2025 Sydney Taylor Book Awards, Revealed!

SHOW NOTES: https://jewishbooks.blogspot.com/2025/01/the-2025-sydney-taylor-book-awards.html TRANSCRIPT: https://otter.ai/u/g5yluS6SsAbhu4hkoKy62TZUgac?utm_source=copy_url 

The winners of the 2025 Sydney Taylor Book Awards, recognizing the best Jewish children's and young adult literature of the year, were announced on January 27, 2025 at the American Library Association's Youth Media Awards event. Aviva Rosenberg is the current chair of the Sydney Taylor Book Award committee, and she joined us to discuss the 2025 winners of the award.

LEARN  MORE:

• Sydney Taylor Book Awards
• ALA's YouTube channel, where you can watch a recording of the announcement
• Heidi's unofficial 2025 Sydney Taylor shortlist
• Get more Jewish kidlit news & calls to action in The Book of Life Substack newsletter

2025 SYDNEY TAYLOR BOOK AWARDS

Scroll down to see all the winning titles listed, with links to any past podcast appearances by the authors on The Book of Life.

 

FYI, the Sydney Taylor Book Award Blog Tour will take place in early February, and I will be interviewing Joshua S. Levy about Finn and Ezra's Bar Mitzvah Time Loop. Details will appear soon at JewishLibraries.org.

 

Picture Book Winner: An Etrog from Across the Sea by Deborah Bodin Cohen and Kerry Olitzky, illustrated by Stacey Dressen McQueen, published by Kar-Ben

Middle Grade Winner: The Girl Who Sang: A Holocaust Memoir of Hope and Survival by Estelle Nadel, Bethany Strout, and Sammy Savos, illustrated by Sammy Savos, published by Roaring Brook Press

Young Adult Winner: Night Owls by A.R. Vishny, published by HarperCollins

• Podcast interview with A.R. Vishny forthcoming - watch this space

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Picture Book Honors

Joyful Song by Lesléa Newman, illustrated by Susan Gal, published by Levine Querido

• Podcast interview with Lesléa and Susan about Joyful Song: June 2024

Rising by Sidura Ludwig, illustrated by Sophia Vincent Guy, published by Candlewick

Amazing Abe: How Abraham Cahan's Newspaper Gave a Voice to Jewish Immigrants by Norman H. Finklestein, illustrated by Vesper Stamper, published by Holiday House The Tree of Life: How a Holocaust Sapling Inspired the World by Elisa Boxer, illustrated by Alianna Rozentsveig, published by Rocky Pond Books

Middle Grade Honors

Across So Many Seas by Ruth Behar, published by Nancy Paulsen Books

• Podcast interview with Ruth about Across So Many Seas: May 2024

 

Finn and Ezra's Bar Mitzvah Time Loop by Joshua S. Levy, published by Katherine Tegen Books

• Podcast interview with Josh about The Jake Show: August 2023

Just Shy of Ordinary by A.J. Sass, published by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

• Podcast interview with A.J. about Ellen Outside the Lines: June 2023

Young Adult Honors

Trajectory by Cambria Gordon, published by Scholastic Press

The Forbidden Book by Sacha Lamb, published by Levine Querido

• Podcast interview with Sacha about When the Angels Left the Old Country: January 2023

 

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Picture Book Notables

Mr. Katz and Me by Marc Kornblatt, illustrated by Nanette Regan, published by Apples & Honey Press

Everybody's Book: The Story of the Sarajevo Haggadah by Linda Leopold Strauss, illustrated by Tim Smart, published by Kar-Ben

• Podcast interview about the Sarajevo Haggadah, with Geraldine Brooks about People of the Book: April 2008

 

Sharing Shalom by Danielle Sharkan, illustrated by Selina Alko, published by Holiday House

Middle Grade Notables 

Max in the House of Spies: A Tale of World War II by Adam Gidwitz, published by Dutton Books for Young Readers

• Podcast interview with Adam about Max in the House of Spies: July 2024

 

Things That Shimmer by Deborah Lakritz, published by Kar-Ben

• Podcast interview with Deborah about the Friends for LQ Auction: August 2023

 

Benji Zeb Is a Ravenous Werewolf by Deke Moulton, published by Tundra Books

• Podcast interview with Deke about Benji Zeb: November 2024

 

Young Adult Notables

The Ballerina of Auschwitz: Young Adult Edition of The Choice by Dr. Edith Eva Eger with Esme Schwall, published by Atheneum Books for Young Readers

Inkflower by Suzy Zail, published by Walker Books Australia

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2025 Sydney Taylor Manuscript Award Winner:"When You Write Back" by Hanna R. Neier

The Sydney Taylor Book Awards are sponsored by Jo Taylor Marshall,  daughter of All-of-a-Kind Family author Sydney Taylor. I interviewed Jo Taylor Marshall on The Book of Life in January 2024

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