SHOW NOTES: https://jewishbooks.blogspot.com/2024/12/a-very-december-25th-hanukkah.html

TRANSCRIPT: https://otter.ai/u/UWPCM0P5Hpt6NgXH36TIfIelswY?utm_source=copy_url

Happy Hanukkah! Christmas and Hanukkah overlap this year, with Hanukkah beginning on December 25, so it's a good time to think about the juxtaposition of these two holidays. Hanukkah is a minor holiday but its proximity to Christmas brings it extra attention. Let's talk about that!

GUESTS:

• Henry Herz, editor of The Festival of Lights: 16 Hanukkah Stories
• Joanne Levy, Festival contributor and co-author of Let It Glow
• Erica Perl, Festival contributor and author of The Ninth Night of Hanukkah

LEARN MORE:

• Henry Herz's website | buy or borrow The Festival of Lights
• Joanne Levy's website | buy or borrow Let It Glow
• Erica Perl's website, Instagram | buy or borrow The Ninth Night of Hanukkah
• Reading (and gifting) recommendations:
  • Joanne suggests The Latke Who Couldn't Stop Screaming by Lemony Snicket, and Red and Green and Blue and White by Lee Wind.
  •  Erica suggests Meet the Latkes, Latke's First Hanukkah, and P is for Pastrami by Alan Silberberg, The Greatest by Veera Hiranandani, and What Jewish Looks Like by Liz Kleinrock and Caroline Kusin Pritchard

CREDITS:

• Produced by Feldman Children's Library at Congregation B'nai Israel
• Co-sponsored by the Association of Jewish Libraries
• Sister podcast: Nice Jewish Books
• Theme Music: The Freilachmakers Klezmer String Band
• Facebook Discussion Group: Jewish Kidlit Mavens
• Facebook Page: Facebook.com/bookoflifepodcast
• Instagram: @bookoflifepodcast
• Twitter: @bookoflifepod
• Support the Podcast: Shop or Donate

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

SHOW NOTES: https://jewishbooks.blogspot.com/2024/11/jewish-book-month.html

TRANSCRIPT: https://otter.ai/u/EHJzDppX2El7s3XjfPnLd-PqW4I?utm_source=copy_url

Here's a bonus episode for you, in honor of Jewish Book Month, which is marking its 99th year.  Arielle Landau, the program coordinator at the Jewish Book Council, joins me to talk about the Council's special campaign to Celebrate Jewish Books, and how YOU can participate!

Watch my Instagram @BookOfLifePodcast and Facebook for daily Jewish Book Month recommendations, November 24-December 24, 2024. In light of the state of the world, this year's theme is books that model ACTIVISM.

LEARN MORE:

• Jewish Book Month
• Celebrate Jewish Books Campaign
• "Cheering On Jewish Books" video by Heidi with practical tips for supporting Jewish lit
• Article by Heidi in The Forward about Jewish Book Month
• Arielle's favorite campaign partners:
  • The Yiddish Book Center
  • One Table
  • The Book of Life
  • Lehrhouse

CREDITS:

• Produced by Feldman Children's Library at Congregation B'nai Israel
• Co-sponsored by the Association of Jewish Libraries
• Sister podcast: Nice Jewish Books
• Theme Music: The Freilachmakers Klezmer String Band
• Facebook Discussion Group: Jewish Kidlit Mavens
• Facebook Page: Facebook.com/bookoflifepodcast
• Instagram: @bookoflifepodcast
• Twitter: @bookoflifepod
• Support the Podcast: Shop or Donate

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

 

SHOW NOTES: https://jewishbooks.blogspot.com/2024/11/creature-double-feature-part-i-deke.html

TRANSCRIPT: https://otter.ai/u/9oU8bBDsH32kp0wvR50fWFGLTF0?utm_source=copy_url

For the month of November 2024, we've got a 2-part series, CREATURE DOUBLE FEATURE: ANTISEMITISM AND THE SUPERNATURAL. Our first guest is Deke Moulton, author of Don't Want to Be Your Monster (about Jewish vampires) and Benji Zeb Is a Ravenous Werewolf (about Jewish werewolves).

These middle grade fantasy novels go beyond simple adventures with supernatural heroes. I love how they both delve deeply into the very nature of prejudice. I love how they both imagine worlds in which kids defeat hate. AND they are also fun, fast paced magical adventure stories.

Creature Double Feature Part II is an interview with Emi Watanabe Cohen about her dragon and golem middle grade novels, The Lost Ryū and Golemcrafters, which make great companions to Deke's books. 

