Susan P. Bloom Award Winners Announced

The PEN New England Children's Book Committee is proud to announce the winners of this year's Susan P. Bloom Discovery Contest. The winners are Katherine Quimby of Vermont for her YA novel, THREE MINUTES THIRTY, and Anna Boll of Maine for her YA novel, CONTROL. CRUSH. The CBC received over 100 entries and it is always a difficult task to select a few from the many worthy submissions. The winning authors will read from their promising work at the Discovery Evening, which will be held on Sunday, May 19th at 6:30 p.m. at Lesley University in Cambridge, Mass. Please join us and celebrate your fellow authors!

Check out Amazon store for horse lovers!

The Perfect Distance is one of the many "horsey" books on this Amazon store for horse lovers. Need holiday gifts for trainers, grooms or horse-crazy kids? http://astore.amazon.com/booksforhorselovers-20

2013 PEN CBC Discovery Award Contest Open for Submissions

The PEN New England Children's Book Council Susan P. Bloom Discovery Contest is open for submissions. The deadline is February 1. The contest is open to unpublished authors living in New England, in the categories of picture book, middle grade, and young adult fiction and non-fiction. For more complete information please click on this link: http://goo.gl/PaZ7H

Review of OHOL

I found this recent nice review of The Other Half of Life:

Final Fenway Fiction

An excerpt from not-yet-released novel for adults, BABEBALL, appears in the recently released anthology, FINAL FENWAY FICTION.

My novel is a contemporary story of a female knuckleball pitcher, who tries out for a independent league baseball team. She makes the team as a marketing ploy by the internet-millionaire owner, and ends up surprising everyone, including herself.

BABEBALL is about the strange magic of the knuckleball, a girl who refuses to give up her dream, and the promise of second chances.

Check out FINAL FENWAY FICTION, which includes many other fabulous stories!

http://www.amazon.com/Waboba®-Catch-Extreme-RH-Throw-fits-Left/dp/B003QJ1H54/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1329095689&sr=8-1

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/final-fenway-fiction?keyword=final+fenway+fiction&store=allproducts

Green Meadow Series

Calling all horse folk! Looking to discover a new horse series? Check out Jennifer Walker's Green Meadow Series:

http://www.facebook.com/GreenMeadowSeries

PEN New England Susan P. Bloom Discovery Award

Pleased to announce submissions are now open for the 2012 PEN New England Susan P. Bloom Children's Book Discovery Award.

Entrants must be residents of New England who have not been published in any genre including adult fiction and non-fiction (with the exception of print and online magazines, anthologies and self-publishing), and the submitted work (or another work) must not be under contract to be published.

Winners will present their work to the public at the PEN New England Children’s Book Discovery Evening in May 2012, and editors at major publishing houses will read winning manuscripts. In past years, editors from Knopf, Candlewick, and Houghton Mifflin have read the winning submissions. Over ten past winners have gone on to land publishing contracts with major houses.

For more information on submissions, please see the full guidelines at http://www.pen-ne.org/

Web show today

I'll be on A Cup of Coffee & A Good Book, Jennifer Walker's web show, today at 12:30 EST. Here's the URL:
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/jennifer-walker/2011/08/03/a-cup-of-coffee-and-a-good-book

OHOL cited in Memorial Day Article

The Other Half of Life was cited in a Memorial Day article "Books That Help Children Know About War" in the Charleston Post & Courier:

http://m.postandcourier.com/postcourier/db_95417/contentdetail.htm?contentguid=He9FDyhJ&detailindex=1&pn=1&ps=3&full=true

PEN Susan Bloom Award Winners

Congrats to this year's PEN New England Susan P. Bloom Discovery Award Winners:

TARA SULLIVAN for her young adult novel, Golden Boy
ANNIE CARDI for her young adult novel, Queen of the Air

Please come celebrate the winners and hear them read from their promising manuscripts!

Sunday, May 15, 2011, 6:30 p.m. THE AMPHITHEATRE
Lesley University, Cambridge
(University Hall, 1815 Massachusetts Avenue)

Fenway Fiction Reading

I'll be joining several Boston writers on the eve of opening day (Thurs, March 31) for readings from Fenway Fiction III at a Jam'n Java in Arlington. Please come!

