I Dissent: Ruth Bader Ginsburg Makes Her Mark
Sep 20, 2016$ 7 99 $17.99Get it by Tomorrow, Jun 2FREE Shipping on eligible ordersMore Buying ChoicesAuto-delivered wirelessly- by Sylvia Vardell and Janet WongGet it by Monday, Jun 5FREE Shipping on eligible ordersMore Buying ChoicesAuto-delivered wirelessly
Soldier Song: A True Story of the Civil War
Feb 7, 2017We Shall Overcome: The Story of a Song
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Imperfect Spiral
Jul 16, 2013by Debbie Levy- $ 13 17 $16.99FREE Shipping on eligible ordersOnly 13 left in stock - order soon.More Buying ChoicesAuto-delivered wirelessly
Author Updates
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Blog postIn advance of Mother’s Day, one of my favorite Ruth Bader Ginsburg vignettes:
There she is, then-Judge Ruth Bader Ginsburg, standing in the White House Rose Garden with President Bill Clinton, who has just introduced her as his nominee to the U.S. Supreme Court. He’s made his remarks, and now she is making hers. Her daughter Jane, a professor at Columbia Law School (like her mother before her!), is out of the country. But RBG puts her front and center, as a mother does: -
Blog postI receive a surprising number of inquiries about That Tote Bag–the “I Dissent” tote bag that I carry around and that a certain Supreme Court justice has been photographed with.
Where can I get one? Is it for sale? people ask me. It is not; the bag was a limited-run promotional item handed out last year by Simon & Schuster, publisher of I Dissent: Ruth Bader Ginsburg Makes Her Mark. But! The book’s illustrator, who created the design for this tote bag, has created several -
Blog postWe’re having a last blast of winter in Maryland today, and as I look out at the still-bare trees bending in the wind gusts, I’m thinking of the hardships of soldiers. My newest nonfiction book, Soldier Song, is about soldiers of the North and South in the U.S. Civil War, during and after the Battle of Fredericksburg in December 1862. It tells the true story of an impromptu concert after the battle, when the two sides were camped across the narrow ribbon of the Rappahannock Rive
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Blog postMarch 15: Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s 84th birthday. To mark the occasion, I give you–you, dear reader, not RBG, who does not read my blog!–an audio file that I think will make you smile.
Let me set up the clip: It’s from last month, February 6, in Palo Alto, California. Justice Ginsburg had just given Stanford University’s “Rathbun Lecture on a Meaningful Life” and sat for an interview with the event’s host, The Rev. Professor Jane Shaw. (See photo below.) Now she was i -
Blog postYou will not be surprised to hear that I’m kicking off Women’s History Month by contemplating Ruth Bader Ginsburg. She resisted and persisted, and still does.
(From I Dissent: Ruth Bader Ginsburg Makes Her Mark.)
Of course I would like the entire world to read I Dissent, but let me also bring to your attention RBG’s own book–My Own Words, a collection of her writings and speeches, thoughtfully curated by Mary Hartnett and Wendy W. Williams. Excellent reading, it was -
Blog postI learned this was coming about ten days ago–publishers get advance notice from the Times and writers get the heads-up from their publishers. But until I had The New York Times Book Review of February 12, 2017 in my hand, I wasn’t quite ready to believe it. Now I’ve got today’s paper. The best sellers are listed there in black and white. There’s newsprint on my fingers. I still don’t quite believe it, but I don’t deny it!
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Blog postI Dissent was sold out for several weeks–I’m sorry to the parents and grandparents and aunts and uncles and educators who got in touch to ask WHERE ARE THE BOOKS!–but now we’re back in stock everywhere. Read, dissent, repeat!
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Blog postShe also reads from a certain book.
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Blog postThey do give award winners a heads-up–that is, the Association of Jewish Libraries, for their award for children’s books “that authentically portray the Jewish experience”; and the Jewish Book Council, for their National Jewish Book Award for Children’s Literature. And so, recently, I received advance notice from the AJL that I Dissent: Ruth Bader Ginsburg Makes Her Mark is the 2017 Sydney Taylor Book Award Winner for Younger Readers, and separately, from the JBC, that it is&n
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Blog postI started my book about the Glorious RBG, I Dissent, with this sentence: “You could say that Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s life has been . . . one disagreement after another.”
