Posts Tagged Association of Jewish Libraries

Sydney Taylor Book Award Blog Tour — Interview with Honor Book Award-winner Tziporah Cohen and a GIVEAWAY

The Mixed-Up Files is thrilled to be a part of the 2021 Sydney Taylor Book Award Blog Tour! (For the full schedule click here.)

The Sydney Taylor Book Award is presented annually to outstanding books for children and teens that authentically portray the Jewish experience. As someone who has followed the award closely for many years (and was honored to be a past winner of their manuscript award which recognizes unpublished manuscripts) as well as a member of the review team for the Sydney Taylor Shmooze, a ‘mock’ version of the awards, I am especially thrilled and delighted to welcome author Tziporah Cohen, whose debut novel No Vacancy —about an 11-year-old Jewish girl who, with her Catholic friend, creates a Virgin Mary apparition at a drive-in movie theater to save her family’s failing motel—is a 2021 Sydney Taylor Award Honor Book in the middle grade category.

SEE BELOW for a chance to WIN A COPY of NO VACANCY by Tziporah Cohen!

 

About the book:

SYDNEY TAYLOR BOOK AWARD HONOREE!
Shortlisted for THE NATIONAL JEWISH BOOK AWARD FOR CHILDREN’S LITERATURE! 

 

“With effortless mastery, Cohen weaves the opposing forces of innocence and corruption, right and wrong, love and hate.”—Inderjit Deogun, Quill & Quire starred review

Buying and moving into the run-down Jewel Motor Inn in upstate New York wasn’t eleven-year-old Miriam Brockman’s dream, but at least it’s an adventure. Miriam befriends Kate, whose grandmother owns the diner next door, and finds comfort in the company of Maria, the motel’s housekeeper, and her Uncle Mordy, who comes to help out for the summer. She spends her free time helping Kate’s grandmother make her famous grape pies and begins to face her fears by taking swimming lessons in the motel’s pool.

But when it becomes clear that only a miracle is going to save the Jewel from bankruptcy, Jewish Miriam and Catholic Kate decide to create their own. Otherwise, the No Vacancy sign will come down for good, and Miriam will lose the life she’s worked so hard to build.

 

 

Author Interview:

And now, here’s No Vacancy author Tziporah Cohen joining us here on the Mixed-Up Files!

MD: Hi Tzippy, what inspired you to write this story?

TC: The whole idea began while on a mini-vacation in Hershey, PA, where we stayed a couple of nights in a tired motel one summer while I was working on my MFA degree. There was a boy hanging around—maybe 7 or 8 years old—and it turned out he had moved there with his family and they were running the place. I thought it made a great, unique premise for a middle grade novel—a kid living in a motel that her parents were managing. (Kelly Yang’s fantastic novel, Front Desk, hadn’t come out yet.) The boy we met was South Asian, and Hershey is a pretty white town, and I wondered what that was like for him and his family. I had been thinking of writing something from my own Jewish experience, so the boy became an eleven-year-old Jewish girl named Miriam. I wrote the first chapters in that hotel room after my kids went to sleep!

MD: As a debut author, can you tell us about your journey to publication?

TC: It was a long one, as they usually are! I had an idea for a picture book back in 2006 and took an adult education course on writing picture books, which led to some online writing courses, which eventually led to an MFA at Vermont College of Fine Arts. I never saw myself writing a novel, but since you can’t do a two-year MFA just writing picture books, I wrote the first draft of No Vacancy over three semesters there. It took several more years of work after graduation before it was ready to submit. I had started looking for an agent but had also submitted the manuscript to Groundwood Books in Toronto, where I now live. When Groundwood sent me an offer of publication, after screaming with excitement, I approached the agents I was interested in with the offer in hand. So my road was a bit backwards at the end.

(The irony is that I never did write that picture book idea that started this whole journey!)

MD: I loved your interview on the Book of Life podcast where you talk about mentor texts—can you briefly explain what a mentor text is, and how you used them when writing NO VACANCY?

TC: Mentor texts are books (in this case) that a writer studies to learn how another author tackles a topic or how they use their craft to form a story. In my case, I wanted to see how other writers tackled the topic of religion and faith in their middle grade novels. There weren’t many out there, but I went back to a childhood favorite, Judy Blume’s Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret. and the more recent Confessions of a Closet Catholic by Sarah Darer Littman, both of which feature girls struggling to sort out their religious identity and what role they want Judaism to play in their lives.