See the link below for details!


http://www.acarts.org/writers_series.php

My first Skype

I did my first video skype with a school in North Carolina today. Lots of authors I know have been doing skypes for a long time now--I'm late to the game! I spoke with the sixth grade. It was lots of fun and I hope that I'll get to do more skypes in the future!

Mother-Daughter Book Club

I had the privilege this past weekend of being invited to a mother-daughter book club that read THE OTHER HALF OF LIFE. I had so much fun meeting these wonderful women and their impressive daughters! They started the book club when their girls were in third grade. One of the first books they chose was THE MAGIC TREEHOUSE. They alternate between houses and usually make something to eat that has to do with each book.

Each girl writes discussion questions on pieces of paper and they put the questions in a bowl. Then they pass the bowl around and the girls pick the questions, answer, and discuss them.

They had great questions for my book and I really enjoyed discussing the characters, their motivations, the time period, and the history of the St. Louis with them.

Then we enjoyed a feast of goulash, challah bread, bananas, pineapple and strawberries!

It was a great time!

Holocaust archives go digital

I just read that Israel's Holocaust memorial, Yad Vashem, is teaming up with Google to make its photographs and documents interactive and searchable on the Internet.

A collection of 130,000 photos can now be searched directly from Google, using standard keywords and other data that make it far easier than in the past to find the desired information.

Viewers can also add their own comments, stories and document.

This sounds very neat. It's amazing how the internet has opened up so much in terms of doing historical research or researching one's family history.

http://collections.yadvashem.org/photosarchive/

New Monument in Nova Scotia commemorates St. Louis

Monument commemorates Jewish tragedy


The Associated Press
Thursday, January 20, 2011; 4:20 PM
HALIFAX, Nova Scotia -- A new monument has been unveiled in eastern Canada marking the country's decision to turn away a steamship carrying Jewish refugees fleeing Nazi Germany in 1939.

The luxury liner MS St. Louis was first turned away by Cuba, then the United States and finally Canada before returning to Europe just before the outbreak of war.

Of the 900 German Jews aboard, almost a third died in the Holocaust.

The sculpture by Daniel Libeskind is called the Wheel of Conscience and was unveiled Thursday in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

Libeskind says his work tells the story of a tragic, dark period of Canadian history where anti-Semitism and anti-immigration policies led to the deaths of hundreds of people.

Great Books for Horse Lovers

Check out this blog post on The Perfect Distance... it's also a book give-away!


http://www.greatbooksforhorselovers.com/2010/12/life-up-in-air-book-giveaway-of-perfect.html

PEN NE Susan P. Bloom Award Contest Open

The PEN New England Susan P. Bloom Award Contest is open for entries from now till Feb 1st! Check out the guidelines at www.pen-ne.org. You must be an unpublished resident of New England.

Quiz on Goodreads.com

Take this pop quiz on Goodreads.com about The Other Half of Life!


http://www.goodreads.com/trivia/show/85569-the-story-in-kim-ablon-whitney-s-book-b

Chase Boggio likes The Perfect Distance

One of the country's top junior riders cited The Perfect Distance as one of his favorite books in a personal interview that appeared in the July 23rd issue of The Chronicle of the Horse. How cool is that?! Thanks, Chase!

Blog review of Other Half of Life

Check out this great review of The Other Half of Life on a blog that specializes in reviewing historical fiction and history-related non-fiction for children and teens.

www.fourthmusketeer.blogspot.com

Grants, Residencies & Awards

I recently gave a presentation at the New England Society of Children's Book Writers & Illustrators Conference on Grants, Awards & Residencies available to writers of authors & illustrators of children's and YA literature. I compiled a spreadsheet of all the available opportunities that I hope will be helpful to published and unpublished writers.

If you'd like to access it, please click on this link to find it on google docs:

http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0Ah5NIzJC_GXNdEpiV2dvSUU1ZVNYRFZ3bVNwdmhkRlE&hl=en&authkey=CIW_urwI

Bob Edwards Show

I'll be on the Bob Edwards Show tomorrow (tuesday) on XM's Channel 133, XM Public Radio, talking about The Other Half of Life. It airs at 8am, 9am, 10am, 3pm, 8pm & 10pm!

