Showing posts with label civics. Show all posts
Showing posts with label civics. Show all posts

Saturday, February 15, 2020

Voting! Elections! Democracy! Tyranny!

Tucson Jo is a book written for this very moment. I encourage parents and teachers to introduce it to the young people around them. This middle grade novel is about an election. In this election a populist runs for mayor of Tucson, Arizona, in 1882. His opponent is a Jewish man who believes in the rule of law. Guns are used to intimidate. So is Antisemitism. Jo is the eldest daughter of the Jewish familyand all she wants is freedom, freedom to wear pants, for instance! But even Jo is fooled by her father's populist opponent, believing anarchy will mean freedom. But anarchy is not freedom and she soon discovers that. What is true freedom? An important question to ask, fundamental to our democracy.

With elections coming up in the United States, in 2020, I will be available for school/ Skype visits  to discuss civics, gun violence, feminism, and the importance of politics and voting in our lives.

Tucson Jo was a National Jewish Book Awards Finalist.

Thursday, January 19, 2017

Interview about Tucson Jo with Tucson Tales Publication

Tucson Tales is a children's literature publication run by undergraduate students at the University of Arizona. They  showcase new and established writers. This is the interview they did with me about my middle-grades historical novel Tucson Jo. Click here for the entire interview.

The questions were not cookie cutter questions and really made me think. Here's an excerpt from the online interview:

Q. You often write about World War II and the Holocaust. Did you find it particularly challenging or beneficial looking at some of these anti-Semitic themes through the lens of the American Southwest?

A: That’s an interesting question. It’s always challenging to write about The Holocaust and/or anti-Semitism. I suppose what is so surprising to young people is how long anti-Semitism has been with us. They often have no idea that it dates back to the early days of the Church and that it was propagated by both Church and state as a way to scapegoat a particular religion and people. But I did find it compelling to write about the true story of how Strauss’s political rival tried to use it to defeat Strauss, even though there had been no real cases of anti-Semitism in Tucson up to that point. (It didn’t work!) Unfortunately, anti-Semitism is ever present, and today we are seeing a frightening escalation in the United States and in Europe.

Monday, February 9, 2015

Meet Barbara Bietz

Barbara was kind enough to be my third guest ever on my blog! Here's our Q&A:

First of all why a Jewish book blog? http://jewishbooksforkids.com
My first book Like a Maccabee, was a Jewish children's book and when it was published I became aware of the incredible community of parents, teacher, librarians, readers, and more who are interested in books with Jewish content. My idea was to create a blog community that celebrated Jewish books for kids in an accessible way. I love interviewing authors, illustrators, editors, and others who can share back story that makes their work even more interesting! As an author, I also know the challenges of marketing a new book and I am happy to support authors by helping to spread the word about their work. On a more personal level, reading books about Jewish kids was very important to me as a young reader. My childhood and my Jewish identity were partly formed by reading All-of-a-Kind Family books. If the right book lands in a child's hands it can be life changing. To be part of a community that fosters that experience is amazing.

How do you choose the books to read?
I'm always reading! The interviews on my blog tend to happen organically. Sometimes I contact an author and sometimes authors or publishers reach out to me. I also meet many people at writer's conferences and workshops. The children's writing world is a warm and lovely place to be and there are always new people to meet.

Thursday, February 5, 2015

Meet my second guest ever - Deborah Kalb!

So I am thrilled to add Deborah to my guest list! She kindly hosted me over at her blog, and now I'd like to return the favour!
Deborah Kalb is a freelance writer, editor, and blogger. She spent about two decades working as a journalist in Washington, D.C., for news organizations including Gannett News Service, Congressional Quarterly, U.S. News & World Report, and The Hill, mostly covering Congress and politics. She is the co-author, with her father, Marvin Kalb, of Haunting Legacy: Vietnam and the American Presidency from Ford to Obama (Brookings, 2011), and she’s also the co-author or co-editor of two books published by CQ Press (The Presidents, First Ladies, and Vice Presidents; and State of the Union: Presidential Rhetoric from Woodrow Wilson to George W. Bush). She started her blog, Book Q&As with Deborah Kalb (found at deborahkalbbooks.blogspot.com), in October 2012, and has interviewed hundreds of authors—including Carol Matas!—about their books.

Here are some questions I ask Deborah- and her answers!

Q: How do you choose your authors?

A: I look through lists of upcoming books, I read book reviews, I ask friends if they know of anyone with a book coming out soon, and I keep an eye out in general for authors and books that seem interesting. Also, authors and their publicists often get in touch with me to ask if I’d like to interview them/their author. It’s a real pleasure to learn about so many great books before they’re published!

Introducing My First Ever Guest- Barbara Krasner

Barbara Krasner has been kind enough to host me on her blog, https://thewholemegillah.wordpress.com and I'd like to host her here so I'm diving in!

First a little bit about Barbara. When I say a little I mean- wow- she's amazing!

Barbara Krasner, http://www.barbarakrasner.com is a writer and historian. She is the author of two picture books and more than 200 articles for adults and young readers. Her literary work has appeared or is forthcoming in Nimrod, Paterson Literary Review, Jewish Women’s Literary Annual, Jewishfiction.net, Lilith, Poetica, and numerous other journals. She teaches expository and creative writing at William Paterson University. She holds a B.A. in German, M.B.A. in Marketing, M.F.A. in Writing for Children, and is now pursuing an M.A. in public history. She often writes about women and on Holocaust themes. She has most recently served on Association of Jewish Libraries’ Sydney Taylor Book Award Committee and is the editor and publisher of The Whole Megillah | The Writer’s Resource for Jewish Story. 

Sunday, January 18, 2015

Tucson Jo named a National Jewish Book Awards Finalist for Children's & YA Literature!

Firstly, I have to say that when the general email blast announcing the awards came through on my email I didn't even check to see if Tucson Jo had made the cut. I have never been honoured with this award, and didn't think that was about to change.

My daughter called five minutes later to ask if I had seen the news. That's when the screaming started. My publisher and best friend Morri Mostow of Fictive Press was out at an aerobics class so I had an agonizing couple of hours before I could share the news with her. And before she could share the official letter she had just received from the Board of Directors congratulating her.

For those of you who have followed my blog, you know that this book was special—although all my books are special to me—but this one in a different way. First of all it took over eight years to write— not continuously, of course, but on and off between other projects.