As a service to booksellers and librarians, Anna Olswanger Books provides author and publisher contact information in each issue of "Jewish Book & Author News," archived here and available by e-mail subscription or in the newsletter of the Association of Jewish Libraries.

Text © copyright 2005 Anna Olswanger

ARCADE PUBLISHING
On March 18, Sherri Szeman (The Kommandant's Mistress, ISBN 1-55970-542-6, $13.95) will sign and read from her book, a novel narrated by a Nazi kommandant and a Jewish concentration camp inmate, at the Greenville Public Library in Greenville, Ohio. Szeman, who lives in Donnelsville, Ohio, is the publisher and executive editor of Rockway Press. She gives talks throughout the Columbus, Cincinnati, and Dayton areas on the Holocaust, Alzheimer's, creative writing, and getting published. Librarians can contact her at 937-925-3618, fax 937-324-6454, email szeman@rockwaypress.com.

AUGUST HOUSE
From March 18-20, Josepha Sherman (A Sampler of Jewish-American Folklore, ISBN 0-87483-193-8, $11.95, and Rachel the Clever and Other Jewish Folktales, ISBN 0-87483-307-8 $10.95) will sign her books, the first an introduction to Judaism and Jewish folklore, the second a worldwide collection of Jewish folktales and jokes, at Lunacon, the New York Science Fiction Society Convention in Seacaucus, New Jersey. Sherman, who lives in New York City, runs Sherman Editorial Services, an all-purpose writing and editing service. She gives talks around the country on folklore and mythology in modern fiction, and folklore in Judaism. Librarians can contact her at JoSherman@aol.com.

AVIV PRESS
Jonathan Slater (Mindful Jewish Living: Compassionate Practice, ISBN 0-916219-23-2, $24.95) will teach a course based on his book, an examination of the relationship between meditation and the three principles of Torah, worship, and lovingkindness, on March 30 at Bet Am Shalom Synagogue in White Plains, New York, and will speak at the JCC in Washington, DC, on May 15. Rabbi Slater lives in Westchester, New York, where he co-directs the Institute for Jewish Spirituality, a retreat-based study program grounded in Jewish texts and traditions. He gives talks throughout the Metro NYC area on Jewish spirituality, mindful meditation, and Jewish text study, and also gives meditation classes at the JCC in Manhattan. Librarians can contact him at jpslater@sonic.net, or through his publicist Meryl Zegarek at 917-493-3601, fax 917-493-3598, email info@mzpr.com.

AVOTAYNU
On July 15, Werner L. Frank (Legacy: The Saga of a German-Jewish Family Across Time and Circumstance, ISBN 0-9668021-1-X, $49) will sign his book, a history of the Landjuden (small-town Jews) who earned their livelihood in southern Germany as horse, cattle, and feed brokers to the surrounding gentile farming communities, at the 25th International Conference on Jewish Genealogy, in Las Vegas, Nevada. Frank lives in Calabasas, California, a suburb of Los Angeles, where he gives talks to clubs, senior groups, and extension classes on "Genealogical Research: Putting Flesh on the Bones," "Armchair Genealogy: Finding Your Roots Without Leaving Home," "The Genealogist's Crowning Achievement: Recording his Legacy," and "Legacy of Memories: A Genealogical Journey." Librarians can contact him at 818-222-8599, email wlfrank@pacbell.net, or through publisher Gary Mokotoff, Avotaynu Inc., 155 N. Washington Avenue, Bergenfield, NJ 07621, phone 201-387-7200, fax 201-387-2855.

BALLANTINE
Rochelle Krich (Grave Endings ISBN 0-345-46810-4, $24.95) will sign her book, a thriller starring true-crime writer and Orthodox Jew Molly Blume, on February 26 in El Paso, Texas, for the Jewish Federation of El Paso; on March 1 in Englewood, New Jersey, for the Moriah School of Englewood Author Dinner; on March 2 in Suffern, New York, at the Bat Torah High School; on March 2 in Passaic, New Jersey, for Emunah Women; on March 3 in Baltimore, Maryland, for Baltimore Hebrew University; on March 16 in Santa Barbara, California, for the Jewish Federation and Hadassah with the Brandeis University National Women's Committee; on March 29 in Rancho Mirage, California, for the Rancho Mirage Library; on April 10 in Del Mar for the San Diego Women's Fair; on April 14 in Thousand Oaks for the American Association of University Women; on May 5 in Palm Springs for the Sun Valley chapter of Hadassah; on May 17 in Valley Village, California, for Temple Beth Hillel; and on August 31 in Mission Viejo, California, for the Book and Author Lunch of the Brandeis University National Women's Committee. Krich, who lives in Los Angeles, gives talks around the country on writing and mysteries connected with Judaism, including, "Mysteries and Tikkun Olam." She offers reading guides for all three Molly Blume titles. Librarians can contact her at rmkrich@aol.com, through her website www.rochellekrich.com, or through her web log http://rochellekrich.typepad.com/. Grave Endings won the Left Coast Crime Calavera Award and has been nominated for the Mary Higgins Clark Award.

