The Blood Lie: A Novel - Hardcover

Vernick, Shirley Reva

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1933693843 ISBN 13: 9781933693842

Publisher: Cinco Puntos Press, 2011

Synopsis

2012 Sydney Taylor Award Honor Book, 2012 Skipping Stone Honor Book. Lauren Myracle, author of Shine, calls it "a powerful and poignant reminder that no person can live freely until all people can live freely." Blood Lie was the winner of the 2012 Simon Wiesenthal Once Upon a World Children's Book Award.

September 22, 1928, Massena, New York. Jack Pool's sixteenth birthday. He's been restless lately, especially during this season of more-times-at-the-synagogue than you can shake a stick at. If it wasn't Rosh Hashanah, then it was Yom Kippur, and if it wasn't Yom Kippur, it was the Sabbath. But temple's good for some things. It gives him lots of time to daydream about a beautiful but inaccessible Gentile girl named Emaline. And if she isn't on his mind, then he's thinking about his music and imagining himself playing the cello with the New York Philharmonic. Yup, music is definitely his ticket out of this remote whistle-stop town he doesn't want to be stuck here one more minute. But he doesn't realize exactly how stuck he is until Emaline's little sister Daisy goes missing and he and his family are accused of killing her for a blood sacrifice.

Blood Lie was inspired by a real blood libel that took place when a small girl disappeared from Massena, New York, in 1928, and an innocent Jewish boy was called a murderer.

"Vernick’s novel is a scathing indictment of anti-Semitism it is an important book that reminds us of the imperative need to remember lest we find ourselves repeating the horrors of the past."
Booklist

"Effectively mines layers of ignorance, fear, intolerance and manipulation."
Kirkus Reviews

Shirley Reva Vernick's interviews and feature articles have appeared in Cosmopolitan, Good Housekeeping, Ladies' Home Journal, and national newspapers. She also runs a popular storytelling website, storybee.org, which is used in schools and libraries all over the world. Shirley grew up in the town where the blood libel happened, as did her father, whose family was directly victimized by it.

About this title

About the Author

Shirley Reva Vernick’s interviews and feature articles have appeared in Cosmopolitan, Good Housekeeping, Ladies’ Home Journal, national newspapers, and the publications of Harvard, Johns Hopkins and Boston Universities. She also runs a popular storytelling website, storybee.org, which is used in schools, libraries, hospitals and homes all over the world. Shirley graduated from Cornell University, majoring in economics and nutrition, and is an alumna of the Radcliffe Writing Seminars. She grew up in the town where the blood libel happened, as did her father, whose family was directly victimized by it. She now lives with her husband, two daughters, and two frisky dogs in Western Massachusetts, where she has recently helped make her town a certified fair-trade community.

Review

"A powerful--and poignant--reminder that no person can live freely until all people can live freely."--Lauren Myracle
"Effectively mines layers of ignorance, fear, intolerance and manipulation."
--Kirkus Reviews

"Vernick's novel is a scathing indictment of anti-Semitism, and though occasionally didactic and histrionic, it is nevertheless an important book that reminds us of the imperative need to remember lest we find ourselves repeating the horrors of the past." -- Michael Cart "Booklist November 15, 2011"

"Vernick s novel is a scathing indictment of anti-Semitismit is an important book that reminds us of the imperative need to remember lest we find ourselves repeating the horrors of the past." Booklist
"A powerfuland poignantreminder that no person can live freely until all people can live freely." Lauren Myracle, author of "Shine"
"The evolution of how an anti-Semitic lie spread throughout this community is convincingly portrayed in this story[and] the troubling issues that the book raises are sure to give readers a sense of the fragility of Jewish-Christian relations and the challenges posed by ignorance. Highly recommended for all libraries." Association of Jewish Libraries
"Effectively mines layers of ignorance, fear, intolerance and manipulation." Kirkus Reviews
"tackles the weighty issue of anti-Semitism with uncompromising clarity."Publishers Weekly
""The Blood Lie" is a riveting and hard to put down novel of small town life and the viciousness that lies in some people." Midwest Book Review
"A short story that makes an impact."Shooting Stars Mag
"Vernick has rescued a troubling historical incident and vested it with contemporary relevance." Hadassah Magazine
""The Blood Lie" is the first novel of its kind to be published in the United States."The Canadian Jewish News
"

"Vernick's novel is a scathing indictment of anti-Semitism...it is an important book that reminds us of the imperative need to remember lest we find ourselves repeating the horrors of the past." --Booklist

"A powerful--and poignant--reminder that no person can live freely until all people can live freely." --Lauren Myracle, author of Shine

"The evolution of how an anti-Semitic lie spread throughout this community is convincingly portrayed in this story...[and] the troubling issues that the book raises are sure to give readers a sense of the fragility of Jewish-Christian relations and the challenges posed by ignorance. Highly recommended for all libraries." --Association of Jewish Libraries

"Effectively mines layers of ignorance, fear, intolerance and manipulation." --Kirkus Reviews

..".tackles the weighty issue of anti-Semitism with uncompromising clarity."--Publishers Weekly

"The Blood Lie is a riveting and hard to put down novel of small town life and the viciousness that lies in some people." --Midwest Book Review

"A short story that makes an impact."--Shooting Stars Mag

"Vernick has rescued a troubling historical incident and vested it with contemporary relevance." --Hadassah Magazine

"The Blood Lie is the first novel of its kind to be published in the United States."--The Canadian Jewish News

About this edition

• Publisher: Cinco Puntos Press
• Publication date: 2011
• ISBN 10: 1933693843
• ISBN 13: 9781933693842
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 144