MD: How did you choose the setting of upstate New York?

TC: I love upstate New York. I spent four years at Cornell University, in Ithaca, and while that’s not a small town, it was certainly very different from where I grew up on Long Island, about an hour’s drive from Manhattan. I’ve done many drives through upstate New York since then, going back and forth from Toronto to Long Island, and so it all felt very familiar and easy to picture in my mind.

MD: Are any of these events true to your own life?

TC: Unfortunately, the only event in the book that’s true to my life (outside of the religious observance) is the anti-Semitic experience that Miriam’s mother had. While I was never assaulted like she was, I had the experience of having pennies thrown at me in the halls of my junior high school. Like Miriam’s mom, I remember feeling ashamed. I wish I could redo that moment by confronting the person and—best case scenario—educating them about the hateful origins of that stereotype. And I would have liked to have felt proud rather than ashamed.

MD: I really love how you show both interfaith and interdenominational cooperation between Jews and Christians, as well as how even within Judaism that there are differences of observance such as between Miriam’s immediate family and her Uncle Mordy. Can you talk a little about that?

TC: It was important to me to show some of the diversity of Judaism—how differently people who identify as Jewish see their relationship to Judaism and how many different ways people practice it. I wanted Jewish children from a variety of religious backgrounds to see themselves and their families in the book, and I wanted non-Jewish children reading it to understand that there isn’t just one Jewish experience. So it was very intentional that the different members of Miriam’s family observed Judaism in different ways. My extended family’s Judaism is just as diverse as Miriam’s!

In the book, Miriam’s Christian neighbors support them after an act of anti-Semitism. My favorite stories, in real life and in fiction, are when different communities come together to fight hatred, because we are so much stronger when we are there for each other.

MD: What does it mean to you to win the Sydney Taylor Honor Award?

TC: I grew up reading Sydney Taylor’s All-of-A-Kind-Family books, which were probably the first books I read that were about a Jewish family, if you don’t count The Carp in the Bathtub! I grew up reading books with the Sydney Taylor Book Award stickers on them, and I’ve read innumerable winners to my children. I never even imagined I would write a book for kids, let alone one that would have its own Sydney Taylor Award sticker. It’s mind-blowing and humbling to me that I’m part of this club. I’m still pinching myself!

MD: Wow—congratulations and Mazal Tov, Tzippy! Thanks so much for these thoughtful responses and for sharing your journey with us here on The Mixed-Up Files! Readers can find Tzippy on Twitter at @tzippymfa and on her website http://www.tziporahcohen.com.

Giveaway! Enter! Win!

To enter for a chance to be the lucky winner of a copy of Sydney Taylor Honor Book NO VACANCY by Tziporah Cohen, click the link below and you can: comment on this blog post, tweet it out and tag us at @MixedUpFiles, or like our post on Instagram at @mixedupfilesmg. (US and Canada winners receive a hard copy, international winners receive an e-book and signed bookmark.)

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Queen of Comedy: An Interview with Hillary Homzie

I’m excited to interview one of our very own Mixed-Up Files authors who recently had two book releases in her middle-grade series about the irrepressible Ellie May—Hillary Homzie. So let’s get started…

Hi, Hillary, so happy to have this chance to have you with us today. First of all, I always enjoy your books, and I especially love the humor in the Ellie May books. The illustrations by Jeffrey Ebbeler definitely add to the fun.

Can you tell us a little about the chapter books?

Absolutely! The books feature Ellie May who—whenever she tries to do something great—things tend to get a little mixed up. However, the exuberant second grader never gives up. In Ellie May on Presidents’ Day, she would give anything to be flag leader during the Pledge of Allegiance. After all, she has a really loud voice, knows how to stand super straight, and knows cools facts about the presidents. In Ellie May on April Fools’ Day, she wants more than anything to be funnier than Mo, the class clown. Right away, she begins practicing her practical jokes—with ants and all. The question becomes—will she take her mission too far?

Many teachers and librarians look for holiday stories. It’s not hard to find books for the major holidays, but you’ve picked two unusual ones. How did you choose those holidays and why?