BOOKLOCKER
Cynthia Polansky (Far Above Rubies, ISBN 1-59113-195-2, $14.95) will sign her book, a historical novel based on the true story of a Dutch Jewish woman who voluntarily accompanied her six stepdaughters to Auschwitz, on May 7 at the Main Street Festival in Laurel, Maryland; and on May 14-15 at the Winds & Wine Celebration in Leesburg, Virginia. Polansky lives in Annapolis, Maryland, where she gives talks throughout the area on the writing process and the factual history surrounding her novel. Librarians can contact her at author40@comcast.net, or through her website www.cynthiapolansky.com.

DEVORA PUBLISHING
Yaakov Kleiman (DNA and Tradition: The Genetic Link to the Ancient Hebrews, ISBN 1-930143-89-3, $21.95, ISBN 1-932687-13-0, $14.95) will talk about his book, an exploration of the biblical origin of world Jewry, on March 3 at the London Jewish Cultural Center for the Jewish Genealogy Society in London, England; and on April 3 at the Jerusalem International Book Fair. Rabbi Kleiman, who lives in Jerusalem, teaches at the Aish Ha Torah College of Jewish Studies and is director of the Center for Kohanim and the website www.Cohen-Levi.org. He gives talks throughout Israel and North America on the DNA-based Middle Eastern origins of the Jewish people and the existence of a common ancestor to the Kohanim line. Librarians can contact Rabbi Kleiman at ymkleiman2@hotmail.com, or through marketing director Michael Miller, Devora Publishing, email mmiller54@aol.com.

DUTTON CHILDREN'S BOOKS
Sarah Darer Littman (Confessions of a Closet Catholic, ISBN 0-525-47365-3, $15.99) will sign her book, the story of an eleven-year-old Jewish girl struggling to find the balance between her religious identity, boys, and the temptations of chocolate, on March 1 at Just Books Too-Acadia Coffee Shop in Greenwich, Connecticut. Littman, who lives in Greenwich, is a columnist for the Greenwich Times and gives talks throughout the area on "Confessions of a Late Bloomer." Librarians can contact her at ecrivain@optonline.net, or through her website www.sarahdarerlittman.com.

ELIXIR PRESS
Sima Rabinowitz (The Jewish Fake Book, ISBN 1-932418-07-5, $13) will sign and read from her book, a collection of poems, prose poems, and sudden fiction about "improvising a Jewish life," on April 1 at Gallery 30 in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Rabinowitz, who lives in New York City where she edits print and electronic publications for business and nonprofit organizations, gives readings from her book that are "more performances than conventional poetry readings." Librarians can contact her at srabinowitz@earthlink.net.

FLASHLIGHT PRESS/URIM PUBLICATIONS
On May 22, Jeff Hopkins (The Only One Club by Jane Naliboff, illus. by Jeff Hopkins, ISBN 0-972-92253-9, $15.95) will talk about his picture book, a positive look at being different, during an illustration workshop for children at the Jewish Museum in New York City. Hopkins, who lives in Boston and maintains a studio in New York, is an educator at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. He gives storytelling programs in which he draws stories on wall-size sheets of paper and asks children to help with the drawing and sound effects. Librarians can contact him at jeffhopkins100@hotmail.com; or through publisher Tzvi Mauer, Urim Publications, phone 972-2-679-7633, fax 972-2-679-7634, e-mail publisher@UrimPublications.com.

HARDWAY PRESS
On March 3-6, Brian Rouff (Money Shot, ISBN 0-971714-82-7, $14.95) will sign his book, a novel about the misadventures of a burnt-out forty-something Jewish advertising executive who wins a chance to shoot a basketball for a million dollars during half-time at the NCAA Tournament, at the Las Vegas Writers' Conference in Nevada; and on May 17 at the Paseo Verde Library in Henderson, Nevada. Rouff lives in Las Vegas where he owns In-House Advertising, an advertising/marketing firm, and gives talks on book marketing and promotion. Librarians can contact him at 702-564-1665, email brouff55@aol.com, or through his website www.brianrouff.com.

IVAN R. DEE
Radu Ioanid (The Ransom of the Jews: The Story of the Extraordinary Secret Bargain between Romania and Israel, ISBN 1-56663-562-4, $26) will draw on his book, a report of the exploitation and trade in human beings in the 1950s and 1960s when Romania demanded payments in cash and goods from Israel in exchange for the emigration of Romanian Jews, in his class on "The Holocaust in Romania" at the National Defense College in Bucharest, Romania. Ioanid, who lives in Washington, DC, is the director of the International Archival Programs Division at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. He gives talks around the world on the Holocaust and the destruction of Jews in Romania during WWII. Librarians can contact him through his publisher Ivan R. Dee at idee@ivanrdee.com, judith@ivanrdee.com, or ssmith@ivanrdee.com.

