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"The Basketball Game" is a graphic novel adaptation of the award-winning National Film Board of Canada animated short of the same name – intended for audiences aged 12 years and up. It's a poignant tale of the power of community as a means to rise above hatred and bigotry. In the end, as is recognized by the kids playing the basketball game, we're all in this together.

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Tag: Seidelman

First book of trilogy now out

First book of trilogy now out

Michael Seidelman is donating 10% of novel profits this month to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. (photo from Michael Seidelman)

May is Cystic Fibrosis Awareness Month, so author Michael Seidelman will be donating 10% of the profits from this month’s book sales to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation to help find a cure.

The connection? The heroine of his Garden of Syn young adult series suffers from CF.

“When I was 10 years old, I watched a TV movie called Alex: The Life of a Child, the true story of an 8-year-old girl who died from CF. Seeing that a child could lose her life so young had a profound impact on me then and continues to do so all these years later,” he explained.

Having his protagonist suffer from CF “could potentially raise awareness about the devastating illness,” he said. “I learned a lot about CF while researching for the book and I’m sure anyone who reads it will as well.”

But, while an integral part of her character and of the plot, CF does not define Syn, though it does offer her challenges most people do not have to face, and has made her more responsible and mature than her years. But so have several other factors.

 

book cover - No One Dies in the Garden of SynThe first book of the trilogy – No One Dies in the Garden of Syn, which was released last month – introduces us to Syn. Right away, we find out that her parents went missing when she was 5 years old and her aunt has looked after her ever since. In addition to dealing with her illness, Syn has regular teenage problems with friendships, boyfriends and school, and exhibits that brand of cynicism so often found in kids of that age.

“Syn,” she notes. “Short for Synthia. I don’t know why my parents spelled my name with an ‘S’ but if I could ask them anything, that would be my last question. Aunt Ruth tells me it’s likely because I was special and deserving of a unique spelling. I highly doubt that’s it.”

Syn is a formidable and likable hero for whom readers will root. And the constant action will keep readers turning the pages. Along her accidental journey, she must face situations and enemies that are potentially more threatening than her illness.

“Young adult novels are usually geared towards an audience of 12 years and up,” said Seidelman when asked whether he was concerned with how young readers might react. “While it does contain some dark themes, I think kids in that age group are familiar with the topics that are explored. I also think that this book is more appropriate for younger readers than many other books in the young adult category. I probably wouldn’t recommend the Hunger Games or Twilight for a 12-year-old reader. While No One Dies in the Garden of Syn may be a bit scary towards the book’s climax, any kid who is comfortable reading the Harry Potter series should be more than fine reading this.”

His own creative journey was sparked by books he read as a kid.

“My favorite stories growing up were about secrets worlds, like Alice in Wonderland and The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. Since I was in high school, I had wanted to write my own book about a secret world. It took me many years before I came up with the right story – one that is inspired by the tales of Lewis Carroll, L. Frank Baum and C.S. Lewis, but at the same time is very different and geared towards an older audience.

“The ideas that triggered the story I ended up telling came to me when I immersed myself in nature and let the ideas flow. I jotted down notes for a few months and made many changes to the story and characters before I sat down in April of 2014 and plotted out each chapter in detail. That took about a month and then it took another four months to write the novel. But that was only the beginning, as there were many rewrites and edits that followed.”

No One Dies in the Garden of Syn is Seidelman’s first published novel. But, as much as he enjoyed writing it, he said, it was not an easy task.

“The rewriting and editing process probably took six times the effort that writing the initial manuscript did, if not more,” he said. “Every single word is immensely important, as are continuity and proper tenses. But, for the second book in the Garden of Syn series, which I am currently working on, I think that part of the process will be smoother. Having now done this once, I now know what works and what doesn’t.

“For anyone wishing to self-publish a book,” he advised, “I cannot emphasize enough the importance of paying for a professional editor. You also need a professional-looking cover that will stand out as people really do judge a book by its cover. Having it professionally formatted for the physical copy and ebook readers is also important. With over 3,000 books published every single day, you need to do everything in your power to make yours the best it can possibly be.

