Hamida Basmajian & Eric Sundquist

ISSUES IN HOLOCAUST LITERATURE, THE AMERICAN PERSPECTIVE: Eric Sundquist

Eric Sundquist discusses the evolution of Holocaust literature, particularly from the American perspective, from the immediate aftermath of the war through late-twentieth-century responses by those of the second generation, including children of survivors. Issues to consider include the priority of testimony and its relation to fiction; the problem of authenticity and hoaxes; the “Americanization” of the Holocaust; and the self-reflexive and sometimes postmodern strategies of some second-generation writers.

FRAMING HOLOCAUST NARRATIVES AS CHILDREN’S LITERATURE—AUTHOR, GENRES, AND READERS: Hamida Basmajian

Hamida Basmajian refers to the following narratives as examples during this session: The Diary of Anne Frank, Ruth Minsky Sender’s The Cage and The Holocaust Lady, Carol Matas’ Daniel’s Story, Gudrun Pausewang’s The Final Journey, John Boyne’s The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, Doris Orgel’s The Devil in Vienna, Jane Yolen’s The Devil’s Arithmetic and Briar Rose.

Eric J. Sundquist is the UCLA Foundation Professor of Literature at the University of California, Los Angeles. Professor Sundquist received his B.A. from the University of Kansas and his M.A. and Ph.D. from Johns Hopkins University. He has also taught at the University of California, Berkeley, and Vanderbilt University and is the author or editor of twelve books, the most recent of which are King’s Dream (2009); Strangers in the Land: Blacks, Jews, Post-Holocaust America (2005), which received the Weinberg Judaic Studies Institute Book Award.

Hamida Bosmajian, Professor Emerita of the English Department at Seattle University, is the author of Sparing the Child: Grief and the Unspeakable in Youth Literature about Nazism and the Holocaust (Routledge, 2002) and Metaphors of Evil. Contemporary German Literature and the Shadow of Nazism (U. of Iowa Press, 1979). The Children’s Literature Association honored Sparing the Child with the ChLA Book Award in 2004.

They gave this presentation at the 7th annual Association of Jewish Libraries Western Regional Conference on Jewish Literature for Children on February 1, 2009 at the Simon Wiesenthal Museum of Tolerance in Los Angeles.

1 hr 18 min 57 sec

Dina Rosenfeld, Hara Person & Claudia Valas

Representatives from URJ Press, Hachai Publishing, and EKS Publishing discuss each publisher’s unique approach to Jewish children’s literature. Topics include a brief history of each house, some classics, and current trends. They gave this presentation at the Association of Jewish Libraries’ Celebration of Jewish Children’s Literature, in honor of the Sydney Taylor Book Award’s 40th Anniversary, held on June 25, 2008 in Cleveland, Ohio.

Rabbi Hara E. Person was the Editor-in-Chief of URJ Press at the time of this panel, but is now the Publisher and Director of Press at CCAR

Dina Rosenfeld is the Editor-in-Chief at Hachai Publishing and has written 18 children’s books of her own.

Claudia Valas is the President of EKS Publishing, a company created for the development of Hebrew educational matierals.

76 min 0 sec

Nancy, Maureen and Etta

Book clubs… Reading Clubs… Literature Circles… in essence, they’re all the same thing. A reader, be it child, teen or adult, has much to gain by reading the same book as others in a group and then sharing their experience with the other members. This workshop will focus on the issues:

• Why to have a book club
• How to start a book club
• Selecting books
• Running and marketing a book club

and book club best practices, based on theory, research, and experience from three librarians who run three different types of successful book clubs: Nancy Austein, Etta Gold, and Maureen Reister.

Nancy Austein is the Library Director at Temple Emanu-El in Dallas, TX.

Etta Gold is the Library Director of Temple Beth Am in Miami, FL.

Maureen Reister is Dirctor of Libraries at Ann & Nate Levine Academy, a Solomon Schechter School in Dallas, TX.

They gave this presentation at the Association of Jewish Libraries annual convention on June 23, 2008 in Cleveland, Ohio.

78 min 48 sec

Successful books for teen readers combine authentic voice and personal conflict, as well as relevant issues. These three prolific YA authors continue to deliver! In a dynamic panel presentation, Margo, Carol, and Sonia explain their personal histories and react to each other’s stories in ways that are both fascinating and touching. They gave this presentation at the Association of Jewish Libraries’ Celebration of Jewish Children’s Literature, in honor of the Sydney Taylor Book Award’s 40th Anniversary, held on June 25, 2008 in Cleveland, Ohio.

Sonia Levitin is the author of Strange Relations, the 2008 Sydney Taylor Book Award Winner for Teen Readers.

Carol Matas is the author of The Whirlwind, a 2008 AJL Notable Children’s Book of Jewish Content.

Margo Rabb is the author of Cures for Heartbreak, a 2008 AJL Notable Teen Book of Jewish Content.

72 min 31 sec

Swarner, Gershman, Levitin & Fleischman

The Sydney Taylor Awards are sponsored by Jo Taylor Marshall, daughter of Sydney Taylor, and are administered by the Synagogue, School, and Centers Division of the Association of Jewish Libraries. The 2008 awards were presented at the Association of Jewish Libraries annual convention on June 24, 2008 in Cleveland, Ohio.

The winners of the Sydney Taylor Book Award were:

For Younger Readers: The Bedtime Sh’ma: A Good Night Book by Sarah Gershman, illustrated by Kristina Swarner, EKS Publishing, 2007

For Older Readers: The Entertainer and the Dybbuk by Sid Fleischman, Greenwillow Books, 2007

For Teen Readers: Strange Relations by Sonia Levitin, Knopf, 2007

The winner of the Sydney Taylor Manuscript Award was:

Stealing the Show by Margaret Chaikin

40 min 25 sec

Though the American comic book format has only been around for 75 years, every decade since 1933 has seen examples of stories taking place in Israel or using Israeli characters. There have been over a dozen examples since 2000 (and the decade’s not over yet!). This presentation showcases the variety and types of such representation. These include superhero stories, humor cartoons, first-person travelogues, “comics journalism,” biographies, wordless collages, graphic histories and graphic fiction. Though comics are still often seen as irrelevant and catering to a niche market, this presentation should demonstrate that there are notable exceptions, which make it worthwhile to be aware of what is being published and what those publications are trying to say.

An online handout which includes the visual elements of this presentation may be found at israelincomics.blogspot.com.

Steve Bergson is research administrator for the UJA Federation of Greater Toronto, and he blogs about Jewish comics at jewishcomics.blogspot.com. He gave this presentation at the Association of Jewish Libraries annual convention on June 23, 2008 in Cleveland, Ohio.

32 min 44 sec

Dr. Ellen Frankel is the Editor in Chief and CEO of the Jewish Publication Society. This podcast records the keynote address she gave at the Association of Jewish Libraries annual convention on June 22, 2008 in Cleveland, Ohio.

44 min 38 sec