Carrying that rhythm forward, I have to join many observers in saying that this year, 2016, has been one disagreeable thing after another. But in one little corner of my life–in the RBG corner–it really has been one good thing after another.
There was the Elle magazine writer who included I D -
Blog postTomorrow, January 27, is the 70th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz concentration camp.
I have no fresh insights appropriate to this occasion. What I do have is a page from my mother's poesiealbum that her classmate Hannelore Ascher wrote for her on October 3, 1938--a time when these 12-year-old girls still lived in Hamburg but were hearing frightening things about Jews in Germany being arrested and then disappearing.
Hannelore was -
Blog postFrom Katie Coon, a high school student in Fairport Harbor, Ohio, come two poems--one about saying goodbye, and the other about the sacrifices that freedom sometimes requires.
If I had to say goodbye
To the ones I love the most
I would raise my glass, and give them a toast
How do you say goodbye
To the ones you love
Way way up above
Violence is like cancer
It spreads like wildfire
It hurts everything
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Blog postSerena Sherwood sent me this poem that she titled "Coming To America," back in April, when she was in Mrs. Susan Tenon's eighth-grade English class at Fairport Harding School in Ohio. How I wish I'd posted it earlier, when my mom was still here to see it! But maybe it's appropriate that I'm only getting to it today--coincidentally, 75 years (almost to the day) after my mother and her family sailed into New York Harbor on the Queen Mary.
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Blog postFrom Caleb Hites of Fairport Harding School in Ohio comes this poem about moving forward in the face of hardship. "To keep going, keep moving," the poem counsels. "Life goes on. . . . It wants to move on/Do you?" Thank you, Caleb, for this poem of encouragement.
Life goes on
It may get difficult
But you have to have the strength
To keep going, keep moving
Nothing but forward
Never move back
If you move ba -
Blog postI have put off writing this post. I have put off writing, because it is so painful to share the news that on September 4, 2013, my dear mother, Jutta Salzberg Levy, died. Not just that, though–it’s not just that it is painful. If I’m going to tell you about my mother’s death, you see, I want to tell you about her life, too. You may know something of her life, because she is, after all, the central figure in my book, The Year of Goodbyes. But tha
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Blog postMaxwell Dingess, a student at Ohio's Fairport Harding School, wrote in an email to me that The Year of Goodbyes reminds him of love and friendship. The poem he sent, "A Wish," reminds me of optimism and hope. Thanks, Maxwell, for your thoughts.
A Wish one wishOnly one A wish for world peace has comeTo stop fighting is a dreamI wish it was trueBut only with a wish from a Kind loving soulIf A wish was made May it be for peace, Freedom and loveNo hate No f -
Blog postFifteen-year-old Stephen Maffo attends Fairport Harding School in Fairport Harbor, Ohio. Reading The Year of Goodbyes led him to wrestle with the subject of war. When, if ever, is war necessary? In his poem, Stephen emphasizes the risk of not standing up to attackers, and the need to ensure our nation's survival. It's a weighty and serious subject. I appreciate Stephen's thoughts and the manner in which he has expressed them, even as I don't embrace t
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Blog postDuring the holocaust My grandparents were taken
I feared I was next
As I walked down the streetI was so scared
A banned house, nothing left
I saw Nazis They took my friends and family
I wanted to escaped
I couldn’t. I stood there in fear
I froze.
At that moment I wanted to die Nothing was left
Nothing but the memories
Escaping was an option But I couldn’t just leave
My family was here
The only thin -
Blog postBrenna Lorek, an eighth grader in Fairport Harbor, Ohio, sends this poem:
If I had to say
Goodbye,
I would probably cry.
It would be one of the mostSaddest things
I would have to live with.
I would have justLet the Nazis take me,
So I could die too.