National Jewish Book Award!

I just found out that The Other Half of Life won the 2009 National Jewish Book Award for Children's and Young Adult Literature!

I'm thrilled!

Thanks to everyone who helped make this book possible: the great team at Knopf, my family, and most importantly the generous people who lived through the events and shared their stories with me!

Sydney Taylor Notable Book

I'm thrilled to announce that The Other Half of Life was chosen as a 2010 Sydney Taylor Notable Book for Teen Readers! Congrats to all the winners!

Signed Bookplates

Would you like your copy of one of my books signed? If so, shoot me an email and I'll send you a signed, personalized bookplate that you can put in the front of your copy. I have them for all three of my books. This is also a nice touch if you're giving someone the book as a gift!

Review/Interview Damsels in Regress

Check out the review of The Other Half of Life and interview with me on Damsels in Regress, a website devoted to books about historical fiction!



http://damselsinregress.wordpress.com/2009/11/18/interview-with-kim-ablon-whitney/

The Other Half of Life wins a Parents' Choice Award

Just found out The Other Half of Life rec'd a Silver Parents' Choice Award.

Established in 1978, Parents’ Choice Foundation is the nation’s oldest nonprofit guide to quality children’s media. Parents’ Choice Awards are given to products that meet and exceed standards set by educators, scientists, artists, musicians, librarians, parents, and yes, kids themselves. Fewer than 20% of the products submitted to the Parents Choice Award program receive any level of commendation, so I'm thrilled OHOL was chosen!

Listen to Elie Wiesel's presentation on WBUR

WBUR 90.9 FM will broadcast Elie Wiesel's lecture on the "Tragedy of the St. Louis" Sunday, November 15th at 9:00 pm.

Elie Wiesel on "Tragedy of St. Louis"

I had the pleasure of hearing Elie Wiesel speak on the "Tragedy of the St. Louis" at Boston University yesterday. Thousands of people attended Prof. Wiesel's lecture on what he aptly called the "Moral Titanic." If you've never had the chance to hear Prof. Wiesel speak, I suggest you somehow find a way to in the future. Simply put, he is amazing. A rare combination of intellect, soul, and humanity.

Much of his presentation was outlining the history of the St. Louis but his overall theme was man's inhumanity to man. He spoke of the shame of the leaders of the free world who "failed the test of humanity" in turning the St. Louis away. But he did not solely lay the blame on the leaders of free countries. He noted that the majority of the American public and American Jews did not express enough outrage about the situation. He stressed that no one staged a national protest or initiated a petition. He stated that had the St. Louis debacle happened a year earlier this might have been more tolerable but months after Kristallnacht--the horrors of which were covered widely by the American media--the American public knew full well what Jews faced in Hitler's Germany.

Wiesel singled out Captain Schroeder for his exemplary actions on behalf of his passengers. While the characters in my book are composites of real passengers, there is one exception and that is the Captain. He is the one person I chose to portray accurately because I was in awe of this man and the choices and risks he took on behalf of 937 Jewish passengers. Wiesel noted that Captain Schroeder is the hero in the story of the St. Louis and will "be remembered as a humanist." Schroeder later in life received the medal for Righteous Gentiles.

Other points in the talk I found particularly interesting included the fact that in 1938 and 1939 the Nazi policy, as put forward by Eichmann, was to help Jews leave the country in any way possible. Wiesel noted that at the Evian Conference Hitler even said, "Germany is ready to hand over Jews on luxury ships." But Germany was equally pleased when other countries didn't want the Jews either--it was confirmation in front of the whole world that "no one wanted the Jews."

In conclusion, Wiesel explained that all questions regarding the St. Louis remain unanswered. He stressed that what we can take away as students of history is that, as proven by Captain Schroeder, choice always exists. He ended the lecture by saying that to wait and to be silent is a sin, and that one should never give up on man's capacity for hope. He said, "Whatever you do in your life, think higher and feel deeper."

