Association of Jewish Libraries 2024 Conference San Diego

Richard Michelson's children’s books have been named among the Ten Best of the Year by The New York Times, Publishers Weekly, and The New Yorker; and among the Best Dozen of the Decade by Amazon.com. Michelson has received two Sydney Taylor Gold Medals (and two silver) from the... Read More →

Elana K. Arnold’s catalog of books for kids and teens has garnered dozens of starred reviews, state list citations, and other accolades, including winning the National Jewish Book Award and the Sydney Taylor Award, twice winning the Golden Kite Award, being named a Michael L. Printz... Read More →

Tziporah Cohen has an MD from Harvard Medical School and an MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults from Vermont College of Fine Arts. Her debut novel, No Vacancy, for middle grade readers, was published in September 2020 by Groundwood Books and won a Sydney Taylor Honor. She... Read More →

Richard Ho is Chinese, Jewish, and an author . . . in any order you wish! His book Two New Years, illustrated by Lynn Scurfield and published by Chronicle Books, was the winner of the 2024 Sydney Taylor Book Award and the 2024 National Jewish Book Award. He loves to craft stories... Read More →

Joshua S. Levy is the author of several middle grade novels, including the Sydney Taylor Honoree, The Jake Show, and Finn and Ezra's Bar Mitzvah Time Loop, both from HarperCollins/Katherine Tegen Books. He is also a co-editor of (and contributing author to) On All Other Nights, a... Read More →

Mari Lowe has too little free time and spends it all on writing and escape rooms. As the daughter of a rabbi and as a middle school teacher at an Orthodox Jewish school, she enjoys sharing little glimpses into her community with her books. Her debut middle grade novel, Aviva vs. the... Read More →

Susan Lynn Meyer is the author of three middle-grade novels with Jewish themes, A Sky Full of Song, Black Radishes, and Skating with the Statue of Liberty, as well as four picture books. Her works have won the Sydney Taylor Honor Award twice, the Jane Addams Peace Association Children’s... Read More →

Noa was born in Jerusalem and raised back-and-forth between Israel and USA. After serving in the IDF’s intelligence corps, Noa studied Design. While working as a window-display designer for a bookshop chain, she gravitated to children’s books, sparking her passion to create her... Read More →

Aden Polydoros is an award-winning author and aspiring screenwriter who transitioned from female-to-male when he was 14. After going ‘stealth’ for over 10 years, he came out as transgender in order to support trans youth. His previous novel, The City Beautiful, won the Sydney... Read More →

Lynn Scurfield's work is defined by bright colors, fun textures, and strong emotions. In their spare time, Lynn enjoys knitting, watching tours of beautiful houses online, and going on hikes with Taro, her small (but barky) dog. They illustrated Two New Years, (written by Richard... Read More →

Neal Shusterman is the New York Times bestselling author of more than fifty award-winning books for children, teens, and adults, including Challenger Deep, which won the National Book Award, Courage to Dream, a Sydney Taylor Honor Book, Scythe, a Michael L. Printz Honor Book, the... Read More →

Elissa Brent Weissman is an award-winning author of books for young readers, including two Sydney Taylor Honor books: The Light of a String and Hanukkah Upside Down. Best known for the popular Nerd Camp series, she and her books have been featured in The Washington Post, The Wall... Read More →