JAY STREET PUBLISHERS
Joseph Heckelman (The First Jews in the New World, ISBN 1-889534-94-3, $17.95) will sign his book, the story of the Ashkenazi and Sephardi Jews who traveled from the Old World to South America, Mexico, the Caribbean and the Colonies, during his Tuesday lectures from March-August at Kahal Kadosh Beth Elohim Synagogue in Charleston, South Carolina. Heckelman, who lives in Charleston, gives talks on the movement of the first Jews into the Western Hemisphere, the formation and history of the earliest congregations in the colonial period, the beginnings of the first Reform movement in Charleston, the movement of the first Jews into Dutch New York in 1654, and the earliest Jewish community in the Western Hemisphere in Recife and Pernambuco, Brazil in 1630-1654. Librarians can contact him at 843-853-6836, or though the publisher at jaystpub@i-2000.com.

JEWISH LIGHTS
Lawrence Kushner (Filling Words with Light: Hasidic and Mystical Reflections on Jewish Prayer, by Lawrence Kushner and Nehemia Polen, ISBN 1-58023-216-7, $21.99) will discuss his book, a collection of mystical and hasidic insights into meditative prayer drawn from Jewish liturgy, during a seminar for rabbinic students at the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Region in New York from May 31-June 3. Rabbi Kushner, who lives in San Francisco, California, is the Emanu-El Scholar at Congregation Emanu-El of San Francisco and a visiting professor of Jewish Spirituality at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley. He gives talks around the country on Jewish spirituality, kabbalah, and finding the sacred in the ordinary. Rabbi Polen is a professor of Jewish Thought and director of the Hasidic Text Institute at Hebrew College in Boston. Librarians can contact Rabbi Kushner at 415-771-9694, email kushner@sbcglobal.net; Rabbi Polen at npolen@hebrewcollege.edu; and either author through Shelly Angers at Jewish Lights Publishing, phone 802-457-4000, email sangers@jewishlights.com.

JEWISH LIGHTS
Goldie Milgram (Reclaiming Judaism as a Spiritual Practice: Holy Days and Shabbat, ISBN1-58023-205-1, $19.99) will lecture and sign her book, a practical guidebook to rediscover Jewish spiritual meaning, on March 16 at the 92nd Street Y in New York City; on March 18-20 at the Midwest Reconstructionist Women's Retreat in Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin; and on April 17 at Temple Beth Zion in Brookline, Massachusetts. Rabbi Milgram directs P'nai Yachadut-Reclaiming Judaism, a Jewish educational research and training institute in New Rochelle, New York. Based in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, and Woodstock, New York, Rabbi Milgram gives talks throughout the country on spiritual health, teaching Torah and Judaism through a spiritual lens, creating an effective rite of passage for adolescents and adults, and the application of spirituality to the practice of medicine. Librarians can contact her at 845-679-6493, 914-500-5696, email rebgoldiem@aol.com, through her website www.ReclaimingJudaism.com; or through Shelly Angers at Jewish Lights Publishing, phone 802-457-4000, email sangers@jewishlights.com.

JEWISH LIGHTS
On June 27, Dr. Ron Wolfson (What You Will See Inside a Synagogue by Rabbi Lawrence A. Hoffman and Dr. Ron Wolfson with photographs by Bill Aron, ISBN 1-59473-012-1, $17.99) will teach from his book, an introduction with photographs to the role that synagogues play in the Jewish community, at the annual Whizin Institute for Jewish Family Life Seminar at the University of Judaism in Los Angeles. On February 27, Bill Aron will give a presentation based on his images of Jewish life in America at the Jewish Community Campus of the Kansas City Jewish Federation in Kansas City, Missouri. Dr. Wolfson is vice president and dean of the Fingerhut School of Education, director of the Whizin Center for the Jewish Future, and cofounder of Synagogue 2000, all at the University of Judaism. He lives in Los Angeles where he specializes in talks on Jewish family living and synagogue renewal. Aron, a freelance photographer, lives in Los Angeles and gives slide presentations throughout the country about his books, his "Lower East Side of New York" portfolio, and the history of documentary photography. Librarians can contact Wolfson at rwolfson@uj.edu; Aron at 323-934-0426, fax 323-939-9526, e-mail billaron@comcast.net; and either through Shelly Angers at Jewish Lights Publishing, phone 802-457-4000, email sangers@jewishlights.com.

