Synopsis
Presents short biographies of more than sixty Jewish Americans who have flourished in careers including law, finance, entertainment, writing, politics, and science.
School Library Journal
Gr 5-9-Brief biographical sketches of 60 prominent Jewish Americans from the fields of science, business, sports, politics and law, and arts and entertainment. The arrangement is chronological by birth date from Haym Solomon (1740) to Jerry Seinfeld (1954) with insertions of three topical sections: "The Jews Who Created Hollywood," "Jewish Gangsters," and "Jewish Americans and the Civil Rights Movement." Excellent-quality black-and-white photographs appear throughout. An annotated appendix cites "124 Other Extraordinary Jewish Americans." There is an extensive name and word index and a very good listing for further information arranged by age level that includes online sites, organizations, and films and videos. Unfortunately, several errors mar the presentation, the most serious of which appears in the introduction. A clash between Hasidic Jews and African Americans in Crown Heights, NY, is cited but the murdered Jew was not the driver of the car that struck and killed an African-American child, but a bystander. Also, the criteria for inclusion may just be too broad. Paul Newman has never identified with being a Jew. Diane Feinstein is another example. Gloria Steinem, another. Are they really Jews? Did the author ever ask them?-Marcia W. Posner, Holocaust Memorial and Educational Center of Nassau County, Glen Cove, NY