Tolerance speaks!

I don't usually spontaneously blog, but I heard something on the radio that really moved me this week. Every day I leave my house in time to hear Jian Gomeshi announce the letter of the day on Q and then I listen to his feature interview. If I miss his show, the day just isn't right. Occasionally, I get to work and I have to stay in my car until the news comes on. Since my day isn't terribly media-rich, this is my daily dose. And so I find myself listening to interviews with Michael Bolton, but also Eve Ensler and my world is slightly widened.
Well, this week as I was cruising up Princess Street, Jian interviewed David Abitbol from Jewlicious and two women, Megan and Grace Phelps Roper, formerly of the Westboro Baptist Church. I had never heard of the church before but they do things like picket synagogues and fill the Internet with anti-Semitic and gay-hating propaganda. David and Megan "met" on Twitter a few years ago and what started out as provocation from Megan, quickly turned into an honest discussion about what Judaism was. Megan had been taught to hate Jews, but since she's a curious and intelligent individual, she started to do a little research on what she was supposed to hate. A few years later, she and her sister Grace made the heavy decision to leave their church since they no longer could abide by the church's hate-filled ideas. What moved me most about the interview was not the tremendous story of two young women who can clearly think for themselves, but the tolerance David Abitbol showed them by not responding merely with disdain or disgust. Instead he took the time to respond to their inquiries with genuine patience. Tolerance speaks!
And that's the kind of Jew, and human being, I want to be-a tolerant one. http://www.cbc.ca/q/2013/03/19/leaving-the-westboro-baptist-church/

Orca Spring Titles

Not only does my excellent publisher Orca Books do a super job editing, designing and promoting my work, but I also find myself in an excellent “pod” of writers. This spring is no exception. One of my favourite upcoming titles is Allegra by Shelley Hrdlitschka. While attending a performing arts school, Allegra is forced to take a music theory class. Allegra is initially annoyed by the both the course and the instructor, but when the teacher assigns her a music theory project that is both challenging and engaging, Allegra starts to change her mind about both the project and the instructor.

One of the things I liked best about the book is how Hrdlitschka tackles Allegra’s anxiety. A growing issue among teens, I’m sure many readers will see themselves reflected in this novel.

Next up is Damage, by Robin Stevenson, from the Orca Soundings List, (short high-interest novels with contemporary themes). When the protagonist, Zach, leaves his annoying parents at a California hotel to travel with a beautiful girl named Ronnie who used to babysit him, he thinks he’s going on a Hollywood road trip. Ronnie may be beautiful but she’s got a crying toddler and an ex-boyfriend who is a cop looking for her. Zach finds himself in way over his head.

Stevenson’s novel is both well-written and a page-turner.

Also by Robin Stevenson is Record Breaker, a novel for 9-12 year olds. Set in 1963, twelve-year-old Jack’s family is reeling from the death of his baby sister. Jack tries to relieve his mother’s sadness by setting a new world record. When attempts at record setting by sausage eating or chair rocking don’t seem to help his mother, Jack sets out on a different path with the help of some friends.

Stevenson’s characters are memorable and the time period perfectly evoked.  Interesting male and female characters will make this book appeal to a wide variety of kids.

Happy reading everyone.

Re-emerging The Jews of Nigeria

It’s official, April is going to be a Lieberman Family Arts Double Header. Not only am I launching my novel Lauren Yanofsky Hates the Holocaust on April 11^th at 7:30 pm at Novel Idea Bookstore here in Kingston, my brother’s film RE-EMERGING: The Jews of Nigeria, will play at The Screening Room on April 13^th at 7:30 pm.

The film is about the little-known communities of Igbo people who are practicing Judaism throughout much of Africa's most populous nation, and who believe they are continuing the traditions of their ancestors.  Jeff travelled to Nigeria with a Conservative Maryland rabbi to meet several of these communities six years ago. I remember it well because he was in Nigeria when my first son was born.

I recently watched the film and was curious to see how he had presented the story after listening to descriptions of his work for the past several years. While I knew it was about Jewish Nigerians, I didn’t know it would also delve into the lives and culture of the Igbo people. I was fascinated by the different Igbo synagogues and the different characters in the film. Probably my favourite part was watching a congregation sing “Oh Sey Shalom.” If you’ve grown up in the Christian tradition, perhaps you’ve seen songs you know well sung by others from around the world, but for me this was the first time I had heard a song sung by others so far away. It was both familiar and also utterly different, and that held me captivated.