LEARN MORE: 

• Creature Double Feature Part II with Emi Watanabe Cohen
• Deke's website DekeMoulton.com and Instagram @dekewritesstuff
• Buy / borrow Don't Want to Be Your Monster
• Buy/ borrow Benji Zeb Is a Ravenous Werewolf
• Tikkun Olam: donate to Wolfhaven, and learn about keystone species
• Background on Jewish werewolves in sacred texts
• Star Trek reference to the yetzer hatov and yetzer hara in The Enemy Within
• Deke's reading recommendations: - Anya and the Dragon by Sofiya Pasternack - Max in the House of Spies by Adam Gidwitz - Impossible Escape by Steve Sheinkin - ...and a reading rec from Heidi: Tale of the Flying Forest by R.M. Romero
• List of Jewish fantasy titles featured on past podcast episodes

NOVEMBER EVENTS JEWISH JOY READING PARTY Auction November 13-20, 2024 Bid at The Artists Against Antisemitism 2nd annual Auction to have me host a private virtual event for you and your friends BID HERE! CHEERING ON JEWISH BOOKS November 20, 2024 at 7pm ET Free online talk about supporting Jewish literature PRE-REGISTER HERE!

 

SHOW NOTES: https://jewishbooks.blogspot.com/2024/11/creature-double-feature-part-ii-emi.html

TRANSCRIPT: https://otter.ai/u/LlqEguYzidUDn_uqBHgEK5B1QKY?utm_source=copy_url

For the month of November 2024, we've got a 2-part series, CREATURE DOUBLE FEATURE: ANTISEMITISM AND THE SUPERNATURAL. Our guest for Part II is Japanese American Jewish author Emi Watanabe Cohen. Her debut novel was The Lost Ryū (about dragons), and her sophomore novel is Golemcrafters (about golems, of course). 

I loved The Lost Ryū so much that I volunteered to review it for The Sydney Taylor Shmooze blog, because I wanted to point out a moment of allyship that touched my soul. Then, along came Golemcrafters. I must admit I was wary at first, because golems are kind of overdone, but this book drew me in even more than The Lost Ryū, with how much it mirrored my own emotional response to antisemitism. Both of these books are like hands reaching out to hold yours. I highly recommend that you reach back, and read both books yourself.

Creature Double Feature Part I features an interview with Deke Moulton about her vampire and werewolf middle grade novels, Don't Want to Be Your Monster and Benji Zeb Is a Ravenous Werewolf, which make great companions to Emi's books.

LEARN MORE: 

• Creature Double Feature Part I with Deke Moulton
• Emi's website EmiCohenWrites.com
• Buy / borrow The Lost Ryū
• Buy / borrow Golemcrafters 
• Emi's reading recommendations: 
  • Don't Want to Be Your Monster and Benji Zeb Is a Ravenous Werewolf by Deke Moulton
  • Wrath Becomes Her and The City Beautiful by Aden Polydoros
  • Aviva vs. the Dybbuk by Mari Lowe
  • When the Angels Left the Old Country by Sacha Lamb
  • The Golem Redux: From Prague to Post-Holocaust Fiction by Elizabeth R. Baer
   

NOVEMBER EVENTS JEWISH JOY READING PARTY Auction November 13-20, 2024 Bid at The Artists Against Antisemitism 2nd annual Auction to have me host a private virtual event for you and your friends BID HERE! CHEERING ON JEWISH BOOKS November 20, 2024 at 7pm ET Free online talk about supporting Jewish literature PRE-REGISTER HERE!

 

SHOW NOTES: https://jewishbooks.blogspot.com/2024/10/festive-friends-part-i-teshuvah-and.html

TRANSCRIPT: https://otter.ai/u/x1-e3vOomTqZOrPvQPzePL4ZOKQ 

In honor of this holiday-packed month, I've got a 2-part series for you. I'm calling it Festive Friends, because each episode features a pair of friends talking about books relevant to our fall holidays. Here in Part I, the Festive Friends are Gayle Forman, author of Not Nothing, and Marjorie Ingall, author of Getting to Sorry. While neither of these books are explicitly about Rosh Hashanah or Yom Kippur, they are both about teshuvah, growth, and the art of apology, perfect for this season. I invited this duo not only because of their excellent books but because of their Big BFF Energy, which is a joy to behold.

This is Gayle's first appearance on the podcast, but Marjorie has been a frequent guest. Her past appearances include: Enough with the Holocaust Books for Children! (2015), Mamaleh Knows Best (2017), A Field Guide to Jewish Kidlit (2019), and The Mitzvah of Voting (2020 & 2024).

In Part II, available now, you'll hear from Erica Lyons and Christina Matula, friends and co-authors of the picture book Mixed-Up Mooncakes, about a Chinese Jewish family celebrating the Mid-Autumn Festival and Sukkot.

