I was thrilled recently to have my book, Everybody Says Shalom, named a Sydney Taylor Honor Book. These awards are given annually by the Association of Jewish Libraries to the children’s books that best portray the Jewish experience. I was especially excited because Sydney Taylor’s All-of-a-Kind Family series was such a big part of my childhood. The fact that the family in the story was Jewish and had a whole slew of sisters (five sisters to my family’s four) made me feel like I belonged in that family. Now our bond is even closer. If you look at the photo from an old book cover, I’m the girl in the upper left!
Anyway, it was a lovely conference, good company, and an enormous honor to receive the honor. Since the event was held in Charleston, which I’d never visited, I took the next day to see Fort Sumter (fascinating and fun) and walk around the lovely town. All good. But as a clever friend quipped, “Prize cometh before a fall.” On the way back to my hotel to pick up my bags for the airport, I tripped on an uneven bit of sidewalk and broke my wrist. Now I’m in a cast for six weeks. I don’t remember this happening to any of the characters in the books.