by Naomi Danis
Lilith's annual Jewish feminist look at books for young readers
We are living in a time of what may seem like necessary xenophobia, where strangers, or—more pointedly—strange people, are to be feared, shunned, rejected. Jews know about this: “Because you were strangers in the Land of Egypt” is a leitmotif in the Jewish narrative. Women know about this. We’ve been “other” when the norm has been male. And in the hierarchical world of children who’s in and who’s out packs ever more fire power. So this year, for our annual spotlight on books for young readers we asked a number of writers: Are there ways you personally have experienced “outsider” status? Have outsider/insider experiences as a Jew and/or as a person sensitive to gender issues influenced your writing? Do particular books from your own youth stand out as illuminating this continuum from alienation to feeling fully included?
by Lore Segal
by Michelle Edwards
by Barbara Feinberg
by Deborah Heiligman
by Francine Klagsbrun
by Sylvie Weil
by Miriam Stone
by Ellen Kushner
by James Howe
by Susan Goldman Rubin
by Emily Nussbaum
by Pnina Moed Kass
by Carol Snyder
by Susie Morgenstern
by Galila Ron-Feder-Amit
by Rebecca Alban Hoffberger
by Kathy Walden Kaplan