JEWISH PUBLICATION SOCIETY
On April 23, Phillis Gershator (Wise and Not So Wise: Ten Tales from the Rabbis by Phillis Gershator, designed and illustrated by Alexa Ginsburg, ISBN 0-8276-0755-5, $15.95) will sign her book, a collection of stories from talmudic and midrashic folklore that she heard from her late father-in-law, a rabbi, at Dockside Bookshop in Havensight, St. Thomas, the U.S. Virgin Islands. Gershator, a former children's librarian at the Brooklyn Public Library, has lived in St. Thomas since 1984 where she is an active RIF volunteer. She gives library storytimes to picture book-age students, and also gives talks to adults about her books and publishing. Librarians can contact her at gershator@islands.vi, or through sales and marketing manager Laurie Schlesinger, Jewish Publication Society, 1-800-234-3151, ext. 5613, email lschlesinger@jewishpub.org.

JOSSEY-BASS
Goldie Milgram (Make Your Own Bar/Bat Mitzvah: A Personal Approach to Creating a Meaningful Rite of Passage, ISBN 0-7879-7215-0, $19.95) will give programs based on her book, a business-and-heart approach to creating an empowering celebration, on March 6 and March 13 at Temple Emanu-El in Livingston, New Jersey; and May 6-8 at the Elat Chayyim Retreat Center in Accord, New York. Rabbi Milgram directs P'nai Yachadut-Reclaiming Judaism, a Jewish educational research and training institute in New Rochelle, New York. Based in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, and Woodstock, New York, Rabbi Milgram gives talks throughout the country on spiritual health, teaching Torah and Judaism through a spiritual lens, creating an effective rite of passage for adolescents and adults, and the application of spirituality to the practice of medicine. Librarians can contact her at 845-679-6493, 914-500-5696, email rebgoldiem@aol.com, or through her website www.ReclaimingJudaism.com.

KAR-BEN PUBLISHING/LERNER
Jacqueline Jules (Noah and the Ziz by Jacqueline Jules, illus. by Katherine Janus Kahn, ISBN 0-929371-01-1, $17.95) will read from her picture book about a clumsy giant bird that helps Noah gather the animals for the ark, at the Noah's Ark Pajama Party at the JCC of Northern Virginia in Annandale. Jules, who lives in Arlington, Virginia, is an elementary school librarian in Fairfax County. She gives story time presentations throughout the area that including readings, finger plays, Noah's ark songs, and an appearance by her stuffed Ziz. Librarians can contact her at 703-237-9617, through her website www.jacquelinejules.com, by email at jacjules@aol.com, or through Kar-Ben Publishing, phone 800-328-4929, email publicist@karben.com.

KAR-BEN PUBLISHING/LERNER
Lesley Simpson (The Purim Surprise by Lesley Simpson, illus. by Peter Church, ISBN 1-58013-090-9, $6.95) will read from her book, an introduction to Purim for young children, on March 20 at Beth David Synagogue in Toronto, Canada. Simpson, who lives in Hamilton, Ontario, just west of Toronto, is a journalist for The Hamilton Spectator. She gives programs for children throughout the area that include making noisemakers, masks, challah covers, candlesticks, and Shabbat boxes from shoe boxes, all related to her books. Librarians can contact Simpson at 905-524-2620 (home), 905-526-3207 (work), email lesley@cogeco.ca; or through Kar-Ben Publishing, phone 800-328-4929, email publicist@karben.com.

LERNER BOOKS/A&E BIOGRAPHY
On March 17, Norman Finkelstein (Ariel Sharon, ISBN 0-8225-9523-0, $7.95) will sign his book, a biography for young readers about Israel's prime minister, at the "Compelling Characters: Enlivening History Through Biography" conference at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library in Boston, Massachusetts. On May 24 he will speak on "The American Jewish Experience in the 20th Century" at Explorations: Adult Learning and Enrichment at the Leventhal-Sidman Jewish Community Center in Newton Centre, Massachusetts. Finkelstein, who lives in Framingham, Massachusetts, is a public school librarian in Brookline and a history teacher in the Prozdor department of Hebrew College in Newton Centre. He gives talks throughout the area on "Jews in American History" and "What's New in Children's Jewish Nonfiction." Librarians can contact him at biowriter@hotmail.com, or through Beth Heiss, Marketing Manager, Lerner Books, email bheiss@lernerbooks.com.

