Says that she came to library work “through the back door”. For over twenty-five years, Anne was a teacher of French and English in elementary schools, a teacher-librarian in a French immersion school in Winnipeg, and a librarian at Holy Blossom Temple (Toronto).

Anne has published over twelve books of historical fiction or non-fiction for young people. Many of them explore the Jewish experience in Canada. She likes to focus on people and events that are not well known, for she believes these stories should be told. Several of these books, like Bobbie Rosenfeld: The Olympian Who Could Do Everything and 44 Hours or Strike! received awards and/or nominations.

Anne’s interest in Jewish storytelling has prompted her to revive a Jewish Storytelling Circle in Toronto. Once a month, people squeeze into her living room to tell and listen to all kinds of Jewish stories, and to share the joy these stories bring.

Is a retired teacher and a writer of non- fiction books for middle grade and young adult readers. During her long teaching career in the Maritimes, Marjorie founded a branch of the Children’s Literature Roundtables, bringing Canadian authors into classrooms.

These activities drew her into reviewing and writing children’s books. She has since written two history books for young readers with co-author Janet Willen (her sister): Five Thousand Years of Slavery (Tundra, 2010) and Speak a Word for Freedom: Women Against Slavery (Penguin Random House/Tundra, 2015).

In 1998, she and her husband returned to Toronto and she began teaching in a private school.

Marjorie is passionate about working against anti-Israel bias in schools. She reviews children’s and YA books for CAMERA (the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting and Analysis), and lectures on the topic: “Literature or Propaganda? How They Write about the Arab-Israel Conflict”.

The daughter of Holocaust survivors. She was the first in her family to be born in Canada. She was raised in Toronto in a Yiddish-speaking, strictly secular home.

Caroline worked for almost fifty years with the Toronto Public Library—as Branch Head, Selector for Adult and Children’s Books, Booktalker, Storyteller and Puppeteer. In 2018, Caroline retired and is now the volunteer librarian at Holy Blossom Temple (Toronto), where she works with people of all ages.

The youngest among four children, Joanne was often left to her own devices and could frequently be found sitting in a quiet corner with her nose in a book. Eventually, Joanne grew up and got a job at a bank that, sadly, had nothing to do with books. To rectify that, she wrote in her spare time and when Joanne left the corporate world in 2013, took her administrative skills with her and since then has worked as a virtual author assistant, helping other authors with their behind-the-scenes needs.

Committed to telling stories that feature modern Jewish characters, Joanne is the author of the Sydney Taylor Notable, Governor’s General Finalist, and Canadian Jewish Literary Award-winning, Sorry For Your Loss. Her other books include Let It Glow and Here We Glow Again (cowritten with Marissa Meyer), How to Walk a Dog, Small Medium at Large, and others. Many of her books have been chosen as PJ Our Way selections.

Joanne lives in rural Ontario with her husband and several pets and can usually be found at her computer, either creating spreadsheets (sometimes just for fun) or channeling her younger self into books.