When Jamie's family moves from a liberal Jewish area of San Francisco to a conservative area of Florida, he decides to go back into the closet. But when he meets Alex, the football star, sparks fly between them which un-nerves both of the teens. Can they work out their feelings for each other while navigating homophobia? Join me for a conversation with Jacob Gelman.

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Support the author, AJL, and independent book stores by buying their book here.

Thanks to:

• The Association of Jewish Libraries
• Heidi Rabinowitz, podcast mentor
• Dee Yan Key for use of their Freylekh (downloaded from https://freemusicarchive.org/home)

If you enjoyed this podcast, you might also like the AJL sister podcast, The Book of Life, a podcast about Jewish kidlit, mostly.

Twins JoJo and Bronka are coming of age in the United States in the 1960s. Daughters of Orthodox Jewish parents, they both have dreams and ambitions; JoJo of becoming an actress and Bronka of becoming an journalist. But shadows follow them: their parents' holocaust experience, US politics, neo-Nazis, sexism, and an unplanned pregnancy. Join me for a conversation with Meryl Ain, author of the Shadows We Carry.

Follow along with the transcript.

Connect with Meryl through her website https://merylain.com/ and Facebook page and enjoy her podcast.

Support the author, AJL, and independent book stores by buying their book here.

Thanks to:

• The Association of Jewish Libraries
• Heidi Rabinowitz, podcast mentor
• Dee Yan Key for use of their Freylekh (downloaded from https://freemusicarchive.org/home)

If you enjoyed this podcast, you might also like the AJL sister podcast, The Book of Life, a podcast about Jewish kidlit, mostly.

Casey is a teenager living in New Orleans, when her parents decide that she is getting into too much trouble. They move the family back to Brooklyn to be closer to their Orthodox Jewish Syrian community. But will she end up trapped in the Marriage Box? Join me for a conversation with author Corie Adjmi.

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Connect with Corie at https://corieadjmi.com/

Support the author, AJL, and independent book stores by buying their book here.

Thanks to:

• The Association of Jewish Libraries
• Heidi Rabinowitz, podcast mentor
• Dee Yan Key for use of their Freylekh (downloaded from https://freemusicarchive.org/home)

If you enjoyed this podcast, you might also like the AJL sister podcast, The Book of Life, a podcast about Jewish kidlit, mostly.

We may not be able to live in the past, but it is nice to visit it sometimes. Join me for a nostalgic journey back to Jewish sleep-away-camp with Eric Glickman as we talk about his graphic novel Camp Pock-a-wocknee : dynomite summer '77.

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Support the author, AJL, and independent book stores by buying their book here.

Thanks to:

• The Association of Jewish Libraries
• Heidi Rabinowitz, podcast mentor
• Dee Yan Key for use of their Freylekh (downloaded from https://freemusicarchive.org/home)

If you enjoyed this podcast, you might also like the AJL sister podcast, The Book of Life, a podcast about Jewish kidlit, mostly.

What if David and Goliath were actually lovers and con artists? What if the Scotts turned about to be God's chosen people? What if Ilan Ramon had been on the Columbia ground crew instead of in the shuttle? Andrea Lobel and Mark Shainblum collect an intriguing collection of "what ifs" in Jewish history and modern midrash, or "Jewish fan fiction" of the Bible. I had a fascinating conversation with the editors and two of the collection's authors, Esther Alter and Eric Choi.

Follow along with the transcript.

Support the author, AJL, and independent book stores by buying their book here.

Thanks to:

• The Association of Jewish Libraries
• Heidi Rabinowitz, podcast mentor
• Dee Yan Key for use of their Freylekh (downloaded from https://freemusicarchive.org/home)

If you enjoyed this podcast, you might also like the AJL sister podcast, The Book of Life, a podcast about Jewish kidlit, mostly.

