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CHICAGO – The Reference and User Services Association (RUSA) has announced its selection for the 2021 Sophie Brody Medal, an annual honor bestowed by the Collection Development and Evaluation Section (CODES) of RUSA during the recent Book & Media Awards Virtual Ceremony.

This year’s winner is Yishai Sarid, author of The Memory Monster, translated by Yardenne Greenspan, published by Restless Books. The book’s narrative is presented as a report by a nameless historian to the chairman of Yad Vashem, Israel’s Holocaust remembrance center. In it, he examines Holocaust education from the viewpoint of a concentration camp tour guide and wonders about both its effectiveness for teenagers, as well as how the Holocaust is both discussed and taught.

Honorable mentions include House of Glass: The Story and Secrets of a Twentieth-Century Jewish Family by Hadley Freeman published by Simon & Schuster; The Lost Shtetl by Max Gross, published by HarperVia; The Tunnel by A.B Yehoshua, translated by Stuart Schoffman, published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt; and When Time Stopped: A Memoir of My Father’s War and What Remains by Ariana Neumann, published by Scribner.

The Sophie Brody Medal is given to encourage, recognize and commend outstanding achievement in Jewish literature. Works for adults published in the United States in the preceding year are eligible for the award.

This year’s winner and honor books were selected by the Sophie Brody Medal committee; Sarah Barbara Watstein, Seattle University, chair; Donald Altschiller, Boston University; Barbara Bibel, Oakland Public Library, CA, retired; Jack Forman, San Diego Mesa College Library; Patricia Gregory, retired; Mary Parker, retired; Adela Peskorz, Professor Emerita, Metropolitan State University; Kristine Sandy; David Lee Suarez, Loudoun County Public Library; Valerie Taylor, Librarian-at-Large.

The Reference and User Services Association (RUSA), a division of the 91´«Ã½, represents librarians and library staff in the fields of reference, specialized reference, collection development, readers’ advisory and resource sharing. RUSA is the foremost organization of reference and information professionals who make the connections between people and the information sources, services, and collection materials they need. Learn more at .