NEW ORLEANS – The Reference and User Services Association (RUSA) has announced its selection for the 2023 Sophie Brody Medal, an annual honor bestowed by the Collection Development and Evaluation Section (CODES) of RUSA during the Book & Media Awards Virtual Ceremony.
This year’s winner is Michael Frank, author of One Hundred Saturday: Stella Levi and the Search for a Lost World. Art by Maira Kalman published by Avid Reader Press a division of Simon & Schuster. Frank tells the story of a remarkable women who grew up in the Judaría, the Jewish Quarter on the island of Rhodes. She recalls a way of life that vanished with the Nazi conquest.
Honorable mentions include The Escape Artist: The Man Who Broke Out of Auschwitz to Warn the World by Jonathan Freedland published by HarperCollins; The Man Who Sold Air in the Holy Land: Stories by Omer Friedlander. published by Random House; The Latecomer by Jean Hanff Korelitz, published by Celadon Books, a division of Macmillan Publishers; and On Repentance and Repair: Making Amends in an Unapologetic World by Danya Ruttenberg, published by Beacon Press.
The Sophie Brody Medal is given to encourage, recognize and commend outstanding achievement in Jewish literature. Works for adults published in the United States in the preceding year are eligible for the award.
This year’s winner and honor books were selected by the Sophie Brody Medal committee Barbara Bibel, chair, Oakland Public Library, CA (retired); Donald Altschiller, Boston University; Rachel Fryd, Free Library of Philadelphia; Rachel Kamin, North Suburban Synagogue Beth El; Carolyn Mulac, Chicago Public Library, retired; Adela Peskorz, Metropolitan State University, emerita; Karen Tannenbaum, University of Evansville.
The Reference and User Services Association (RUSA), a division of the American Library Association, represents librarians and library staff in the fields of reference, specialized reference, collection development, readers’ advisory and resource sharing. RUSA is the foremost organization of reference and information professionals who make the connections between people and the information sources, services, and collection materials they need. Learn more at www.rusaupdate.org.