Back from Houston

Just got back from Houston, where I visited Beren Academy, the Emery-Weiner School, and the JCC. I gave several of my multi media presentations on The Other Half of Life, as well as did writing workshops for smaller classes. I was so impressed by the students at Beren, EW, and the JCC. They were great audiences, fabulous writers, and inquisitive minds. They asked wonderful questions about the St. Louis and my book, and in the workshops produced some top-notch writing! The general enthusiasm and energy of the students blew me away!

Thanks to the whole group who planned my visit and made my trip so pleasant: Marilyn Hassid and Judy Weil at the JCC, Elaine Lupovitch at Emery-Weiner, and my hosts Isabelle Meyer and Shira Yosher. And of course the biggest thanks to all the students!

Elie Wiesel on St. Louis at Boston University

I recently found out that Elie Wiesel will be doing two presentations on the voyage of the St. Louis, one in Boston in a few weeks and one in the spring in New York. The Boston one is free and open to the public.

As many of you know, Professor Wiesel was kind enough to blurb my book. I'm really looking forward to attending the BU presentation. Here is the info below:

In Our Own Time: The Tragedy of the Saint Louis
Introduction by Rabbi Joseph A. Polak, Director, Hillel Foundation; Rabbi to the Jewish Community at Boston University
November 9, 2009 at 7p.m


http://www.bu.edu/judaicstudies/

PEN New England Susan P. Bloom Award open for submissions

I'm very proud to be a member of the PEN New England Children's Book Caucus. One of the greatest things we do is offer our annual Discovery Award for unpublished New England authors. I won this award in 2001 (before I was on the committee, of course) and now I'm the coordinator for the contest. Our 2010 contest is now open and below are the guidelines!


SUBMISSION GUIDELINES
Each year, the PEN New England Children’s Book Caucus honors emerging writers and writer/illustrators with its Susan P. Bloom Children’s Book Discovery Award. Winners will present their work to the public at the PEN New England Children’s Book Discovery Evening in May 2010, and winning manuscripts will be read by editors at major publishing houses. In past years, editors from Knopf, Candlewick, and Houghton Mifflin have read winning submissions.

Entrants must be residents of New England who have not been published in any genre (with the exception of magazines, anthologies and self-publishing), and the submitted work (or another work) must not be under contract to be published. While people who have self-published may submit, we ask that the piece they submit be unpublished. People who have done work-for-hire books are allowed to submit if their name did not appear on the work-for-hire. Previous winners of the contest are not eligible. We are able to accept only one entry per person, in one of the following four categories: picture books, novels, poetry and nonfiction.

The deadline for submissions is Monday, February 1 2010. Entries need only be postmarked by that date. If you want to be sure your entry has been received, enclose a self-addressed and stamped postcard. Please do not require a signature for delivery.

All work should be—in both format and quality—ready for consideration by a publisher. The Caucus does not determine ahead of time the number of winners or the categories to be represented. Winners will be notified by late March.

To submit your work, please follow these guidelines:

1. Each submission of text should be approximately 10 pages in length, double-spaced, though picture books may be shorter. PLEASE NOTE: Manuscripts will not be returned.

Picture books: Send complete text. If you are a writer and not an illustrator, there is no need to send along illustrations. Similarly, illustrators are encouraged to submit illustrations without text. In this case, please send a portfolio of 3-5 illustrations. Author/illustrators should include sample illustrations or a book dummy, which will be returned if an appropriate SASE is provided. Do not send original artwork.

Middle grade or Y/A novels: Send one or two chapters, and a one-page synopsis.

Poetry: Send up to ten poems.

Nonfiction: Send one or two chapters, plus a brief outline or table of contents.

2. Include a short biographical statement about your experience and interest in the field.

3. Include a phone number and e-mail address (if available).

4. Enclose a letter-sized SASE for notification of decisions.

5. Mail your submission to:
PEN New England/CBC Discovery Night
c/o Kim Ablon Whitney
34 Stafford Rd.
Newton Centre, MA 02459

Upcoming Events

I'll add to this list as dates/events come in but here are some upcoming events...