It would also beA great joy to escape,
But not to leave my family behind.
I don’t think I would be able To leave my
Friends, family, and animals,
I -
Blog postWhy do people have fear? Fear is weakness.
Why are you afraid of something?
There are very few things to be afraid of.
The only things that should be scary is life or death
Like losing your mother or father
Or just losing.
Those are the only things that are expectable of being afraid of.
But if those aren’t the things you’re afraid of than what is the reason?
The reason could be that something happened to you as an infant.
Or just scared -
Blog postFrom 13-year-old Jordan Carlson of Fairport Harding School (Fairport Harbor, Ohio) comes this:
What is wrong with Jews?
They had to get discriminated?
For what reason?
They are all human beings
Just like the people who discriminated them.
If I was there and I had a hammer,
I would break the wall of discrimination.
That one man, Adolf Hitler,
Is one horrible person. Think about it,
How many children that were ki -
Blog postIn Ohio's Fairport Harding School, English teacher Susan Tenon's eighth graders have just finished The Year of Goodbyes--and my mailbox is full of their notes and poems for the online Poesiealbum Project. This spring I'll be sharing the thoughts they've sent my way. I'll start here with two pieces from 13-year-old Rachel Vahcic. First Rachel wrote this poem, imagining a departure much like the one my mother made in The Year of Goodbyes:
Goodbye -
Blog post. . . over on my website! I've moved this blog to Debbie Levy Books. Once there, just click on the tab for News/Blog and you'll find the latest posts as well as everything that's been said here.
The direct link to the blog: http://debbielevybooks.com/news/.
Thanks for reading. -
Blog postThere are probably many reasons to love Spencer, Iowa, but here is the one I’m talking about: This small city in the northwest corner of the state has named The Year of Goodbyes its selection for the 2013 “All Spencer Reads” reading program.
“I wanted an intergenerational read,” Spencer librarian Robin Munson told the local newspaper, The Daily Reporter. “Having a common subject, I’m hoping, will help to bridge a gap in conversation between children and older adults. . . . I would l -
Blog postWAR
Why do we fight?
Fighting for property
Fighting for reason
Fighting for financial gain
Get tried for treason
War is pointless
For I cannot see
Fighting doesn’t help
A country be what it ought to be
The Brave men and women
Who risk their lives for us
Who give everything away
Strangers who we can trust
Think about the families
And the poor broken hearts
Who would of thought st -
Blog postThis poem comes from Trenton Starkey, a student in Fairport Harbor, Ohio. He reflects on the need to move forward despite problems and setbacks--but also to keep the past in mind. Sound advice!
As night falls every day.Day follows its way.People walking in the streets.A very common thing.People go along there day.Doing something somewhere.People roam around.Looking each way.We are all the same.But in many different ways.We remember the past.But move on to the future.We learn fr -
Blog postWith school back in session in the Windy City, the Chicago Public School system's Battle of the Books 2013 is gearing up--and The Year of Goodbyes is one of the "battle" books! The program, in the words of the CPS website, "encourages ongoing reading, teamwork and partnership throughout the course of a year." Starting this fall, schools throughout the city field teams that read, study, and discuss a list of&nb
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Blog postHead on over to "Jama's Alphabet Soup," the blog by author Jama Rattigan, for a delicious post about the Poetry Friday Anthology. She's put together what she calls a "three-course meal" from this new volume of poetry for the classroom--that is, she's all about the food poems. In her post, you can read one of my poems, titled "Crunch," as well as poems by Joan Bransfield Graham and Terry Webb Harshman. Recipes, too!
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Blog postPain is the other half of relief Because you sufferedAnd felt the pain of lifeYou were able to feel sweet reliefOptions are the foundation of lifeWhen you choose anything from where to eatOr from what religion to practiceYour life will build and work around your choicesEveryone and everything is worth somethingYou were outcast because they thought you were nothingBut everyone and everything is importantAnd we all have a role on this EarthFrieden und GlückPeace and happiness
There is s -
Blog postSaying goodbyes is the hardest thing to do
Even if it’s the best for you.