The film includes a wide range of American academics detailing the Igbo history, including shedding new light on the Igbo origins of thousands of slaves captured during the Atlantic Slave Trade and brought to American shores. The film also delves into this history and travels to the southeast coast of Georgia, where locals still speak of the Igbo spirit alive and well at a riverbed called Ibo Landing. Both Jeff and I were both recently in Georgia on St. Simon’s Island and I got to tour around some Igbo sites.

Although the film doesn’t delve directly into the “Who is a Jew” debate, it does raise some interesting questions. Who gets to be a Jew might seem a tame question, but it’s not. If you want to be a Christian, you can easily become one. For Jews, it’s a little different. Jews don’t proselytize and in order to be considered Jewish you either have to have Jewish parents, or go through a long and complicated conversion process. The question of who is a Jew becomes more interesting in light of Israel’s “right of return,” policy. According to Israeli immigration, anyone Jewish has the right to come to Israel and live as a citizen. However, the Orthodox Rabbinate has the power to declare some conversions not up to their standard. While North American Jews might not be moving to Israel in droves, for Africans, it might be appealing. If Jewish Nigerians  decide to move on masse to Israel, they have the potential to create an enormous refugee problem. Not so subtle racism also underlies the “Who is a Jew” debate.

Not only is Jeff coming to Kingston (and Toronto -April 17^th and 18th) Jeff’s film has now screened at the Boston, Washington, DC, Phoenix and Vancouver Jewish Film Festivals, and the 92nd Street Y in New York.

Sound interesting? For film trailers, photos, bios, synopsis, screening info, reviews you can check

out www.re-emergingfilm.com Or watch the FILM TRAILER.

Martha, Helen and Me

My co-worker Trish was eating something delicious looking at lunch the other day- red lentil cakes. An avid vegetarian, I’m always looking for something to stick in a bun that doesn’t come from a cow or other animal. I’ve made black bean burgers, tofu cutlets, tofu and beet burgers and my personal favourite: chickpea cutlets. Everyone in my house likes chick peas, so even my youngest (and fussiest child) will dig in. So I asked Trish just where she had gotten the recipe and she said Martha Stewart. We then had what I call, The Martha Stewart Conversation. You see, I’m not supposed to like her. She’s too omnipresent, too conventional, too perfect. People like me, we’re supposed to read Vegetarian Times, Bust and Adbusters, which I do. But I also have a soft spot for Martha. Her magazines are decorating-porn for me. When I read the Martha Stewart Living magazine, I too have an upper East-side apartment with a living room the size of the square footage of my entire house. I have a closet just for dinner napkins and a room for gift wrapping and flower arranging. Which I don’t really want, except for sometimes. Don’t tell anyone.

There’s another reason I have a soft spot for Martha. You see, I still have a stash of Martha Stewart Living magazines on my closet shelf at my cottage. I read them in the summer and I think of my mother-in-law, Helen. They were her magazines and it used to be her cottage, which she loved. And so when I sit in my darkened bedroom in the afternoon for a few minutes away from my kids and flip through a spread of vintage tea towels or porcelain milk pitchers shaped like birds, I like to imagine Helen is still out on the front porch. She’s watering her geraniums or digging in her garden, and I imagine any minute she’ll come to me with some vegetarian recipe she found in the magazine and ask me if she should try it out.

Here’s the recipe for Lentil Cakes. I’m not sure Helen would have liked them, but she would have tried them with great open-minded gusto, just like she approached everything else in life. 

Ingredients

• 1 cup red lentils
• 3 scallions, pale-green and white parts chopped; greens thinly sliced on bias
• 1 tablespoon harissa (or chile garlic paste or other spice)
• 1/4 teaspoon turmeric
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• Coarse salt
• 1 large egg plus 1 large egg white
• 2 1/2 ounces goat's-milk or sheep's-milk feta cheese, crumbled (1/2 cup)
• 1/2 cup nonfat plain Greek yogurt
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• 1/8 teaspoon finely grated garlic (from 1 small clove)
• 1/2 English cucumber, cut into half-moons (1 cup)
• 1/2 ounce upland cress or watercress (1 cup)
• 1/4 ounce fresh mint leaves (1/2 cup)
• 2 teaspoons safflower oil

Directions

1.       Cover lentils with 2 inches cold water. Soak 4 hours at room temperature or up to 1 day in refrigerator. Drain well. Pulse pale-green and white parts of scallions in a food processor until minced. Add harissa, turmeric, baking powder, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and egg and egg white; pulse to combine. Add lentils; puree until almost smooth. Transfer mixture to a bowl, and stir in a little more than half the feta.

2.       Whisk remaining feta, the yogurt, lemon juice, and garlic in a small bowl. Combine cucumber, cress, and mint in another bowl. (I gotta tell you, I never got to the greens part, and it was still delicious.)