LIBRARIES UNLIMITED
Rosalind Reisner (Jewish American Literature: A Guide to Reading Interests, ISBN 1-56308-984-X, $55) will lecture and sign her book, an annotated guide to over 700 works of Jewish American fiction, biography, and autobiography organized by genre, on April 12 at the New Jersey Library Association Conference in Long Branch, New Jersey; on May 10 at the New Rochelle Public Library in New Rochelle, New York; on May 19 at the Brooklyn Public Library, Grand Army Plaza; on June 20 at the Association of Jewish Libraries Conference in Oakland, California; and on June 30 at the Monmouth Librarians annual luncheon in Monmouth Beach, New Jersey. Reisner, who lives in Lincroft, New Jersey, is the program coordinator for the Central Jersey Regional Library Cooperative in Freehold and the librarian at Monmouth Reform Temple in Tinton Falls, New Jersey. She gives talks throughout the area on Jewish American literature, synagogue library management, and readers' advisory services. Librarians can contact her at rcreisner@comcast.net.

MATZAH BALL BOOKS
On May 15, Anne-Marie Asner (Noshy Boy, ISBN 0-9753629-1-7, $6.95) will sign her children's book, a cautionary tale about making healthy food choices, at the Yom Ha'atzmaut Festival at the Lawrence Family JCC in San Diego, California. Asner, who lives in Los Angeles, is the founder of Matzah Ball Books, a company she created to give young children access to and understanding of Yiddishisms. She travels frequently to San Diego, Vancouver, and Tel Aviv, and specializes in programs for children in which she teaches Yiddish by using a song, poem, or rap. Publishers can contact her through sales manager Eran Benisty, Matzah Ball Books, phone 310-306-7741, email info@matzahballbooks.com.

NEWSOUTH BOOKS
Anna Olswanger (Shlemiel Crooks, ISBN 1-58838-165-X, $15.95) will teach writing workshops at the Center for Training and Education at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, on March 31, April 7, April 21, May 12, and June 9. Olswanger, who lives in Fair Lawn, New Jersey, gives talks to children and adults about creating fiction from family history. Shlemiel Crooks, a holiday story in which thieves try to steal Reb Elias's Passover wine, is based on her own genealogy research. Librarians can contact Olswanger at anna@olswanger.com, or through publisher Suzanne La Rosa, NewSouth Books, phone 334-834-3556, fax 334-834-3557, email Suzanne@newsouthbooks.com.

NODIN PRESS
On May 5, Robert Fisch (Dear Dr. Fisch: Children's Letters to a Holocaust Survivor, ISBN 1-932472-08-8, $19.95) will sign his book, a collection of his paintings and the letters he has received from students, at the Twin Cities Jewish Middle School in Minneapolis and the Red Balloon Bookstore in St. Paul, Minnesota. On May 6, he will lecture at Central High School, in Norwood, Minnesota. Dr. Fisch, a Holocaust survivor, lives in Minneapolis where he is Emeritus Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Minnesota Department of Pediatrics. He gives talks to students in the area about the Holocaust and "the need to practice love and compassion rather than hate and prejudice." Librarians can contact him at 612-375-9760, email fisch001@umn.edu, or through publisher Norton Stillman, Nodin Press, email nstill4402@aol.com.

NYU PRESS
On May 3, Melissa Klapper (Jewish Girls Coming of Age in America, 1860-1920, ISBN 0-8147-4780-9, $45) will sign her book, a recreation of the world of Jewish girls in late 19th- and early 20th-century America drawn from diaries and magazines, and lecture on "Just Like All the American Flappers: Gender, Adolescence, and Acculturation in America, 1880-1925" at the Rutgers Center for Historical Analysis. On May 24, she will give a similar lecture to the South Jersey section of the National Council of Jewish Women in Mt. Laurel, New Jersey. Klapper, who lives in Philadelphia, is an assistant professor of history at Rowan University in Glassboro, New Jersey. She gives talks throughout the area on American Jewish history, Jewish women's history, and the history of the teenage/adolescent girl. Librarians can contact her at klapper@rowan.edu, or through Amanda Davis, publicist, New York University Press, email amanda.davis@nyu.edu.

PAPER SPIDER
Jack Botwinik (Chicken Soup with Chopsticks, ISBN 0-9732523-0-8, $22.18 and ISBN 0-9732523-1-6, $18.18) will sign and talk about his book, an account of his spiritual journey to becoming Torah-observant while dating a non-Jewish Asian woman, on May 10 at the Pride of Israel Synagogue in Toronto, Canada. Botwinik, who lives in Ottawa, is a project manager with the Correctional Service of Canada. He gives talks on how his work with inmates at maximum-security penitentiaries and those on parole helped him reexamine his religious heritage and alter his outlook on life. He also lectures on the social and cultural reasons why Jews intermarry and the arguments against intermarriage from a Torah perspective. Librarians can contact him at jack@PaperSpider.net, or through the Paper Spider website at www.PaperSpider.net, phone 1-888-BOOKS-88, email bc@PaperSpider.net.