Book & Arts Fair
Jewish Community Center of Houston
November 4, 2009

SAR Academy
New York, NY
November 9, 2009

Northwest Ohio Jewish Book Fair
Toledo, Ohio
November 22, 2009

Groton Public Library
Groton, MA
January 14, 2010

Dealing with feedback

Usually I get wonderful emails from teachers, librarians and readers themselves letting me know how much they enjoyed my book. There's nothing better as an author! Sometimes they ask questions about writing the book or how I decided to write a certain scene, plot point or event.

Rarely, but sometimes, I get negative feedback. This is an email from a librarian (kept anonymous) who objected to a few of the (very subtle!) passages about Thomas's burgeoning sexuality. I've also included my reply. I was pleased that she actually liked the rest of the book!!!

Hello Ms. Whitney,
I hope you are well.

I borrowed your book from our local library to preview it for purchase for my school library, as I am the librarian for a Jewish school grades k-8. After having read historical accounts on the MS St. Louis when I was a child, I was especially intrigued to read an account written for a younger audience. As has become my practice, I read every fiction book I consider for our library before purchasing it. This is done for several reasons - I want to ensure that the books I buy have literary merit, a meaningful story-line, and to check if it is appropriate for our audience. This is necessary because librarians have to answer to administrators, teachers and parents.

I really liked the book, as a whole. I liked how you set up Thomas as a victim of the Holocaust, his family background sounded realistic, the people on the ship were believable. I especially liked the interesting relationship between Manfred and Thomas. You had many fine story-lines going on, but here is my problem with the book- the reading level is clearly not a Young Adult, even though Thomas is 15 years old. It is more for a 4th to 5th grade level. If so, why did you find it necessary to include many "mature themed" passages? How would I explain/defend to my principals and /or to a parent, because they will ask, about some of theses passages? For example, on page 27 : "He stared at her a moment too long, looking from her face to her chest and then back up to her face again. She dipped her chin and averted her eyes. " on page p.67 when Frau Rosen was set up for a trick, she falls, and ..."her dress flew up. Thomas couldn't help but stare, letting his eyes wander from her varnished red toenails to her upper thigh." or on page 88, " Somehow she ended up almost entirely in his arms...he had his hands on her waist and he was close enough to kiss her. He felt all his blood rushing to a part of his body he generally tried not to think about."

Does there really need to be sexual tension in a book written on such a young level? Couldn't you tell a good story without passages such as these? It does not add to the story, it actually cheapens it. Scenes like these merely serve as distractions, when you don't need them- you have enough material to make this a very interesting book. Over the past 10 years of working as a school librarian, I have had many children come up to me and ask why authors need to write certain crude words or include sketchy scenes. It actually makes many children very uncomfortable. It doesn't matter if a librarian works for a public, private or parochial school, we have to answer to those who trust us to make responsible decisions when it comes to buying books school libraries. So although , I truly liked your story, as I am sure that my administrators and parents would agree, I will not be including it in our collection. I just ask that you be more sensitive in any future books.


Dear Ms. BLANK,

Thanks for taking the time to offer your comments about my book. I'm glad you liked the overall story and I'm also sorry you found several passages to be inappropriate.

Given that Thomas was 15, I felt I should try to accurately account for the feelings and emotions of a burgeoning young adult. That said, I tried to keep them subtle, knowing that younger kids would likely read the book.

While perhaps precocious 4th and 5th graders may read it, it is targeted more at the middle and high school levels. In their reviews School Library Journal and Booklist cited 6th-8th and 7th-10th respectively for reading levels. I myself feel 6th grade is the youngest it should generally be read by.

Still, I understand and appreciate your predicament about not including my book in your collection. Thanks again for your feedback.

