HI All,
About a week ago, I posted a request for suggestions for a book selection
for a synagogue-wide read and a children's book that would have the same
subject or theme. I've individually thanked all the responders, but I also got
requests to share the responses I got with the rest of the list. So, with
thanks again to those who actually provided these ideas and apologies for the
length of this post, following are the wonderful suggestions I got:
On the Civil War:
For
children, Yankee at the Seder.
For young adults: The War Within.
For adults: March by Geraldine Brooks; also American Jewry and the Civil War
or Lincoln and the
Jews. Another non-fiction book for adults: When Grant Expelled The Jews. And
another novel for adults: All Other Nights by Dara
Horn.
Books about the Triangle Shirt Factory fire :
For younger children: Fire at the Triangle Factory by Holly
Littlefield
For Gr. 6-9: Threads and Flames
For adults: (nonfiction) Flesh & Blood So Cheap: the
Triangle fire and its legacy by Albert Marrin
(fiction) Triangle by Katharine Weber
(nonfiction) The Triangle Fire by Leon Stein
(nonfiction) Triangle: the fire that changed America by David Von
Drehle
On the subject of Holocaust Survivors: The author, Fern Schuman Chapman, has
written an adult book
and a children’s book about the same subject, her mother’s Holocaust
survivor story. The children’s book came out not
too long ago, Is it Night or Day? And the adult book, Motherland,
is older. Children's book is
focused on the author’s mother’s life in the United States after being sent on
a ship by her parents – many discussion points. Adult book is about author's
relationship with her mother as well as revisiting the past. Chapman
lives in Chicago and may even be available to speak.
http://www.fernschumerchapman.com/
In addition to these, my committee will be considering the Maryland One Book
selection for this year which is: "The Cellist of Sarajevo" by Steven
Galloway. It is fiction based upon the true story with universal themes of a
cellist whose friends and neighbors are killed during the siege of Sarajevo and
who decides to play his cello for 22 days, one day for each neighbor and friend
killed. The story is told through the eyes of three people. I thought a good
young adult pairing could be "Zlata's Diary: A Child's Life in Wartime
Sarajevo" by Zlata Filipovic. It is a 13-year old's account of living through
the siege of Sarajevo and has been compared to the Diary of Anne Frank. I
would still need a younger childrens book to go with these two.
Also, one person who responded to my post suggested that I mention any adult
novels that we were thinking of using so that those librarian's familiar with
children's books could make suggestions of books with similar themes. I like
the idea of doing something with a Yiddish connection, so we could read either
"Outwitting History" by Aaron Lansky or "Songs for the Butcher's Daughter" by
Peter Manseau (although the reviews of the latter seem mixed). But I have no
idea of any childrens or YA book that touches on Yiddish.
If anyone else has any ideas, I am still open to suggestions as my
committee has not yet made a choice. And, if anyone has any ideas for events
to go with (aside from having the author come and speak), suggestions would be
appreciate for that too. Or, perhaps that's a subject for another post, once
we've actually selected a book! Thanks again to those who responded! I will
let you all know how it goes. I didn't realize that having an adult/children's
book pairing was so unusual!
Hillary
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