PELICAN PUBLISHING
On March 7, Stephen Ollendorff (Fate Did Not Let Me Go: A Mother's Farewell Letter by Valli Ollendorf, ISBN 1-058980-153-9, $5.95) will read from his grandmother's book, a farewell letter by a concentration camp victim to her son that arrived in the mail over forty-five years later, at a "Meet the Authors" event at a conference for educators at the Holocaust Council of MetroWest in Whippany, New Jersey. Ollendorff, an attorney, lives in Tenafly, New Jersey, and is the son of the letter's recipient. He edited the book, compiled the pictures for it, and produced a PBS documentary based on the book. Librarians can contact him at sollendorff@fatedidnotletmego.org.

PRINCETON UNIVERSITY PRESS
Andrew R. Heinze (Jews and the American Soul: Human Nature in the 20th Century, ISBN 0-691-11755-1, $29.95) will sign and read from his book, in which he argues that the Jewish concerns and values of Jewish thinkers from Freud to Ann Landers have entered into American popular thought, at the Tiburon Public Library in Tiburon, California, on March 3; and at the University of Hawaii Hillel in Honolulu, Hawaii, on April 11. Heinze, professor of American History and Director of the Swig Judaic Studies Program at the University of San Francisco, lives in Berkeley. He gives talks throughout the country about his book and its relationship to the 350th anniversary theme of Jews in America. Librarians can contact him at heinzea@usfca.edu, phone 415-422-6231.

RDR BOOKS/WESTERN JEWISH HISTORY CENTER OF THE JUDAH L. MAGNES MUSEUM
Fred Rosenbaum (Taking Risks: A Jewish Youth in the Soviet Partisans and his Unlikely Life in California by Joseph Pell and Fred Rosenbaum, ISBN 1-57143-117-9, $24.95, ISBN 1-57143-116-0, $14.95) will sign the memoir by co-author Joseph Pell, who fought as a partisan in Nazi-occupied Ukraine and immigrated to San Francisco where he founded a major real estate company, on March 25 at the Albert L. Schultz JCC in Palo Alto, California; and on May 11 at the Berkeley-Richmond JCC in Berkeley, California. Rosenbaum is founding director of Lehrhaus Judaica, the largest school for adult Jewish education on the West coast, based in Berkeley. He divides his time between the Bay Area and New York, and lectures on the Holocaust, modern Israel, and California Jewish history. Librarians can contact him at mailto:Fr747@aol.com, or through publisher Roger Rapoport, RDR Books, phone 515-595-0595, email roger@rdrbooks.com.

RED HEIFER PRESS
Alex B. Stone (If I Could Sleep, ISBN 0-9631478-6-2, $16.95) will sign his book, a novel about a father who connects with his past and his Jewishness while mourning the death of his adult daughter, at the Rock Island Public Library in Rock Island, Illinois, on March 5; and at the Midwest Writers Conference in Rock Island on August 3. Stone, who lives in Rock Island, but spends December through February in Sanibel, Florida, is a retired veterinarian and gives talks on his profession and his writing. Librarians can contact him at stonemartha1@aol.com, or through publisher Peter Gimpel, Red Heifer Press, email editor@redheiferpress.com.

SECOND STORY PRESS
Kathy Kacer (The Underground Reporters, ISBN 1-896764-85-1, $14.95 CDN, $11.95, US) will talk about her book, the story of a group of Jewish children who created a secret newspaper in their Czech village to defy the Nazis, on March 30 at the Bakersfield Public School in Thornill, Ontario, Canada; April 4-6 at the Children's Writing Festival in Montreal, Quebec; April 8 at the Toronto French School in Toronto; April 10-13 at the Vancouver Public Libraries in Vancouver, British Columbia; May 1 at Holy Blossom Temple in Toronto; and May 3-4 at Richmond Hill Public Library in Richmond Hill, Ontario. Kacer lives in Toronto where she gives slide presentations for children that weave her stories around the events of the Second World War and the Holocaust. She also teaches "Writing for Children" at the University of Toronto, Continuing Education Department, and lectures to teachers and teacher-librarians on "Teaching Sensitive Material to Young Children." Librarians can contact Kacer at kathy_kacer@yahoo.com; or through marketing director Corina Eberle, Second Story Press, phone 416-537-7850, email marketing@secondstorypress.ca.

SKYLIGHT PATHS
Matt Biers-Ariel (The Triumph of Eve & Other Subversive Bible Tales, ISBN 1-59473-040-7, $19.99) will read from his book, a collection of retellings that create human beings from biblical icons, at Congregation Shir Hadash in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, April 8-10. Biers-Ariel, a high school English teacher and storyteller, lives in Davis, California, between Sacramento and the Bay Area. A longtime teacher of biblical and rabbinic texts, he gives programs based on his books to synagogues across the country. Librarians can contact him at ariel@dcn.davis.ca.us, or through Shelly Angers at Jewish Lights Publishing, phone 802-457-4000, email sangers@jewishlights.com.

