{"id":204370,"date":"2023-09-07T12:31:32","date_gmt":"2023-09-07T16:31:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/?p=204370"},"modified":"2023-09-08T11:29:48","modified_gmt":"2023-09-08T15:29:48","slug":"2023-malka-penn-award-recognizes-beneath-the-wide-silk-sky-and-the-tower-of-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/2023\/09\/2023-malka-penn-award-recognizes-beneath-the-wide-silk-sky-and-the-tower-of-life\/","title":{"rendered":"2023 Malka Penn Award Recognizes Beneath the Wide Silk Sky and The Tower of Life"},"content":{"rendered":"

A novel and a picture book have been selected as the two recipients of the 2023 Malka Penn Award for Human Rights in Children\u2019s Literature, presented by UConn\u2019s Dodd Human Rights Impact Programs.<\/strong><\/p>\n

This year\u2019s winning novel is Beneath the Wide Silk Sky<\/em><\/a>, by Emily Inouye Huey<\/a> and published by Scholastic Press.<\/p>\n

In her acclaimed debut, Huey offers an intimate portrait of the bigotry faced by Japanese Americans during World War II through the voice of Sam Sakamoto, a young aspiring photographer grappling with family loss and societal changes following the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Inspired by the author\u2019s family history, the book offers a poignant view of the lead-up to Japanese incarceration, racism on the home front, and the relationship between patriotism and protest.<\/p>\n

This year\u2019s winning picture book is The Tower of Life: How Yaffa Eliach Rebuilt Her Town in Stories and Photographs<\/em><\/a>, by Chana Stiefel<\/a> and illustrated by Susan Gal<\/a>, and published by Scholastic Press.<\/p>\n

In this stunning true story, a girl named Yaffa \u2013 who loved her family, her home, and her beautiful town \u2013 makes it her life\u2019s mission to recover thousands of photographs from around the world after her town is invaded by Nazi soldiers and nearly 3,500 Jewish souls are erased. Using these photos, Yaffa builds the Tower of Faces, a permanent exhibit in the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, to restore the soaring spirit of Eishyshok.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am so grateful to Dodd Human Rights Impact Programs and the Malka Penn Award for this very kind honor and for the vital work they do,\u201d says Huey. \u201cBeneath the Wide Silk Sky<\/em> is inspired by my family\u2019s experiences during World War II, when 120,000 Japanese Americans were imprisoned by the United States government. My grandfather called it a time of \u2018hysteria and dread.\u2019 It is a course that we must avoid in the future. That is why books, and access to books, matter so much, especially in today\u2019s divided climate.\u201d<\/p>\n

Huey continues, \u201cStories allow us to immerse ourselves in the feelings, thoughts, and experiences of others. They are a path to understanding, empathy, and even transformation. They help us see the humanity in those around us. They are one of our most powerful antidotes to hate.\u201d<\/p>\n

“I am tremendously grateful to Michele Palmer, Dodd Human Rights Impact Programs, and the award committee for selecting The Tower of Life: How Yaffa Eliach Rebuilt Her Town in Stories and Photographs<\/em> as this year\u2019s recipient of the Malka Penn Award for Human Rights in Children\u2019s Literature,\u201d says Stiefel. \u201cThis award not only honors the memory of the six million Jews who perished in the Holocaust, but also gives me hope that today\u2019s children will be inspired to carry on Yaffa Eliach\u2019s legacy of resilience, empathy, optimism, and faith in humanity.”<\/p>\n

\u201cI am profoundly grateful to have played a part in bringing Yaffa Eliach\u2019s inspiring story to young readers,\u201d says Gal. \u201cI dedicate this wonderful honor to the memory of the children of Eishyshok who never had the opportunity to grow up and fill their lives with books and stories.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

The Malka Penn Award<\/a> is given annually to the authors of outstanding children\u2019s books addressing human rights issues or themes, such as discrimination, equity, poverty, justice, war, peace, slavery, or freedom.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are delighted to be able to honor the authors and illustrator of two outstanding books for the 2023 Malka Penn Award, the first year we have recognized both a novel and picture book for this prize,\u201d says James Waller, director of Dodd Human Rights Impact Programs and inaugural Christopher J. Dodd Chair in Human Rights Practice. \u201cThis award aims to draw attention to the remarkable children\u2019s and youth literature addressing pressing human rights issues for young audiences. The volume, and quality, of this year\u2019s submissions illustrates the growth of the genre and affirms the vital importance of books and stories in promoting and protecting human rights.\u201d<\/p>\n

Named in honor of author Michele Palmer \u2013 who writes under the pseudonym Malka Penn \u2013 the award recognizes works of fiction, non-fiction, poetry, memoir, or biography and written for children from preschool to high school. Special consideration is given to stories about individuals who have been affected by social injustices and who, by confronting those injustices, have made a difference in their lives or the lives of others.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were delighted to realize that the theme of photography runs through both of the winning books and two of the honor books, which gives us an opportunity to bring awareness to its role in the quest for human rights,\u201d Palmer says.<\/p>\n

Huey and Steifel will formally accept their awards in a ceremony in November.<\/p>\n

In addition to Beneath the Wide Silk Sky<\/em> and The Tower of Life<\/em>, the Malka Penn Award Committee has recognized the following selections as its 2023 Honor Books:<\/p>\n