LEARN MORE:

• Festive Friends Part II with Erica Lyons and Christina Matula
• Gayle Forman's website
• Marjorie Ingalls' website, and SorryWatch
• Buy Not Nothing
• Buy Getting to Sorry
• Reading Recommendations: Max in the House of Spies by Adam Gidwitz, The Night War by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley, If You Don't Have Anything Nice to Say by Leila Sales, I'm Sorry You Got Mad by Kyle Lukoff, A Bargain for Frances by Russell Hoban, the Ramona books by Beverly Cleary, Lily's Purple Plastic Purse by Kevin Henkes
• Gayle volunteers with TheStatesProject.org and AuthorsAgainstBookBans.com
• Gayle's interview at The Horn Book (has a spoiler, read after finishing the book) 
• Heidi's "Jewish Joy with Ruth Behar" guest post on Multicultural Kid Blogs
• Learn about Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year (October 2-4, 2024)
• Learn about Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement (October 11-12, 2024

ENTER THE DRAWING

Post a review of The Book of Life or Nice Jewish Books, or BOTH, on social media or on any podcast player such as Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Take screenshots of your reviews and email the images to [email protected]. You'll be entered into a drawing for a special tote bag with the logo of The Book of Life on one side and Nice Jewish Books on the other. Every review you send is an entry in the drawing, and multiple entries are allowed. The deadline to email us is October 24th, 2024, the beginning of the ultimate Jewish celebration of reading, Simchat Torah. Your posts will help our podcasts find more listeners, and help more readers find great Jewish books! 

"JEWISH JOY" SERIES ON MULTICULTURAL KID BLOGS

I am pleased to announce that Multicultural Kid Blogs has invited me to do a "Jewish Joy" series of interviews with diverse Jewish authors. The first one features Ruth Behar, who was on the podcast in May 2024 to talk about her novel Across So Many Seas.

 

SHOW NOTES: https://jewishbooks.blogspot.com/2024/10/festive-friends-part-ii-asian-jewish.html

TRANSCRIPT: https://otter.ai/u/xKGzqMhNsej4ALLe6F7e2wBfNJg

October 2024 is packed with Jewish holidays, so we've got a 2-part series for you to celebrate: Holiday Friends. In each episode, we hear from a pair of friends about their books that will help us celebrate the Jewish holidays. In Festive Friends Part I we heard from Gayle Forman, author of Not Nothing, and Marjorie Ingall, author of Getting to Sorry.

Here in Festive Friends Part II, we meet Erica Lyons and Christina Matula. Lately, Kids of mixed heritage have finally been getting their mirror books, and a great example is Erica and Christina's new picture book Mixed-Up Mooncakes, about a Chinese Jewish family celebrating the Mid Autumn Festival and Sukkot. I love the cozy atmosphere of this book, with its double harvest festival fun; and I love the comfortable way in which the Chinese and Jewish cultures are mixed together both literally and figuratively in the story. 

LEARN MORE:

• Festive Friends Part I with Gayle Forman and Marjorie Ingall
• Erica Lyons' website
• Christina Matula's website
• Buy Mixed-Up Mooncakes
• Reading recommendations: Erica suggests Chicken Soup, Chicken Soup by Pamela Mayer and the Holly-Mei series by Christina Matula. Christina suggests The Truth About Dragons by Julie Leung.
• Heidi's "Jewish Joy with Ruth Behar" guest post on Multicultural Kid Blogs
• Learn about the Mid-Autumn Festival (September 17, 2024)
• Learn about Sukkot (October 16-23, 2024)

ENTER THE DRAWING

Post a review of The Book of Life or Nice Jewish Books, or BOTH, on social media or on any podcast player such as Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Take screenshots of your reviews and email the images to [email protected]. You'll be entered into a drawing for a special tote bag with the logo of The Book of Life on one side and Nice Jewish Books on the other. Every review you send is an entry in the drawing, and multiple entries are allowed. The deadline to email us is October 24th, 2024, the beginning of the ultimate Jewish celebration of reading, Simchat Torah. Your posts will help our podcasts find more listeners, and help more readers find great Jewish books! 

"JEWISH JOY" SERIES ON MULTICULTURAL KID BLOGS

I am pleased to announce that Multicultural Kid Blogs has invited me to do a "Jewish Joy" series of interviews with diverse Jewish authors. The first one features Ruth Behar, who was on the podcast in May 2024 to talk about her novel Across So Many Seas.

 

SHOW NOTES: https://jewishbooks.blogspot.com/2024/09/our-jewish-emotional-support-books.html

TRANSCRIPT: https://otter.ai/u/LVQ-f8Gwpfw2LLKvE4Y7TGOzHes?utm_source=copy_url

At the Association of Jewish Libraries 2024 annual conference in San Diego, CA, I met up with Sheryl Stahl, host of our sister podcast, Nice Jewish Books. Inspired by the cartoon seen here, Sheryl and I interviewed our friends and colleagues about their Jewish "emotional support books" and the results turned into this podcast episode (cross-posted on Nice Jewish Books). We got a very wide variety responses, listed in the Show Notes in case you'd like to read any of the books that are so meaningful to your fellow Jewish book-lovers.