SKYLIGHT PATHS
Rami Shapiro (The Hebrew Prophets: Selections Annotated & Explained, ISBN 1-59473-037-7, $16.99) will teach a class based on his book, his commentary on the central themes of all the prophets, at Wisdom House in Litchfield, Connecticut, May 3-5; and at Mishkan Tiffilah in Los Angeles, California, May 13-15. Rabbi Shapiro lives in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, and gives workshops on the contemplative Jewish practices of meditation and chanting, writing as a spiritual practice, and literacy in the sacred texts of the world's major religions. Librarians can contact him at rabbirami@earthlink.net, or through Shelly Angers at Jewish Lights Publishing, phone 802-457-4000, email sangers@jewishlights.com.

SKYLIGHT PATHS
Nancy Sohn Swartz (How Did the Animals Help God? by Nancy Sohn Swartz, illus. by Melanie Hall, ISBN 1-59473-044-X, $7.99) will talk about her board book, a twist on the Genesis story in which God asks the animals for their advice before creating humankind, on April 1 at Temple B'Nai Shalom in Braintree, Massachusetts, as part of the Hadassah Shabbat. She will sign her book on April 3 at the Israel Book Store in Brookline, April 10 at the Unicorn Book Store in Cambridge, and May 15 at the South Shore Women's Rosh Chodesh Group in Sharon. Swartz, who lives in Randolph, Massachusetts, south of Boston, is a substitute elementary school teacher in art and music in the Randolph public schools, and a religious school teacher at Temple Beth Am of Randolph. She gives presentations throughout the area on how her idea became a book, and storytelling and creative writing workshops that focus on spirituality and biblical text. Librarians can contact her at 781-963-6932, email NancySohnSwartz@comcast.net, or through Shelly Angers at Jewish Lights Publishing, phone 802-457-4000, email sangers@jewishlights.com.

ST. MARTIN'S
Naomi Ragen (The Covenant, ISBN 0-312-29119-1, $24.95) will sign her book, a novel about the fight for the land "that God promised to the Jewish people in His Covenant to Abraham," at the London Jewish Book Fair on March 8. She will talk about how ordinary people cope when they are in the front lines against armed terrorists. Ragen, who lives in Jerusalem, specializes in talks on gender issues in the Jewish world. She is a client of the Fischer Ross Speaker's Bureau, and librarians can contact her through Iris Kislin at ikislin@patmedia.net.

TOBY PRESS
Michael Kramer (Maggid 1 edited by Michael Kramer, ISBN 1-59264-089-3, $9.95) will sign the book, a journal that showcases new Jewish writing in every genre from around the world, and lecture on "How the Jews Discovered America: A Literary Adventure" at the Lower Merion Synagogue near Philadelphia on April 12 and at the University of Miami on April 18. Kramer is former chair of the English department at Bar-Ilan University where he directs the Lechter Institute for Literary Research and the Anne Shachter-Smith Memorial Project in Literature. He lives in Jerusalem and gives lectures on the history and development of Jewish American Literature, and also hosts evenings of readings by Jewish authors. Librarians can contact him at maggid@tobypress.com, or through publisher Matthew Miller, Toby Press, at mm@tobypress.com.

TOBY PRESS
Leora Krygier (When She Sleeps, ISBN 1-592640-869-9, $19.95) will sign her book, a novel about an Amerasian daughter of a Jewish-American army surgeon who finds her half-sister, on April 23 and April 24 at the L.A. Times Festival of Books. Krygier, who lives in Los Angeles, is a referee with the juvenile department of the Los Angeles Superior Court. She gives talks about the emotional impact of war and the juvenile court system's influence on minors and society. Librarians can contact her at lgkrygier@aol.com; through Jackie Hirtz of Jacqueline Hirtz Public Relations, phone 310-571-0088, email catapult.us@verizon.net; or through publisher Matthew Miller, Toby Press, at mm@tobypress.com.

TOBY PRESS
On March 8, Tamar Yellin (The Genizah at the House of Shepher, ISBN 1-59264-085-0, $19.95) will sign her book, a novel based on her family's history in the Old Yishuv in Jerusalem and the reconstruction of the Aleppo Codex, at a launch and "Meet the Author" session at the Royal National Hotel in London, England, as part of Jewish Book Week. On May 23, she will sign her book at the Shomrei Torah Synagogue in Tallahassee, Florida. Yellin, who works as a Jewish Faith Visitor in schools in the Leeds, Yorkshire, area where she lives, specializes in talks about the issues around Jewish identity, researching and fictionalizing family history, the text of the Torah, and Jerusalem in the nineteenth century. Librarians can contact her at tamar@oivas.com, through her website www.tamaryellin.com, or through publisher Matthew Miller, Toby Press, at mm@tobypress.com.

