Jews place a premium on remembering, and particularly so when it comes to the Holocaust. But how can we recall what we never learned? Two outstanding new memoirs by daughters of Holocaust survivors focus on uncovering the stories of tragedy and survival that were not passed down to them. Esther Safran Foer, the author of…
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Books
Books
At 73, she's telling her story of life as a Vietnam-era anti-war fugitive
Using fake IDs and aliases, Emily L. Quint Freeman spent 20 years as a fugitive. In 1969, the 22-year-old anti-war activist and her cohorts broke into a…
Books
New book tells Jewish stories of the Gold Rush
German immigrant Samuel Snow led a wagon train from the Midwest to California, arriving in El Dorado County in August 1850. He opened a tent store near…
Books
Q&A: JCHS teacher discusses his debut novel, ‘Turtle Boy’
Books coverage is supported by a generous grant from The Milton and Sophie Meyer Fund. “Turtle Boy” is a young adult novel just out this month by Evan…
Off the Shelf
Delighting in the remnants of generations past
How can we draw meaning from the remnants of past generations — be they photographs, candlesticks, documents or letters — and squeeze out the stories they…
Books
Shel Silverstein’s eccentric houseboat for sale in Sausalito
Famed Jewish writer Shel Silverstein is best known for iconic children’s books such as “The Giving Tree” and poetry collections like “Where the Sidewalk…
Books
New memoir looks at growing up on a kibbutz in Israel’s early days
Imagine a little girl who has just finished third grade, “barely over four feet high and 60 pounds,” charged with the job of tending a herd of dairy cows,…
Off the Shelf
New Jewish poetry books to accompany you through isolation
Although one of the thrills of poetry is the ability to engage with a fulfilling piece of literature that may take only a minute to read, I’d like to…
Bay Area
Berkeley writer’s coronavirus relief effort helps restaurants and hospital workers
Berkeley writer Ayelet Waldman has found a novel way to help East Bay restaurants and hospital workers at the same time: buying food from one to give to…