Scheherazade telling stories to spellbound soldiers, Sephardic kids "borrow' and old confused man off the street to pose as their Holocaust surviving grandfather, and the son of a shoemaker who delights in climbing construction cranes ... these are just a few of the characters who appear in Omer Friedlander's Association of Jewish Libraries' award winning collection, The Man Who Sold Air in the Holy Land.

Contact the author at https://www.omerfriedlander.com/

Follow along with the transcript.

Support the author, AJL, and independent book stores by buying their book here.

Thanks to:

· The Association of Jewish Libraries

· Heidi Rabinowitz, podcast mentor

· Dee Yan Key for use of their Freylekh (downloaded from https://freemusicarchive.org/home)

If you enjoyed this podcast, you might also like the AJL sister podcast, The Book of Life, a podcast about Jewish kidlit, mostly.

This episode of The Book of Life features Sarah Aroeste,a singer/songwriter of Ladino music and an author of board books featuring Sephardic culture and Ladino vocabulary andBridget Hodder, a Sephardic author of middle grade and picture books.

Follow along with the transcript.

Support the author, AJL, and independent book stores by buying their book here.

Thanks to:

• The Association of Jewish Libraries
• Heidi Rabinowitz, podcast mentor
• Dee Yan Key for use of their Freylekh (downloaded from https://freemusicarchive.org/home)

If you enjoyed this podcast, you might also like the AJL sister podcast, The Book of Life, a podcast about Jewish kidlit, mostly.

After her beloved father's death, Lena is stunned to learn that he was not her biological father. She had never felt as close to Regina, her Russian-born mother. But as Regina's story unfolds from her early life in Moscow to her early adulthood in Birobidzhan, the Jewish Autonomous Region, their relationship begins to heal. Alina Adams gives us an engaging story of hardship, love, impossible decisions, and reconciliation.

Contact the author through her website AlinaAdams.com

Support UJA/Federation Ukraine Crisis Relief

Follow along with the transcript,

Support the author, AJL, and independent book stores by buying their book here.

Thanks to:

• The Association of Jewish Libraries
• Heidi Rabinowitz, podcast mentor
• Dee Yan Key for use of their Freylekh (downloaded from https://freemusicarchive.org/home)

If you enjoyed this podcast, you might also like the AJL sister podcast, The Book of Life, a podcast about Jewish kidlit, mostly.

In a Nice Jewish Books first – I won't be speaking with the author of the book From the Jewish Provinces, Fradl Shtok, but rather her translators, Jordan Finkin and Allison Schachter. Fradl Shtok was born in the Austro-Hungarian empire and started her writing career there. She later moved to New York and continued her writing career. Although better known for her poetry, Shtok also wrote short stories. Jordan Finkin and Allison Schachter, both long-time Yiddishists, collaborated on translating her stories in this collection, From the Jewish Provinces.

Follow along with the transcript.

Support the author, AJL, and independent book stores by buying their book here.

Thanks to:

• The Association of Jewish Libraries
• Heidi Rabinowitz, podcast mentor
• Dee Yan Key for use of their Freylekh (downloaded from https://freemusicarchive.org/home)

If you enjoyed this podcast, you might also like the AJL sister podcast, The Book of Life, a podcast about Jewish kidlit, mostly.

In this historical novel based on both their families' histories, I speak with author's Shaunna Edwards and Alyson Richman. In the novel, we follow two couples. Jacob and Lilly are a Jewish couple living in New York while Stella and William are both slaves in New Orleans. Both men are fighting for the Union and they bond over their love of music. Both women use their sewing skills to help the war effort. But while their lives should have run parallel to each other, they diverge in some shocking ways.

Follow along with the transcript

Check out the website www.thethreadcollectors.com

Support the author, AJL, and independent book stores by buying their book here.

Thanks to:

• The Association of Jewish Libraries
• Heidi Rabinowitz, podcast mentor
• Dee Yan Key for use of their Freylekh (downloaded from https://freemusicarchive.org/home)

If you enjoyed this podcast, you might also like the AJL sister podcast, The Book of Life, a podcast about Jewish kidlit, mostly.