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA
Hasia Diner (The Jews of the United States, 1645-2000, ISBN 0-520-22773-5, $29.95) will sign and read from her book, a synthesis of religious and secular American Jewish history, on March 15 at Temple Emanu-El in New York City. Diner, who lives in New York, is professor of American Jewish History at New York University. She gives talks on "History of Jewish Women in America," "Food and American Jewish History," "The Lower East Side," "What Made America Different for the Jews," and "Peddlers and the Creation of American Jewry." Librarians can contact her at hasia.diner@nyu.edu.

UNIVERSITY OF TENNESSEE PRESS
Eliezer Sobel (Minyan: Ten Jewish Men in a World That is Heartbroken, ISBN 1-57233-352-9, $32) will sign his book, a novel about the healing power of laughter and friendship among second generation Holocaust survivors, on March 17 at the Barnes & Noble in Charlottesville, Virginia. Sobel, who lives in Batesville, Virginia, near Charlottesville, is the former publisher and editor of a literary journal. He gives talks that intersperse readings from his book with his guitar playing and singing of Hasidic melodies. Librarians can contact him at eliezer@eliezersobel.com.

URIM PUBLICATIONS
Marc D. Angel (Losing the Rat Race, Winning at Life, ISBN 965-7108-65-9, $19.95) will talk about his book, an investigation of the values of the modern world, on March 13 at Congregation Shearith Israel in New York City and on March 20 at a program sponsored by the American Sephardi Federation at the Hyatt Newporter in Newport Beach, California. Rabbi Angel, who lives in New York City, is the senior rabbi of Congregation Shearith Israel, the Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue of New York. He gives talks throughout the country on how to live a happy and meaningful life, Sephardic history and culture, American Jewish life, modern Orthodoxy, and Jewish law. Librarians can contact him at rabbi.mdangel@shearithisrael.org; through publicist Stu Schnee, email stu@stuartschnee.com; or through publisher Tzvi Mauer, Urim Publications, phone 972-2-679-7633, fax 972-2-679-7634, e-mail publisher@UrimPublications.com.

URIM PUBLICATIONS
On March 7, Rochel Berman (Dignity Beyond Death: The Jewish Preparation for Burial, ISBN 965-7108-66-7, $24.95) will talk about her book, an examination of the Jewish rituals of preparing the dead for burial, on the "Talkline with Zev Brenner" radio show on WSNR 620 AM in New York and WLVJ 1040 AM in Florida. Berman, who lives in Boca Raton, Florida, is the former executive director of the American Society for Yad Vashem. She gives talks on "Tahara: The Final Act of Loving Kindness," "Highest Society: When Ordinary People do Extraordinary Things," "Dignity in the Face of the Holocaust: The Chevra Kadisha During the Shoah," and "Dignity in the Wake of Terrorism: The Work of the Chevra Kadisha Following Terrorist Attacks." Librarians can contact her at 561-368-6731, email rochel@adelphia.net; or through publisher Tzvi Mauer, Urim Publications, phone 972-2-679-7633, fax 972-2-679-7634, e-mail publisher@UrimPublications.com.

URIM PUBLICATIONS
Levi Meier (Second Chances: Transforming Bitterness to Hope and the Story of Ruth, ISBN 965-7108-67-5, $19.95) will talk about his book, a guide to transforming tragedy into a force for healing and redemption, every Thursday during May in the chapel at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, California; and every Shabbat during June at Beth Jacob Congregation in Beverly Hills. Dr. Meier, who lives in Los Angeles, is the Jewish chaplain and psychologist at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. He specializes in talks on how to use adversity to begin a second chance in life. Librarians can contact him at 310-423-5238, email levi.meier@cshs.org; through publicist Stu Schnee, email stu@stuartschnee.com; or through publisher Tzvi Mauer, Urim Publications, phone 972-2-679-7633, fax 972-2-679-7634, e-mail publisher@UrimPublications.com.

URIM PUBLICATIONS
Jacob J. Schacter (Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik on Pesach by David Shapiro, edited by Rabbi Jacob J. Schacter, ISBN 965-7108-64-0, $26.95) will talk about the book, the second volume of The Rabbi Soloveitchik Library series, at the Maimonides School in Boston on April 16, Shabbat Hagadol. Rabbi Schacter, who lives in Brookline, Massachusetts, is the dean of the Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik Institute. He gives talks throughout the Boston area on medieval and modern Jewish history and contemporary Jewish thought. Librarians can contact him at 617-232-7443, ext. 552, fax 617-566-0933, email rabbi@rav.org; or through publisher Tzvi Mauer, Urim Publications, phone 972-2-679-7633, fax 972-2-679-7634, e-mail publisher@UrimPublications.com.