end of February. No strings. They are just trying to build their list up as much as possible. You can find details at: www.jewishpub.org/contact/mail.php.

Book Sale

To welcome in the New Year, JPS is offering savings of 40% off list prices of their books (excluding Etz Hayim hardcover and Gift Editions; the Jewish Women CD-ROM (Mac and PC versions) and books in the "Classic Backlist" series). This limited time offer is good through February 28, 2009. Use code NY2009 when placing your order via phone/mail/fax or online to receive your discount at www.jewishpub.org.

Library Lovers Month

Did you know that February is Library Lovers Month? Visit the new Library Lovers Month blog at libraryloversmonth.blogspot.com to see recommendations of books about libraries, and even a list of blogs by librarians (including SFAJL's own blog!).

In fact, they've put out a call for YOUR suggestions. Library-lovin' blogger Marietta wants to know what your favorite "library" books are - meaning books ABOUT libraries.

If you are a Librarian, leave a comment on the Librarian post. if you are a Teacher, leave a comment on the Teacher post. If you are a Book Lover that is not a Librarian or a Teacher, post your comment under Calling All Book Lovers. You'll see what I mean when you look at the the Library Lovers Month blog.

I can't wait to see your suggestions!

Cookbook Sale

The bookstore at the National Yiddish Book Center is offering all cookbooks at 15% off. They also have an overstock sale on some titles of 40-50% off. If your library offers cookbooks, this is a good opportunity to stock up. Visit NYBC's online bookstore now!

From NYBC's website:

Our featured selections include these recent releases: Arthur Schwartz's Jewish Home Cooking, Jewish Holiday Cooking by Jayne Cohen, and Healthy Cooking for the Jewish Home by Faye Levy and many other classics. We also are featuring a great publisher overstock sale including these titles: The New York Times Jewish Cookbook, Classic Italian Jewish Cooking, and Jewish Food: World at the Table at 40 to 50% off list prices . Quantities are limited, so order today!

National Jewish Book Awards

The winners of the 2008 National Jewish Book Awards have been announced by the Jewish Book Council. Click here for a printable press release.

And the winners are:

Everett Family Foundation Jewish Book of the Year Award
The Torah: A Women's Commentary by Dr. Tamara Cohn Eskenazi and Rabbi Andrea L. Weiss (URJ Press and Women of Reform Judaism)

American Jewish Studies Celebrate 350 Award
Winner: Exiles on Main Street: Jewish American Writers and American Literary Culture by Julian Levinson (Indiana University Press)

Finalists:

The First to Cry Down Injustice?: Western Jews and Japanese Removal During WWII by Ellen M. Eisenberg (Lexington Books)

From Krakow to Krypton: Jews and Comic Books by Arie Kaplan (Jewish Publication Society)

Biography, Autobiography, and Memoir, In Memory of Simon & Shulamith (Sofi) Goldberg

Winner: Marie Syrkin: Values Beyond the Self by Carole S. Kessner (Brandeis University Press/University Press of New England)

Finalists:

The Journal of Hélène Berr by Helene Berr (Weinstein Books)

Benjamin Disraeli by Adam Kirsch (Schocken Books/Nextbook)

Children’s and Young Adult Literature

Winner: The Diary of Laura's Twin by Kathy Kacer (Second Story Press)

Finalists:

Checkpoints by Marilyn Levy (Jewish Publication Society)

Memories of Babi by Aranka Siegal (Farrar, Straus and Giroux)

Torah and Commentary: The Five Books of Moses: Translation, Rabbinic and Contemporary Commentary by Sol Scharfstein (KTAV Publishing House)

Contemporary Jewish Life and Practice

Winner: Conscience: The Duty to Obey and the Duty to Disobey by Rabbi Harold M. Schulweis (Jewish Lights Publishing)

Finalists:

Inspired Jewish Leadership: Practical Approaches to Building Strong Communities by Dr. Erica Brown (Jewish Lights Publishing)

The Book of New Israeli Food: A Culinary Journey by Janna Gur (Schocken Books)

Cool Jew: The Ultimate Guide for Every Member of the Tribe by Lisa Alcalay Klug (Andrews McMeel Publishing)

Education and Jewish Identity

Winner: What We Now Know About Jewish Education: Perspectives on Research for Practice
by Roberta Louis Goodman, Paul A. Flexner, Linda Dale Bloomberg, eds. (Torah Aura Productions)

Finalists:

Family Matters: Jewish Education in an Age of Choice by Jack Wertheimer, ed. (Brandeis University Press/University Press of New England)

Back to School : Jewish Day School in the Lives of Adult Jews by Alex Pomson and Randal F. Schnoor (Wayne State University Press)

Ten Days of Birthright Israel: A Journey in Young Adult Identity by Leonard Saxe and Barry Chazan (Brandeis University Press/University Press of New England)

Fiction

Winner: Songs for the Butcher’s Daughter: A Novel by Peter Manseau (Free Press)

Finalists:

Light Fell by Evan Fallenberg (Soho Press)

Memory: A Novel by Philippe Grimbert (Simon & Schuster)

People of the Book: A Novel by Geraldine Brooks (Viking Adult)

History, Gerrard and Ella Berman Memorial Award

Winner: 1948: A History of the First Arab-Israeli War by Benny Morris (Yale University Press)

