Lynne Sharon Schwartz – författare

"One marvels at the force of seeing in Schwartz's No Way Out But Through and cannot help but feel a particular gratitude for her abundant humor. Go all in with these poems; you'll reap unknown rewards. She possesses a quick-witted imagination that sanctifies memories and makes room for the wondrous nature of our cosmopolitan lights." —Major Jackson

Why is this night different from all other nights?Every year when families gather for the Passover holiday, the youngest child poses that question as part of the poetic Four Questions near the start of theSeder. The answers are no less than the story of a people bound in slavery, their suffering in a foreign land, and their ultimate liberation – the story of Passover.Here the Four Questions are presented in breathtakingly luminous paintings by Ori Sherman. Whimsicalanimals parade through a unique format that can be read straight through in English or turned upside down to focus on the delicate Hebrewcalligraphy and ingenious split-frame pictures. Each side of the Seder table can see its own variation of the richly colored scenes as elephants eat matzoh, monkeys dip herbs into water, and lions recline innewfound freedom. Author Lynne Sharon Schwartz answers the questions with refreshing clarity, providing insight into the symbols and rituals of the holiday.Experience a glorious art book, a beautiful gift for the kids who find the afikomen, and a wonderful way to experience Passover and its unique celebration of freedom.

In this collection of impeccably written essays, Schwartz tells us early on that she never thought of her life as a “continuous line” but rather a series of intertwined interrupted experiences.Hers is a life that has been bumped, tumbled, and smoothed by an endless stream of travel, fascinating people, and books: writing them, pondering them, translating them. Her essays range from musings about the art of translation, the tribulations of major surgery dissected with biting wit, a quest for recovery from the 9 /11 attacks at a music school, and hours spent with friends arguing, drinking and smoking in a neighborhood bar. Her personal narratives range from humorous childhood (an 8-year-old writer) and troubled revelations to learning to be an adult facing the difficulties of simultaneously writing and raising children. We see her as a daughter struggling to understand her parents through adolescent eyes, a mother startled at the all-consuming demands of motherhood and writing, and as an older adult grappling with mortality. Throughout, she is painfully honest, funny, and unafraid of difficult truths. Relentlessly candid, subjecting herself to her own sharp scrutiny, Schwartz is willing to confront the confusions of maturing in a changing world.

Santino lives in Palermo, Sicily - a region of Italy dominated by the Mafia. When his father and grandfather lack the money for Santino's first-communion party, they carry out a theft. After witnessing the murders of his father and grandfather, Santino makes a daring escape from the city. Now he's left with a choice: cooperate with police and risk his life, or maintain the code of silence. Inspired by real-life events, Silvana Gandolfi's In the Line of Fire is a gripping, unforgettable story of young people's courage to do the right thing when faced with the harsh realities of the adult world.