Penny Schwartz
New children’s books for Passover in 2026 include ones about welcoming guests and women of Jewish history. (Collage by Grace Yagel)
March 31, 2026, 2:58 pm
Matzah pizza, Miriam and a ‘HUG-gadah’ star in new children’s books for Passover in 2026
Many of the books portray the holiday theme of opening one’s seder table to guests.
By Penny Schwartz
“Neshama,” Marcella Pixley’s novel-in-verse, won the gold medal for Jewish children’s literature for middle-grade readers from the Association of Jewish Libraries. (Candlewick)
January 28, 2026, 3:33 pm
Stories of ghosts, grief and Shabbat gladness win top prizes in Jewish children’s literature
The Association of Jewish Libraries announces its Sydney Taylor Book Awards for 2026.
By Penny Schwartz
Katherine Janus Kahn, the illustrator of the Sammy Spider Jewish children's books, speaks about her work in a 2013 video. (Screenshot)
October 28, 2025, 10:09 am
Katherine Janus Kahn, illustrator of ‘Sammy Spider’ Jewish children’s books, dies at 83
The watercolor collages were a trademark style for the artist who trained in Jerusalem.
By Penny Schwartz
New books out for the High Holidays in 2025 (Collage by Ilana Zahavy)
September 5, 2025, 3:08 pm
New High Holidays children’s books take place in Uganda, Hong Kong and a Sephardic home
New stories about forgiveness channel the Jewish holiday spirit.
By Penny Schwartz
(Collage courtesy of JTA)
August 30, 2024, 11:33 am
This year’s High Holiday kids’ books are a celebration of Jewish diversity
Here’s your roundup of new children’s High Holidays books for 2024.
By Penny Schwartz
Norm Finkelstein was the author more than 20 nonfiction books for children and teens, including a forthcoming biography of the legendary Forward editor Abe Cahan. (Courtesy; Holiday House)
January 9, 2024, 5:06 pm
Boston writer Norm Finkelstein, whose YA books championed Jewish heroes, dies at 82
"He loved teaching," his son Jeff said. "Whether he taught in a classroom, whether he taught in his library or whether he taught through his books, he was a natural teacher."
By Penny Schwartz
At left: Embrace, the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. memorial sculpture at Boston Common. (Lane Turner/The Boston Globe via Getty Images) At right: Rabbi Michael Shire of Central Reform Temple holds the congregation’s Torah scroll before a march to the Embrace, Jan. 13, 2023. (Penny Schwartz)
January 14, 2023, 9:32 pm
As Boston dedicates a massive monument to Martin Luther King, local Jews march in solidarity
In honor of both King’s birthday and the 50th anniversary of Heschel’s death, Boston Common is home to marchers again.
By Penny Schwartz
Brandeis University sign (Credit: Kenneth C. Zirkel, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons)
November 21, 2022, 8:30 am
Brandeis U reeling after bus accident leaves 1 student dead, dozens injured
Images and video posted to social media showed that the bus was heavily damaged, its front end virtually disintegrated.
By Penny Schwartz
(Photo by Ekaterina Bolovtsova via Pexels)
April 6, 2022, 11:31 am
A juror called him ‘one of those New York Jews.’ His 1983 conviction is now being overturned because of antisemitism.
Barry Jacobson was convicted of arson almost 40 years ago. The case is being dismissed after a review spurred by the ADL and the Innocence Project.
By Penny Schwartz
A view of Tufts University's Medford, Massachusetts campus. (Courtesy of Tufts University)
March 17, 2022, 12:58 pm
A Tufts student campaign urges boycott of pro-Israel groups — even J Street
The latest Students for Justice in Palestine campaign goes well beyond the conventional norms of boycotts.
By Penny Schwartz
Sholom Aleichem, circa 1900. (FPG/Archive Photos/Getty Images via JTA)
October 13, 2021, 8:46 am
A gritty novel by Sholom Aleichem is published in English for the first time
‘Fiddler’ meets ‘The Sopranos’
By Penny Schwartz
Hundreds gather on July 2, 2021, for a rally in Brighton, Mass., in support of Rabbi Shlomo Noginski, who was stabbed the day before in the same park across the street from his Jewish day school. (Courtesy of Combined Jewish Philanthropies of Greater Boston)
July 7, 2021, 10:20 am
Boston Jews rally together after streak of attacks in the area
Violence against American Jews is historically high
By Penny Schwartz
(Photo by Jeandaniel Francoeur via Pexels)
March 24, 2021, 3:38 pm
Boston-area high school football team used ‘Auschwitz’ and ‘rabbi’ to call plays
The school has since apologized and fired the coach.
By Penny Schwartz and Philissa Cramer
Rabbi Yehuda "Yudi" Dukes (JTA/Itzik Roitman/Merkos302/Courtesy of JNet)
August 25, 2020, 3:38 pm
This rabbi spent 4 months on a ventilator due to COVID-19. Now he’s recovering.
Rabbi Yehuda "Yudi" Dukes, the longtime director of JNet, a worldwide Chabad educational program, has been among the longest hospitalized COVID-19 patients.
By Penny Schwartz
"What you see of someone’s books tells you about their intellect and their personality,” said Ken Gloss, who owns Boston’s Brattle Book Shop. Photos courtesy of the Brattle Book Shop via JTA
June 24, 2020, 3:11 pm
This Jewish Boston bookseller wants to help you spruce up your Zoom background
The cover tells the story
By Penny Schwartz
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