This topic really strikes a nerve with me. There aren’t enough thoughtful, challenging & engaging biographies of prominent Jews -- not just Israelis -- for late elementary and middle school readers, and our students are suffering for this lack of information. History is one boring slog of facts without people’s personalities and stories. I’ve culled many YA biographies from my library – and I’m sure I’m not alone. Old and dry and dated, not a one had been checked out since the mid-1970s.
Debbie Levy’s I DISSENT; RUTH BADER GINSBURG MAKES HER MARK is a wonderful book for younger students; I’d really like to see fleshed-out serious biographies of other important historical figures such as Golda Meir, Moses Montefiore, Lillian Wald, Simon Wiesenthal. Awareness of this legacy -- so critical to understanding the historical significance of Jews in today’s world -- is diminishing with each generation. (If this feels like overstatement, try asking the average religious school student what s/he knows about the people I listed above.) Amy Turim Librarian, Temple Emanuel Kensington, MD _____ <https://www.avast.com/antivirus> This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software. www.avast.com <https://www.avast.com/antivirus> --- This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software. https://www.avast.com/antivirus
__ Messages and opinions expressed on Hasafran are those of the individual author and are not necessarily endorsed by the Association of Jewish Libraries (AJL) ================================== Submissions for Ha-Safran, send to: [email protected] To join Ha-Safran, update or change your subscription, etc. - click here: https://lists.service.ohio-state.edu/mailman/listinfo/hasafran Questions, problems, complaints, compliments send to: [email protected] Ha-Safran Archives: Current: http://www.mail-archive.com/hasafran%40lists.service.ohio-state.edu/maillist.html Earlier Listserver: http://www.mail-archive.com/hasafran%40lists.acs.ohio-state.edu/maillist.html AJL HomePage http://www.JewishLibraries.org -- Hasafran mailing list [email protected] https://lists.osu.edu/mailman/listinfo/hasafran