Kim

Random Acts of Publicity Week

Just heard about this and it's a great idea!!


http://www.darcypattison.com/authors/random-week/

Sacramento Book Review reviews OHOL

The Other Half of Life
By Kim Ablon Whitney
Knopf, $16.99, 256 pages
Emotions are high as the St. Francis leaves her German port. Some
sing, others cry, but most feel a strong sense of relief as they watch
Nazi Germany fade into the horizon and look forward to days of
freedom in Cuba. All, perhaps, except for fifteen-year-old Thomas. For
him, the promise of freedom, of escape, that the St. Francis offers is
too good to be trusted, especially considering the fact that most of the
ship’s crew, except the Captain, are Nazi party members and officers. Why, Thomas
wonders, would a Nazi boat take nine hundred Jews to freedom, and on a luxury cruise
liner, no less? As Thomas struggles to reconcile his desire for freedom with his contempt
and suspicion for the crew and their shady behavior, he forges friendships and love with
the other passengers whose sole hope is for a new life. But, when the Cuban government
denies the boat entry into the country, and the American Coast Guard trail alongside the
St. Francis to make sure she does not dock on U.S. soil, what are the passengers left to
do?
The ill-fated story of the MS St. Francis, German-Jewish refugees and her Nazi crew is
based on one of the lesser known, and devastatingly true, events that transpired during the
Nazi era. While The Other Half of Life contains fictional characters, the story’s characters
and events mirror those of the MS St. Louis. This compelling insight into one of the most
embarrassing and heartbreaking events surrounding World War II is a must read for any
reader, both young adult and adult alike, who is interested in learning about the
Holocaust.
Reviewed by Kim Hudson Raffanelli

Blog on Big Eq

Horse people!

My latest blog on Big Eq is up.
http://www.bigeq.com/blog.php

Also, just got back from visiting Storyland in NH, right next to the old Attitash show! What a wonderful show that was--all jumpers. It was always one of my faves. The Spaghetti Shed is still there and is as yummy as ever!

The Picnic Basket

My book is featured on The Picnic Basket, a blog for teachers and librarians! Check it out!

http://www.thepicnic-basket.com/

Holocaust memoirs debunked

Here's a very interesting article on Sharon Sergeant, an adjunct faculty member in Boston University’s genealogical research program, who has helped debunk three fraudulent Holocaust memoirs.

I can't help but wonder what makes people write a false accounting of the Holocaust?

http://www.bu.edu/bostonia/summer09/hoax/

5 Laws of Being a Novelist

Check out this editorial in today's Boston Globe. It's always nice to know other novelists share your pain!

http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2009/07/20/five_laws_of_the_novelist/

For horse people.... my first guest blog about judging

I'm going to be guest-blogging for Bigeq.com about my perspective as a horse show judge. My first blog is up... stay tuned for more! And feel free to contact me with any ideas you'd like to see me write about in future blogs!

http://www.bigeq.com/blog.php

School Library Journal Review

Another review has come in... it's always nerve-wracking to get these from your publisher but so far so good...


July 2009 issue of School Library Journal

WHITNEY, Kim Ablon. The Other Half of Life. 256p. bibliog. chron. CIP. Knopf/Borzoi. 2009. Tr $16.99. ISBN 978-0-375-85219-0; PLB $19.99. ISBN 978-0-375-95219-7. LC 2008038949.

Gr 6-8–Based on the story of the MS St. Louis in 1939, the journey of the fictional Nazi luxury liner MS St. Francis from Germany to Cuba and the United States creates the dramatic underpinning for this story. Focusing on 15-year-old Thomas Werkmann and 14-year-old Priska Affeldt, Whitney chronicles what happened to more than 900 Jews seeking refuge from growing anti-Semitism in Germany. Thomas is traveling alone. His father, who is Jewish, is in Dachau, and his mother, a Christian, could raise the money for only one passage. A strong friendship develops between the wary boy and optimistic Priska, who is traveling with her family. Whitney integrates, sometimes in an overly journalistic tone, information about oppression in Germany, but readers’ attention is held by the young passengers’ playful pranks, the developing romance between the two main characters, and tension between the passengers and the Nazi crew. Chess becomes significant to the story, possibly leaving some readers at a loss. The dramatic tone is sometimes too subdued, especially when the passengers are forced to make the return trans-Atlantic journey after being turned away from Cuba and the United States. In spite of these shortcomings, this story will hold readers’ interest and heighten awareness of history that could become forgotten. The author imparts the fates of the passengers in the last two chapters, one set 10 years after the ship returns to Europe and the other 70 years after. A chronology of German anti-Semitic legislation is appended.–Renee Steinberg, formerly at Fieldstone Middle School, Montvale, NJ