ENTER THE DRAWING

Need a tote bag to carry around your emotional support books? Enter our drawing!

Post a review of The Book of Life or Nice Jewish Books, or BOTH, on social media or on any podcast player such as Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Take screenshots of your reviews and email the images to [email protected]. You'll be entered into a drawing for a special tote bag with the logo of The Book of Life on one side and Nice Jewish Books on the other. Every review you send is an entry in the drawing, and multiple entries are allowed. The deadline to email us is October 24th, 2024, the beginning of the ultimate Jewish celebration of reading, Simchat Torah.

Or, if you'd like to order a tote bag right now, we've got you covered:

The Book of Life tote

Nice Jewish Books tote

Ella & Henny & Sarah & Charlotte & Gertie tote

SHOW NOTES: https://jewishbooks.blogspot.com/2024/08/the-mitzvah-of-voting-edited-encore.html

TRANSCRIPT: https://otter.ai/u/ql3_Vi81NBwkvNT97SKZiyh8_yM?utm_source=copy_url

Four years ago in 2020 at the height of the pandemic, I ran a 3-part series called The Mitzvah of Voting. Here we are in 2024 in a presidential election year again and defending our democracy is more important than ever! Here's an edited encore presentation of that 2020 podcast, with all three parts combined and streamlined. You'll hear inspiring words and calls to action from some of your favorite authors, recorded in 2020 but as relevant as ever. We cap it off with Sarah Aroeste's Ladino song "Gracia" (English lyrics below), a tribute to the medieval Sephardic heroine, Doña Gracia Nasi who lived in the 1500's and saved hundreds of Jews from the Inquisition. The theme of the song is that activists of the past inspire us to activism in our own time. I hope you will be inspired to VOTE!

RESOURCES SUGGESTED BY GUESTS:

• Hold the Line: A Guide to Defending Democracy
• T'ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights
• Jews for Racial and Economic Justice
• The Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society
• VoteRiders.org
• Become a poll worker
• Add your Representative and Senators to your cell phone and call regularly on issues you care about
• Confirm your voter registration at Vote.org
• The Matthew Shepard Foundation
• Reclaim Our Vote
• Doña Gracia Nasi

GUESTS: (See show notes for links to their websites and books)

• Marjorie Ingall
• Linda Epstein
• Jeff Gottesfeld
• Leslie Kimmelman
• Susan Kusel
• Tziporah Cohen
• Elissa Brent Weissman
• Lee Wind
• Barbara Bietz
• Jane Breskin Zalben
• Jacqueline Jules
• Anne-Marie Asner
• Gail Carson Levine
• Lesléa Newman
• Evan Wolkenstein
• Sue Macy
• Sarah Aroeste

ENGLISH TRANSLATION OF GRACIA: 

You give us grace You give us life You give us promise You give us bravery You give us strength You give us defiance You give us command You give us voice You give us inspiration You give us esteem You give us value You give us admiration Chorus: Because of you we have the Honor, fight, effect; Because of you we stand with Power, height, respect Some have the deeds, some have the fame– You have both and the same.

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/2024/07/espionage-secrets-suspense-holocaust.html

Two incredible authors, Adam Gidwitz and Steve Sheinkin, joined me to talk about their most recent books, Max in the House of Spies and Impossible Escape. As many listeners know, I tend to avoid Holocaust books because I've kind of overdosed on them during a long career of working with Jewish children's literature... but both of these books are SO good that I couldn't ignore them. Max in the House of Spies is middle grade historical fantasy fiction and Impossible Escape is young adult nonfiction. They are very different books, but they also make a great pairing... as do Adam and Steve, who are friends in real life. Impossible Escape was a 2024 Sydney Taylor Honor Book (young adult category). It remains to be seen whether Max in the House of Spies will become an award winner, but it seems likely to me!

LEARN MORE:

• Transcript of interview
• Adam Gidwitz's website
• Steve Sheinkin's website
• Adam recommends An Account Rendered by Melita Maschmann, and Into the Arms of Strangers: Stories of the Kindertransport, a documentary film and book by Mark Jonathan Harris and Deborah Oppenheimer
• Adam's podcast Grim, Grimmer, Grimmest
• Steve's YouTube show Author-Fan Face-Off
• Adam's Sydney Taylor Book Award winner (middle grade category): The Inquisitor's Tale: Or, The Three Magical Children and Their Holy Dog  |  2017 podcast interview about Inquisitor's Tale

ANNOUNCEMENT: The Book of Life is now available on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/@bookoflifepodcast