I’ve always been fascinated with presidential history. It’s probably because I grew up in Virginia, birthplace to eight presidents and four of the first five. Presidents’ Day seemed like a great start for the series. Then my editor at Charlesbridge asked me to pick another holiday that would follow Presidents’ Day. She actually suggested April Fools’ Day, since she knew I had a background in performing sketch comedy and love all things comedic!

Can you tell us what inspired you to write these stories?

Honestly, my favorite year in school was second grade, and I had just to write about it. A friend of mine once told me—Hillary do you want to write for kids or be a kid? I’m not sure of that answer, lol!

Your books always seem to include humor. Can you give some tips for writing humorous stories?

  • Have your protagonists unaware of their own missteps. In other words, consider making him or her an innocent or a fish out of water. 2) Keep things tight. 3) Try to create an audience for your protagonist’s humiliation as it increases the stakes. I actually have a comedy writing guide, and anyone interested can just contact me by going to my website.

What do you hope readers will take away from the books?

I hope that readers will see the power of perseverance, and most of all have fun. I’m convinced when the youngest readers associate books with joy, they will turn into life- long readers.

As a former librarian and teacher, I definitely agree with that! Humor really hooks kids, especially reluctant readers.

Did you base your character on anyone you know?

Ellie May is based a little bit on the spirit and enthusiasm of my middle son. As a primary school student, he was always so eager but sometimes didn’t know how to direct his energies. Inadvertently and enthusiastically, he took some missteps in the classroom. Luckily, my son had some great teachers to help him to channel all of his energy.

Ellie May has a great voice. How do you capture a character’s voice and make it distinct?

Ah, that’s such a great question. I find that if I’m in a more relaxed state and let the character talk and react versus me trying very hard to be this impressive writer—something just works. For me, it boils down to trusting myself and just, well, listening.

I like how Ellie May grows and changes. How did you decide what problems she’d face and how they would affect her?

I actually never decided, at least with my rational mind. Ellie May sprang into being and then so did the kids in her classroom. The situations in the books were based on the characters’ personalities and how each one might react to a common classroom assignment.

Did you love to read as a child? If so, can you tell us some favorite books?

Oh, yes, I was an avid reader! As a second grader, my favorite books were A Secret Garden, Little Women, The Witch’s Buttons, Seven True Dolphin Stories, and anything by Beverly Cleary.

You’ve listed some of my favorites as well.

When did you know you wanted to be a writer?

Probably in second grade when my teacher Mrs. McCrone wrote on my story—Hillary, you are a writer!

Aww… It’s awesome when a teacher’s encouragement leads to a future career. You never know what your influence might be when you compliment a child.

Did you have any childhood dreams for what you’d be when you grew up? If so, did they come true?

I wanted to write books and become a children’s author—and it looks like it happened! I feel so grateful.

Have you had any careers besides writing?

Lots! I’ve been a journalist, a sketch comedian, publicist and, in addition to writing books, I teach media writing at Sonoma State University during the academic year and children’s writing in the summer graduate program at Hollins University.

That must keep you busy, and it allows you to encourage a new generation of writers. I know you’re a great teacher!

What is your favorite part of being a writer?

My favorite part of being a writer is when I’m swept up in the start on a new project as well as visiting schools.

What are you working on now?

A couple of picture books, an upper middle-grade fantasy, and more chapter books.

Can you tell us a bit about some of your other books?

I’ve written a half dozen books for tween girls. Queen of Likes (Simon & Schuster/Aladdin) was recently selected by the Association of Jewish Libraries for the Love Your Neighbor List. The list was created in response to the Pittsburgh tragedy and attempt to create a bridge of understanding into the lives of Jewish kids. I feel really strongly that if more children had access to books about kids from diverse cultures there would be fewer hate crimes. One of my recent light-hearted middle-grade books Pumpkin Spice Secrets seems to be a favorite among reluctant readers and was featured this fall on the front cover of Scholastic Tab—which was a true thrill!

Very cool about both features! And it’s so true that reading can help you understand others who have different customs, cultures, and personalities. I read a study that showed voracious readers are much more likely to be empathetic to others. I suspect it’s because they learn to put themselves in others’ places and see the world in a different light. It’s great when authors not only share their storytelling but also their lives and culture.

To find out more about Hillary and her other books, you can visit her website.