Sydney Taylor Book Award Winners Unveiled

A story about a rabbi and an African-American reverend, a Jewish immigrant family in New York in the early 1900s, and a relationship between an Israeli girl and a Palestinian girl are winners f this year’s Sydney Taylor Book Award, which honors new books for children and teens that have high literary standards and accurately portray the Jewish experience.

As Good As Anybody: Martin Luther King, Jr. and Abraham Joshua Heschel's Amazing March Toward Freedom (Knopf) by Richard Michelson and illustrated by Raul Colon received the gold medal in the young readers (grades 2-5) category for portraying two special clergymen who were raised in such different countries yet who had similar experiences with persecution and bigotry that one day brings them together. The two men march together from Selma to Montgomery, AL, in March 1965 during the civil rights movement. 

Karen Hesse, author of Brooklyn Bridge (Feiwel & Friends), received a gold medal in the older readers (grades 5-8) category for her book about Joey Michtom, whose family left the anti-Semitism in Russia to build the American dream, and his dream to visit Coney Island.

And Valerie Zenatti, author of A Bottle in the Gaza Sea (Bloomsbury), received the gold medal in the teen readers category for a story about a relationship between an Israeli girl, Tal, and a Palestinian boy, Naim, via email and instant messaging during the 2003 intifada.

The award memorializes Sydney Taylor, author of the classic All-of-a-Kind Family series. The winners will receive their awards at the Association of Jewish Libraries convention in Chicago this July.

For a list of six Sydney Taylor honor books and 22 notable books, visit www.SydneyTaylorBookAward.org.