Whether it’s your dog or your mom
Just remain calm
Everything will be fine
After you get it out of your mind.
Remember the moments you had
Weather they are good or bad.
Sometimes staying strong is the only thing to do
When you don’t know what to do.
Keep your loved one in your heart
and make sure your decisions are smart.
It’s not your fault that th -
Blog postFrom John Severino of Fairport Harbor, Ohio, comes this meditation on racism. John wrote this in his eighth grade English class last spring after reading The Year of Goodbyes. I hope he continues to urge people to "stand up for what's right," as he says in his poem.
RacismOne problem in our society
Today
Is racism.
Racism is the prejudice
Or discrimination directed against someone of a
Different race
Based on a belief. -
Blog postThis fat, fine-looking volume--The Poetry Friday Anthology--is now available, just in time for use in K-5 classrooms. Edited by children's poetry maestri Sylvia Vardell and Janet Wong, the book has 218 poems by 75 poets. The book's subtitle is "Poems for the School Year with Connections to the Common Core," and here's what that means: Every poem has its own nicely designed, chock-full yet uncluttered page with five activities that tie the poem to curric
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Blog postDon’t lose hope
There is always something to dream for,
Always smile
Because smiles are what beckon happiness into your life
Keep your family near
Because one day you may lose them
Laugh and share the good times as well as the bad
Cry together, laugh together,
Stay together always
And don’t let anyone or anything come between you and your family
No matter what
Always dream for a bright future
The most you can do is try
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Blog postZak Carrabine is a student at Fairport Harding High School in Fairport Harbor, Ohio. He wrote this group of poems in which he imagines saying goodbye to various people, from friend to coach to enemy. The personal tone he strikes in his poems makes them very believable and real, don't you think? Thanks, Zak, for sending me your work.
Goodbye Friend
We have had good times
And some bad times
But I will never forget you
Goodbye fr -
Blog postFrom Stephanie Morgan, here's a poem celebrating differences among people. Stephanie, of Fairport Harbor, Ohio, sent me this poem this past spring when she read The Year of Goodbyes in her eighth grade English class at Fairport Harding Middle School. I especially like the last three lines of her poem: "I would rather live/In a world of different people/Than be in a world with clones."
People who hurt others
For how they look
Is not -
Blog postYou look in the mirror You see pain Locked in your heart Is immense disdain Will you be alive? Will you smile again?
But when I see you Hear your story The hell you have been through in all its glory
You are lucky to be alive Others may say Lucky to be breathing To live another day
But the memory must be burdensome To remember what has been Swept under the rug Unseen, Forgotten Something heavy to lug
But even under all that stress You kept that one neccessary object H -
Blog postFrom Hayleah Knisley comes a poem that celebrates the way people are all different, yet also the same. "In a world where everyone is different/Is where I wanna live"--I like that! Hayleah is an eighth-grade student at Fairport Harding Middle School, Fairport Harbor, Ohio. Thanks, Hayleah, for sending in your poem.
JUST BECAUSE IM DIFFERENT
BY HAYLEAH KNISLEY
Just because were differentWe shouldn’t be killed
Just because of skinOr hair o -
Blog postIsn't this a beautiful page? Thirteen-year-old Danielle Basista of Fairport Harding Middle School in Fairport Harbor, Ohio writes with such vivid imagery and rhyme: "Are you shy like a turtle/Burrowing yourself in a shell/Or talkative like a parrot/Repeating secrets as if they're yours to tell?" In a separate note, Danielle writes that after reading The Year of Goodbyes, "I have so much respect for your mother." As do I. Thank you
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Blog postLast month, my mother and I visited the Garrison Forest School in Owings Mill, Maryland to share The Year of Goodbyes. It was a chilly, cloudy, blustery day, but everyone we met was so inviting we felt as though we were basking in sunshine all afternoon. Much to my delight, I've learned, the students were so taken with the tradition of the poesiealbum that is central to the book (and to my presentations about the book) that they subsequently created their own
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Blog postThis poem, from McKenna Marvin of Fairport Harbor, Ohio, includes lines to be savored and remembered. Like: "Where is the good in goodbye?" And: ''Why does it take a minute to say hello and forever to say goodbye." McKenna is an eighth grade student at Fairport Harding Middle School. Thank you, McKenna!
