From Sarah to Sydney : The Woman Behind All-Of-a-Kind Family / June Cummins ; with Alexandra Dunietz.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Cummins, June, 1963-2018, author.

Dunietz, Alexandra Whelan, 1961- author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Taylor, Sydney, 1904-1978.

Taylor, Sydney.

Authors, American--20th century--Biography.

Authors, American.

Children's literature, American--History and criticism.

Children's literature, American.

Genre:

Biographies.

Criticism, interpretation, etc.

Physical Description:

xi, 383 pages : illustrations ; 25 cm

Place of Publication:

New Haven : Yale University Press, [2021]

Summary:

The untold life story of All-of-a-Kind Family author Sydney Taylor, highlighting her dramatic influence on American children's literature.

This is the first and only biography of Sydney Taylor (1904-1978), author of the award-winning All-of-a-Kind Family series of books, the first juvenile novels published by a mainstream publisher to feature Jewish children. The family-based on Taylor's own as a child-includes five sisters, each two years apart, dressed alike by their fastidious immigrant mother so they all look the same: all-of-a-kind. The four other sisters' names were the same in the books as in their real lives; only the real-life Sarah changed hers to the boyish Sydney while she was in high school. Cummins elucidates the deep connections between the progressive Taylor's books and American Jewish experiences, arguing that Taylor was deeply influential in the development of national Jewish identity. This biography conveys the vital importance of children's books in the transmission of Jewish culture and the preservation of ethnic heritage.

Contents:

Machine generated contents note: One. Family Background in the Old Country: 1880-1900

Two. Sarah's Childhood on the Lower East Side: 1901-1910

Three. Gateways to a Wider World: 1910-1916

Four. Sarah Becomes Sydney: 1916-1920

Five. Romance and the New Woman: 1920-1923

Six. Political Awakening and Contentious Courtship: 1923-1925

Seven. Performance at Home and on Stage: 1925-1935

Eight. Progressive Motherhood: 1935-1950

Nine. Camp Cejwin: 1942-1960

Ten. Award-Winning Author: 1950-1960

Eleven. Personal Loss and Artistic Anxiety: 1960-1970

Twelve. Last Years and Legacy: 1970-1978.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 325-372) and index.

ISBN:

0300243553

9780300243550

OCLC:

1198556678