“And then, when it is published, your journey has just begun. You need to use every avenue available to let people know about your book and encourage them to read it. The internet offers many wonderful tools to help do this but you really need to put in the time to market it. As I write my second book, at least 25% of my time goes to marketing the first one.”

The next book in the trilogy will be out next year, and the conclusion in 2018. The first novel is available in paperback and as an ebook from online sellers, including via michaelseidelman.com.

Format ImagePosted on May 20, 2016May 18, 2016Author Cynthia RamsayCategories BooksTags cystic fibrosis, Seidelman, Syn
Researching Oakridge

Researching Oakridge

The Jewish Museum and Archives of British Columbia is currently researching an exhibit on the Jewish community in the Oakridge area. (photo from Gail Dodek Wenner)

Oakridge was for many years the heart of the Vancouver Jewish community. First opened for development in the 1940s, the new residential neighborhood was attractive to young families seeking suburban living only a short drive from downtown.

Many Jewish families had previously made their homes in Strathcona, Mount Pleasant and Fairview. With the economic boom of the postwar era, many achieved financial success and, with it, the opportunity to move to the comfort of Oakridge. Jewish community institutions followed, most notably with the construction of the new Jewish Community Centre, which opened in 1962.

photo - Growing up in Oakridge
Growing up in Oakridge. (photo from Gail Dodek Wenner)

Today, the neighborhood still holds a warm place in the hearts of many. For this reason, the Jewish Museum and Archives of British Columbia has been working to develop an online exhibit celebrating the heyday of Jewish Oakridge. Making use of numerous oral history interviews, this exhibit will share the recollections of community members, and aim to provide a comprehensive picture of this era in our community’s history. A new series of interviews are currently underway, filling in gaps in previous research.

Under the supervision of the JMABC’s exhibition development team, made up of coordinator of programs and development Michael Schwartz and archivist Alysa Routtenberg, two volunteers are undertaking this series of interviews.

Junie Chow has volunteered for the JMABC for almost a year now, and recently produced the online exhibit Letters Home. Drawing upon the Seidelman Family fonds, the exhibit shares the letters written by Pte. Joseph Seidelman to his family at home in Vancouver as he fought on the frontlines of Vimy Ridge and Passchendaele during the First World War.

photo - The wedding of Sandy Belogus and Mark Rogen
The wedding of Sandy Belogus and Mark Rogen. (photo from Sandy Rogen)

The second volunteer, Josh Friedman, brings to the project his training as a recent alumnus of Indiana University graduating with a BA in Jewish studies and political science. New to Vancouver, Friedman is excited about discovering how the Jewish community in Oakridge reflected similar and different perspectives to trends in North American Jewry during the 1940s-1960s.

Listening to earlier rounds of interviews, essential themes have appeared. These include the initial motivations for moving to Oakridge, the overwhelming sense of community among residents, and even the eventual reasons for moving out of the neighborhood. However, through this process, new questions have also emerged and are guiding the ongoing research. For instance, how did the local community react and respond to world events affecting Israel and international Jewry? Acknowledging that Oakridge is a multi-ethnic neighborhood, the team is seeking insight into the types of relationships that existed between non-Jewish and Jewish neighbors. All of the results will be shared in the forthcoming exhibit.

Currently online are the exhibits Letters Home and New Ways of Living: Jewish Architects in Vancouver, 1955 to 1975 (see jewishindependent.ca/the-west-coast-style). As well, the JMABC has launched On These Shores: Jewish Pioneers of Early Victoria, which traces the early foundation of the Victoria

Jewish community from their arrival in 1858 to the establishment of Congregation Emanu-El in 1863, and Sacred Sites: Dishonor and Healing, which reflects on Victoria citizens’ response to the desecration of the Jewish cemetery there in 2011, and places this incident in context among other similar events elsewhere. Sacred Sites was produced through a partnership between the JMABC and the University of Victoria.

To visit all the online exhibits, go to jewishmuseum.ca/exhibit.

Format ImagePosted on March 25, 2016March 24, 2016Author Jewish Museum and Archives of British ColumbiaCategories LocalTags archives, Dodek Wenner, JMABC, Oakridge, Rogen, Seidelman
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