May is Jewish American Heritage Month, which makes it a great time to check out this year's winners of the Sydney Taylor Book Awards, which are given annually to outstanding books for children and teens that authentically portray the Jewish experience.
|
|
Sydney Taylor Gold Medal - Picture Book In Washington, D.C., during the Great Depression, Muriel and her family have no money to prepare the seder meal until a mysterious stranger performs a Passover miracle. Includes notes on the Passover holiday, the Great Depression, and the history of the D.C. Jewish community. |
|
|
Nicky & Vera : a quiet hero of the Holocaust and the children he rescued by Peter Sís Sydney Taylor Silver Medal - Picture Book Caldecott Honoree and Sibert Medalist Peter Sís honors a man who saved hundreds of children from the Nazis. In 1938, twenty-nine-year-old Nicholas Winton saved the lives of almost 700 children trapped in Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia-a story he never told and that remained unknown until an unforgettable TV appearance in the 1980s reunited him with some of the children he saved. Nicky & Vera is a masterful tribute to a humble man's courageous efforts to protect Europe's most vulnerable, and a timely portrayal of the hopes and fears of those forced to leave their homes and create new lives. |
|
|
In Eliza Davis's day, Charles Dickens was the most celebrated living writer in England. But some of his books reflected a prejudice that was all too common at the time: prejudice against Jewish people. Eliza was Jewish, and her heart hurt to see a Jewish character in Oliver Twist portrayed as ugly and selfish. She wanted to speak out about how unfair that was, even if it meant speaking out against the great man himself. So she wrote a letter to Charles Dickens. What happened next is history. |
|
|
Al Rosen, a Jewish man, takes on the jobs of his Christian neighbors on Christmas Eve and day so they can spend the holiday with their families, starting a tradition that lasts for decades. |
|
|
On Isaac's street most of the houses are decorated in red and green for Christmas including his friend, Teresa's, while Isaac's house is blue and white for Hanukkah; then someone smashes Isaac's window in the night, and Teresa comes up with a way to show support for her friend--and gets the whole community to rally around their Jewish family. |
|
|
A Queen to the Rescue : The Story of Henrietta Szold, Founder of Hadassah by Nancy Churnin Sydney Taylor Bronze Medal - Picture Book Henrietta Szold took Queen Esther as a model and worked hard to save the Jewish people. In 1912, she founded the Jewish women's social justice organization, Hadassah. Henrietta started Hadassah determined to offer emergency medical care to mothers and children in Palestine. When WWII broke out, she rescued Jewish children from the Holocaust, and broadened Hadassah's mission to include education, youth development, and women's rights. Hadassah offers free help to all who need it and continues its mission to this day. |
|
|
The people's painter : how Ben Shahn fought for justice with art by Cynthia Levinson Sydney Taylor Bronze Medal - Picture Book A lyrical picture book introduction to the life and achievements of the influential Jewish artist and activist touches on Ben Shahn’s remarkable skills of observation, his witness to his protester father’s banishment and his commitment to promoting justice through art. |
|
|
Middle schooler Ariel Goldberg must find her own voice and define her own beliefs after her big sister elopes with a young man from India following the Supreme Court decision that strikes down laws banning interracial marriage. |
|
|
The genius under the table : growing up behind the Iron Curtain by Eugene Yelchin Sydney Taylor Silver Medal - Middle Grade In this brilliant blend of comic timing and disarming poignancy, the award-winning author and artist recounts his childhood in Cold War Russia as a young boy desperate to understand his place in his family. |
|
|
When swastikas begin appearing all over town, Link, Michael and Dana, the only Jewish girl in town, must face crimes both past and present to find the truth. |
|
|
In this novel for middle readers, twelve-year-old Evie befriends a boy who is grieving the loss of both his parents. |
|
|
The magical imperfect by Chris Baron Sydney Taylor Bronze Medal - Middle Grade When Etan, who doesn’t speak, and Malia, who is also known as “the Creature” due to her acute eczema, become friends, Etan must convince his family and hers that he might have a cure for her condition. |
|
|
In 1893 Chicago, after his best friend becomes the latest victim in a long line of murdered Jewish boys, Alter Rosen is plunged into a nightmare where he is thrown back into the arms of a dangerous boy from his past. |
|
|
Nine months after Danny disappeared, his closest friends, Ellie, Rae, and Deenie, deal with their loss very differently but will have to share secrets about the night he disappeared to uncover the truth. |
|
|
Whistle : a new Gotham City hero by E. Lockhart Sydney Taylor Silver Medal - Young Adult While hosting E. Nigma’s glamorous private poker nights with Gotham City’s elites to afford medical treatments for her mother, Willow is attacked by one of Gotham’s most horrific villains and wakes up with powers she never dreamed of. |
|
|
The summer of lost letters
by Hannah Reynolds Sydney Taylor Silver Medal - Young Adult |
|
|
The light of days : the untold story of women resistance fighters in Hitler's ghettos
by Judith Batalion Sydney Taylor Bronze Medal - Young Adult |
|
|
Boy from Buchenwald : the true story of a Holocaust survivor
by Robert Waisman Sydney Taylor Bronze Medal - Young Adult |