For my best friend This is dead end Joy and happiness, god may send. I Cant imagine departing from you You have given oppor -
Blog postThe striking artwork and poem here are from Taylor Crow, age 14, of Fairport Harding Middle School, Fairport Harbor, Ohio. I love how Taylor has set the words in the cloud, and then there are her words themselves: "No matter what you think/Look deep down in someone & see the link/Before you sink. . . ." Well done. Thank you, Taylor.
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Blog postIf I wore a bonnet, I would have a bee in it today. I've learned that The Year of Goodbyes is a 2012-2013 Nominee for the Beehive Book Awards, sponsored by the Children's Literature Association of Utah (CLAU). The Beehive Book Award winner will be chosen from the nominated books by the children of Utah, who will vote for their favorites. I'm really happy that, thanks to its place on this list, The Year of Goodbyes will find new readers among the young people
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Blog postLast month, author Mitali Perkins (Bamboo People, Secret Keeper, and more) announced on her blog an interesting and thoughtful idea she was putting into practice for Lent: "During this season," she wrote, "I strive to impose a new discipline that slows me to see and hear more clearly. What better practice than enjoying a book from cover to cover, especially in an age when I'm mostly reading in the 'shallows' instead of deeply?"
I'm really ho -
Blog postIt's always fun to come home and find an unexpected package at the front door, isn't it? Especially when it's your birthday. This happened to me the day before yesterday, and when I looked at the return address, it wasn't Amazon.com, which would not have surprised me, but Highlights magazine. And inside: a letter from the editors telling me that my latest story for the magazine earned their "Author of the Month" award--and a shiny engraved pewter
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Blog postIt's cold and blustery here in Maryland today, which has me thinking of Miami, where it isn't. These photos and links from the Miami Book Fair--which I attended in November--aren't exactly news flashes at this point. But I have Miami on my mind, so here goes:
First, while at the fair, I did a radio interview with Marc Bernier of WNDB radio of Daytona Beach. Who knew a video of it would be posted on YouTube? Click here, -
Blog postI've just learned that The Year of Goodbyes has been nominated for the 2012 Texas Lone Star Reading List--welcome news. Wouldn't I just love for the nomination to lead to a place on the final Lone Star List! There are plenty of great books on the nominations roster, including one of my favorites, Kathy Erskine's Mockingbird (read it if you haven't yet!), so I may well have to be satisfied with the nomination alone. And that wouldn't be bad--whatever spreads word
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Blog postI've had a fine time recently talking about The Year of Goodbyes at a variety of events. The audiences have been wonderfully engaged, which is any speaker's dream. And a bonus for me has been sharing the podium with other writers who have great stories to tell, and the talent to tell them.
Last month, for example, Jan Elvin and I did a joint reading at the Fall For The Book Festival in Virginia. Jan is the author of The Box from -
Blog postA shout out to The DC Moms blog for including Maybe I'll Sleep in the Bathtub Tonight and Other Funny Bedtime Poems as one of "8 Great Children's Books by Washington-Area Writers"!
I love the company the book is with on that list, too, including friend and fellow Children's Book Guild member Susan Stockdale (for her gorgeous Bring on the Birds), the incomparable Katherine Paterson (also a Guild member) for The Great Gilly Hopkins, and Judith Viorst, w -
Blog postLearning that The Year of Goodbyes is on recommended summer reading lists at schools and libraries across the country this season--what a wonderful feeling.
Places such as: Old Town, Maine. Orleans, Massachussetts. Southold, New York. Demarest, New Jersey. Carroll County, Maryland. Martin County, Florida. The Iowa City Consolidated School District. Fremont, Nebraska. And more!
And I don'
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