Many of you have known or worked with editor Deborah Brodie. She passed away on June 27 after a battle with cancer.
Read the Publisher’s Weekly obituary>>>
The Whole Megillah- Mid-Week NotesThree quick things: Even while traveling and participating in fellowships, I am continuing to write poetry, one poem at a time. This is part of a new contemporary YA work in progress. At some point, I really need to focus … Continue reading →Barbara Krasner
- Mid-Week NotesThree quick things: My article on border crossing between the Nazi and Soviet spheres of interest in the fall of 1939 has been accepted for publication by a peer-reviewed academic journal. Through this writing exercise I learned to value: Once … Continue reading →Barbara Krasner
- Author’s Notebook | The Brave Princess and Me, written by Kathy KacerThe Brave Princess and Me, written by Kathy Kacer and illustrated by Juliana Kolesova, Second Story Press, September 2019, 32 pp., $18.95. The Whole Megillah (TWM): The Brave Princess and Me might just be the first Holocaust book for kids … Continue reading →Barbara Krasner
- Mid-Week NotesThree quick things: I am completing my second week at the faculty seminar at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington. Three immediate takeaways: I’m convinced that the more I learn, the less I know. I am still trying to … Continue reading →Barbara Krasner
- Mid-Week NotesThree quick things: I am slowly navigating academic writing—and am finding creative writing so much easier. The academic peer review process is unnerving. Conversation Starter: What narrative would you most like to see as a picture book? Middle grade? YA? … Continue reading →Barbara Krasner
- Mid-Week NotesThree quick things: I thought I had an academic journal article due by June 1. Turns out it’s due late September. After reading three articles by Eliyana Adler, I am so glad I have more time. While I focused on … Continue reading →Barbara Krasner
- Author’s Notebook | The Brave Cyclist: The True Story of a Holocaust Hero by Amalia HoffmanThe Brave Cyclist: The True Story of a Holocaust Hero, written by Amalia Hoffman and illustrated by Chiara Fedele, 40 pp., $17.95 (Capstone, June 2019) The Whole Megillah (TWM): What inspired you to write this story? Amalia Hoffman (AH): My … Continue reading →Barbara Krasner
- Mid-Week NotesThree quick things: I met up with a writer pal and fellow adjunct English professor this week to exchange and critique our writing. She read my 25 pages of a new contemporary YA novel in verse–and liked it! She … Continue reading →Barbara Krasner
- Editor’s Notebook | Honeycake Magazine: An Interview with Founder and Editor in Chief Anna CaplanThe Whole Megillah (TWM): What prompted you to begin a magazine for Jewish kids? Anna Caplan (AC): Honeycake was an idea I dreamed up for my own children. One day as I was renewing my four-year-old’s subscription to Ladybug magazine, … Continue reading →Barbara Krasner
- Mid-Week NotesThree quick things: My publisher and I have begun to discuss the cover for my YA historical, Matchless. I can’t wait to see the design! I’ve sent her my photos of my grandfather’s shtetl from my 2008 visit for inspiration. … Continue reading →Barbara Krasner
- Mid-Week Notes
I cannot express how kind Deborah was to me. She reached out and expected nothing in return. She sent me writing exercises, asked me what I really wanted to do in my work (she was sure I could write a novel, and was determined to help me figure out what it was)…she was just so all-around encouraging and supportive and funny. At shiva people laughed about her sharp tongue, but I only got it once — when I accidentally called her Deb.
Hamakom Yinachem.
Deborah was the first professional editor to pull me out of a slush pile and declare I had a voice, and from that day on, became a person I could count on for a clean response, with honest encouragement. Her course at the New School, which I took early in my career, relieved us all of our self-consciousness. In her classroom, contrary to her editorial reputation, we all could fall flat on our faces, and pierce the boundaries which had held us back.
What a loss to the children’s book world, especially at a time when a voice for quality and authenticy is so sorely needed. I didn’t know Deborah well but thought of her as a kindred soul. Baruch dayan ha emet.