Finalists:

The Lost Spy: An American in Stalin's Secret Service by Andrew Meier (W. W. Norton)

Holocaust

Winner: The Holocaust by Bullets: A Priest's Journey to Uncover the Truth Behind the
Murder of 1.5 Million Jews by Father Patrick Desbois (Palgrave Macmillan)

Finalists:

Dominican Haven: The Jewish Refugee Settlement in Sosua, 1940-1945 by Marion A. Kaplan (Museum of Jewish Heritage)

Ghettostadt: Lódz and the Making of a Nazi City by Gordon J. Horwitz (Harvard University Press)

Illustrated Children’s Books

Winner:

The Mysterious Guests: A Sukkot Story by Eric A. Kimmel; Katya Krenina, illus. (Holiday House)

Finalists:

As Good as Anybody: Martin Luther King and Abraham Joshua Heschel's Amazing March Toward Freedom by Richard Michelson; Raul Colon; illus. (Knopf Books for Young Readers)

Hanukkah Haiku by Harriet Ziefert; Karla Gudeon, illus. (Blue Apple Books)

Jewish Family Literature, In Memory of Dorothy Kripke

Winner: Genesis-the Book with Seventy Faces: A guide for the Family by Esther Takac (Pitspopany Press)

Finalists:

A Time to Every Purpose: Letters to a Young Jew by Jonathan D. Sarna (Basic Books)

Modern Jewish Thought & Experience, Dorot Foundation Award In memory of Joy Ungerleider Mayerson

Winner: Emil L. Fackenheim: A Jewish Philosopher’s Response to the Holocaust by David Patterson (Syracuse University Press)

Finalists:

Rabbi and the CEO: The Ten Commandments for 21st Century Leaders by Thomas D. Zweifel and Aaron L. Raskin (Select Books)

My People's Passover Haggadah: Traditional Texts, Modern Commentaries by Rabbi Lawrence A. Hoffman and David Arnow, eds. (Jewish Lights Publishing)

The Beast That Crouches at the Door: Adam & Eve, Cain & Abel, and Beyond by Rabbi David Fohrman (Devora Publishing)

Scholarship, Nahum M. Sarna Memorial Award

Winner: The Kuzari and the Shaping of Jewish Identity, 1167-1900 by Adam Shear (Cambridge University Press)

Finalists:

Created Equal: How the Bible Broke with Ancient Political Thought by Joshua A. Berman (Oxford University Press)

Sephardic Culture, Mimi S. Frank Award in Memory of Becky Levy

Winner: Greece: A Jewish History by K.E. Fleming (Princeton University Press)

Finalists:

Iraq's Last Jews: Stories of Daily Life, Upheaval, and Escape from Modern Babylon by Tamar Morad, Dennis Shasha, Robert Shasha, eds. (Palgrave Macmillan)

Memories of Eden: A Journey Through Jewish Baghdad by Violette Shamash; Mira and Tony Rocca, eds. (Forum Books)

Women’s Studies, Barbara Dobkin Award

Winner: A Jewish Woman’s Prayer Book by Aliza Lavie, ed. (Spiegel & Grau)

Finalists:

New Jewish Feminism: Probing the Past, Forging the Future by Rabbi Elyse Goldstein (Jewish Lights Publishing)

Writing Based on Archival Material , The JDC-Herbert Katzki Award

Winner: Robbing the Jews: The Confiscation of Jewish Property in the Holocaust, 1933-
1945 by Martin Dean (Cambridge University Press)

A New Stop on the Sydney Taylor Blog Tour

Aranka Siegal, author of Memories of Babi, the Sydney Taylor Honor Book in the Older Readers Category, will be appearing on the Sydney Taylor Book Award Blog Tour on Sunday, January 18, 2009 at The Book of Life.

For the full, updated Blog Tour schedule, see www.sydneytaylorbookaward.blogspot.com.

Valuing Libraries Workshop

SFAJL's "Valuing Libraries" workshop on January 8 was very successful! We had 36 people in attendance, SFAJL members as well as many other librarians from the community at large. Our speaker, Joanne Roukens, was funny, down-to-earth, and incredibly well-organized! She provided us with a multitude of handouts, lists of further resources, and step-by-step instructions on articulating the value of our libraries. Links to the handouts are below - please feel free to reproduce and share.

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PART 1 of the Workshop is VALUING YOUR SERVICES

"Valuing Your Services" Powerpoint presentation - this Powerpoint will walk you through the first half of the workshop. It includes live links to many additional resources.

Workbook, Part 1 "Valuing Your Services" - This is a Word document. You can fill in the blanks with info about your own library.

Neptune Public Library Example

Niceville Library Sample Value Sheet

Fill-in Worksheet for Your Library - in Excel

Resource List, Part 1 - with links

PART 2 of the workshop is MAKING YOUR CASE

"Making Your Case" Powerpoint presentation

Workbook, Part 2 "Making Your Case" - a Word document for you to fill in

Strategy for Communication document - a Word document, fill in the blanks with your specifics

Resource List, Part 2 - with links

"Dear Mayor" Impact Letter Example

If you have questions or comments, please contact our instructor, Joanne Roukens, at jroukens@hrlc.org.