Tower of Books Guest Blog

Check out my guest blog on Tower of Books and also a review there too!

http://towerofbooks.wordpress.com/2009/06/19/kim-ablon-whitney-visits/

Washington Post Cartoonist Art Spiegelman recounts St. Louis voyage

Here is a link to a very interesting cartoon by Art Spiegelman on the 70th anniversary of the passengers disembarking the ship back in Europe. I found it fascinating to see the 1939 cartoons and Mr. Spiegelman's comments on them through today's perspective.

www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/special/opnions/outlook/st-loius-refugee-ship-blues/static.html

Ellen Steinbaum's site

The recession/digital era has taken its toll on print media and one of the casualties was Ellen Steinbaum's 'City Type' column in the Sunday Boston Globe. With less and less book coverage in print media, I really miss this column! Ellen is continuing it in a different form on her website, introducing local authors and books. She was kind enough to feature The Other Half of Life:

www.ellensteinbaum.com/blog/2009/06/new-on-bookshelf-other-half-of-life.html

Review and a mention

The Other Half of Life got a nice review on Enchanting Reviews....

http://enchantingreviews.com/09/ya_theotherhalfoflife

It also got a nice mention Stephen Dann's chess column of the Worcester Telegram this past Sunday.

Review in Somerville Journal

Check out a review of The Other Half of Life from the Somerville Journal!

http://www.wickedlocal.com/somerville/fun/entertainment/arts/x2085748542/Mitch-Evich-reviews-The-Other-Half-of-Life-by-Kim-Ablon-Whitney.

Jewish Book Council "Meet the Authors"

I recently returned from the Jewish Book Council Conference "Meet the Authors" event in New York City. What a blast! The MTA event happens over three nights--each night 60 authors who either are Jewish or have a book with a Jewish theme (or a combo) give two-minute pitches about their books and presentations to program directors.

It's kind of like American Idol meets Speed Dating.

By virtue of my lovely married name, I had the priveledge of going dead last on my night. (In a shout-out to all my horse friends, it was kind of like going last at the Medal or Maclay Finals.)

All I can say is thank god Jews are funny! I laughed out loud many times during the event and the two plus hours of pitching went by pretty fast. Being married to a WASP, I can only imagine how deadly this event would have been if it had been the Protestant Book Council.

More than anything I came away from the event overwhelmed and impressed by how many amazing books and authors there are out there. Here are a few in particular that caught my eye:

Andrew Blauner, BROTHERS
Rachel Kauder Nalebuff, MY LITTLE RED BOOK
Steve Luxenberg, ANNIE'S GHOSTS
Brooks Mendell, BEAVERBALL, A WINNING SEASON WITH THE MIT BASEBALL TEAM

My Guest Blog on Jungle Writers Red

Check out my guest blog on Jungle Red Writers: http://www.JungleRedWriters.com/

Special thanks to Hank Phillippi Ryan for inviting me to blog!

A special person attended my reading--help me find her!

Last night I did a reading at Porter Square Books. An older woman arrived early and sat in the back row. I just had this feeling from seeing her that she had a personal connection to either the St. Louis or the Holocaust.

After the reading she came up and spoke to me. Yes, she and her husband, who just recently passed away, both survived the camps. She was understandably very emotional about my book and I was so grateful to meet her.

I only wish I had gotten her name so I could get back in touch with her. She said how painful it is for her to relive the memories of the Holocaust and she didn't get a copy of my book, I think for the very reason that it would be too hard for her to read the whole thing and relive that time period. That said, I would very much like to give her a copy of my book--I understand if she can't read it but I would just like her to have it. Perhaps she would share it with her daughter, who lives in West Newton.

So this is what I know about her: she lives in Cambridge and her daughter lives in West Newton (on Highland Ave.). If by any chance anyone who reads this knows who she might be or has her contact info, I would love to have it so I can get back in touch with her.