honors an author or illustrator whose books, published in the United States, have made, over a period of years, a substantial and lasting contribution to literature for children through books that demonstrate integrity and respect for all children’s lives and experiences.
for an outstanding children’s book originally published in a language other than English in a country other than the United States, and subsequently translated into English for publication in the United States.
is presented annually to outstanding books for children and teens that authentically portray the Jewish experience.
Gold Medalists
“An Etrog from Across the Sea” by Deborah Bodin Cohen, Kerry Olitzky, & Stacey Dressen McQueen /”The Girl Who Sang: A Holocaust Memoir of Hope and Survival” by Estelle Nadel, Sammy Savos, & Bethany Strout / “Night Owls” by A.R. Vishny
Piranesi’s house is unique. It holds infinite rooms, lined with different statues. Within
the halls of Piranesi’s house is a trapped ocean, causing rooms to flood, but Piranesi is not afraid
and is well-prepared. He understands the oceans and understands the navigation through the
corridors. His main purpose is to explore for himself and for The Other, the one other person in
the house who visits Piranesi twice a week to ask for help with research into A Great and Secret
Knowledge. As Piranesi explores, there is evidence that there may be more than one person in
the house. The truth begins to unravel, opening Piranesi to another alternative world.
Piranesi is a very intricate book throughout. It was extremely unique through the
storytelling and the description. It is told through a limited point of view through journaling.
Piranesi journals and readers are essentially reading his writing, which allows the reader to
follow along as Piranesi is exploring. I found this to be both frustrating and intriguing. At one
instance, I liked the limited view because it allows for more surprise and a biased opinion. At the
opposite end, this book would’ve been more descriptive and the world-building would have been
more developed and descriptive, but I think the limited view plays into this
lack-of-description-narrative when describing the world. As a romance reader and this book
having no romance, I found this book to be beautifully written and nuanced. It was poetic. The
story is clearly trying to get at a bigger picture. It’s an extremely short read, but Clarke makes it
extremely compelling and entertaining. I wouldn’t necessarily call this suspense, but I was
flipping pages waiting to see what the big discovery was. While the ending was all wrapped up, I
found myself wondering who Piranesi was and what he would be and what his future choices
would be.
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