3.       Heat 1 teaspoon oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Place a scant tablespoon of scallion greens in pan, and spoon about an eighth of the batter on top, spreading to make a 3-inch cake. Repeat, making 4 cakes at a time. Cook until golden brown, flipping once, about 6 minutes. Add remaining teaspoon oil, and repeat.

4.         Divide sauce among 4 plates; top with salad. Place cakes next to greens,

Last week I was tagged by the talented Sarah Aronson, author of Beyond Lucky, in The Next Big Thing. So now it's my turn to answer some author questions. Here we go!

1) What is the working title of your next book?

Lauren Yanofsky Hates the Holocaust
2) Where did the idea come from for the book?
A couple of years ago a student made a Nazi armband during my French class. It got me thinking about my feelings about the Holocaust.  

3) What genre does your book fall under?

Contemporary YA

4) What actors would you choose to play the part of your characters in a movie rendition?

Logan Lerman (Perks of Being a Wallflower) would play the hunky basketball player and love interest of Lauren Yanofsky. Lauren would be played by Alexis Bledel, but there’d be a time warp and Alexis would be sixteen again.

5) What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?

Lauren is sick of hearing about the Holocaust but must make some tough choices when boys from her school start playing Nazi war games.

6) Who is publishing your book?

Orca Books
7) How long did it take you to write the first draft of the manuscript?

A year.
8) What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?
There are a lot of books for teens written about the Holocaust, but none that I know of about contemporary teens grappling with the legacy of the Holocaust. I'd love to hear of other books.

9) Who or what inspired you to write this book?

My father’s interest in World War Two has led me to think a lot about the Holocaust and the after effects it has had on the Jewish religion and culture.

10) What else about the book might pique the reader's interest?

Not only does this book address some serious issues, there’s also some basketball and even some kissing.

Dance Class- Cheap Marriage Counselling

I was all set up to take a Contemporary dance class at the Kingston School of Dance as research for a book I'm writing for my publisher Orca Books. They have a new series of performing arts books called Orca Limelights and I'm writing one about a ballet dancer who injures her foot and can't do any pointe work for the summer. Her parents ship her off to a dance camp where she has to learn other dance styles. I have a very awful working title right now, so I just refer to it as the "Dance Camp" book.
So, I was all set up to take Contemporary, but the class was Tuesdays at 6pm, smack-dab in the middle of dinner hour. I envisioned myself rushing home from work to make dinner andt then leaving before I could eat it, anad then arriving home just in time for bedtime. Not fun. Anyway, being the somewhat distracted person that I am, I saw a Thursday night Ballroom class and signed my husband and I up on the spot. Not only do we like to dance, I thought it would be an inexpensive way for us to spend time together without actually having to plan a date. The instructor would tell us what to do, and we'd listen. 
I wasn't sure the first class if were more excited about dancing, or if we were just excited to be out on a Thursday night. A mid-week date-ooh! I was a little worried we'd get kicked out of the first class because while everyone else was stiffly foxtrotting around the room, Rob and I were adding in crazy dips and making silly faces. Also, since we're both teachers we find it hard to quietly take instruction. We both always have questions or comments. We're either your ideal keener students or your worst nightmare.
We made our way through the fox trot and then the meringue with ease and maybe even grace. Then came the salsa. Can I tell you how funny it is to watch a room full of very stiff white people (myself included) try and do salsa hips? I highly reccomend the experience, especially if you're not the stiffest person in the room. 
The class ended faster than we'd imagined and we came home happy and thirsty to find out our youngest son had barfed all over his bed and his doll Fuvie. The babysitter had calmy stripped his bed and changed his pajamas, but needless to say, both kids were still up. And there was a slew of phone messages.
Both Rob and I were tired Friday morning, but not too tired to be excited for a Tango class Saturday night. I'm thinking my publisher is defintely going to need a ballroom book.

Taking Stock

Well, as I suspected, the reviews of The Book of Trees have been mixed. Quill and Quire liked the scene of my main character buying a pair of edible underwear as a shower gift in a mainly positive review. On the other side, The American Jewish Library was "shocked and dismayed by [my book's] distorted and one-sided approach to the complex issue of Israeli-Palestinian relations.  We had expected better from Orca and from an author whose first book, GRAVITY, was reviewed very positively in the AJL Newsletter." 
I had fully expected this kind of reaction, and was even surprised it took so long to happen. Reviews on Amazon also seem to follow extreme views. I guess that's no surprise, since attitudes toward Israel are so polarized. Some friends were so outraged by the idea that I would write a book exploring Palestinian grievances against Israel that  they refused to read it. I wish they would, and engage me in a meaningful dialogue. That's all I really want, for people to talk, not orate.