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Youth Ministry in a Multifaith Society: Forming Christian Identity Among Skeptics, Syncretists and Sincere Believers of Other Faiths
by Len KagelerIn simpler, more homogenous times, youth ministry was a relatively straightforward activity. The church's youth gathered (occasionally inviting their unchurched friends from school), played together, sang together and listened together to a message from a bright, engaging youth minister, selecting from a relatively defined set of topics: "What does it mean to follow Jesus when it comes to _______?" Now Christian youth must make sense of their faith, with its exclusive claims, in light of their close friends who are Muslim, Jewish, Buddhist, atheist, "other" or even "none." And increasingly other religions are taking their cues for rooting and establishing their youth from Christian ministry practices, so that our kids are being invited to outreach events sponsored by other faiths. Veteran youth minister and researcher Len Kageler digs into the data surrounding this exciting multifaith era and offers surprising confidence that our kids can be guided into mature Christian faith while simultaneously learning to love their neighbors of other religions.
Youth Ministry In A Multifaith Society: Forming Christian Identity Among Skeptics, Syncretists And Sincere Believers Of Other Faiths
by Len Kageler Chap ClarkIn simpler, more homogenous times, youth ministry was a relatively straightforward activity. The church's youth gathered (occasionally inviting their unchurched friends from school), played together, sang together and listened together to a message from a bright, engaging youth minister, selecting from a relatively defined set of topics: "What does it mean to follow Jesus when it comes to _______?"Now Christian youth must make sense of their faith, with its exclusive claims, in light of their close friends who are Muslim, Jewish, Buddhist, atheist, "other" or even "none. " And increasingly other religions are taking their cues for rooting and establishing their youth from Christian ministry practices, so that our kids are being invited to outreach events sponsored by other faiths. Veteran youth minister and researcher Len Kageler digs into the data surrounding this exciting multifaith era and offers surprising confidence that our kids can be guided into mature Christian faith while simultaneously learning to love their neighbors of other religions.
Youth Ministry Management Tools 2.0: Everything You Need to Successfully Manage Your Ministry
by Mike Work Ginny OlsonYouth ministry isn't just meeting with students and teaching them God's truth. It also involves a myriad of administrative and operational details. Youth Ministry Management Tools 2. 0 provides youth ministers and volunteers with helpful insights, advice, and practical resources to successfully manage a youth ministry. You'll find sample budgets, release forms for trips, and clear direction for screening applicants for volunteer positions. Authors Mike Work and Ginny Olson provide you with quick and accessible answers to all of your management, administrative, and supervisory questions and needs. Sprinkled throughout the manual are brief personal anecdotes by actual, in-the-trenches youth workers, case studies of church-office debacles, pivotal lessons learned over decades of ministry, nightmare scenarios to avoid, and glorious successes to emulate. No other book provides everything a youth ministry leader needs in one place at such an affordable price. This revised and updated edition of a youth ministry classic includes bonus online content, copy-ready pages and forms, and loads of other highly practical material.
Youth Ministry Nuts and Bolts, Revised and Updated: Organizing, Leading, and Managing Your Youth Ministry
by Duffy RobbinsYouth ministry veteran and bestselling author, Duffy Robbins, offers an updated and revised edition of his book about the important, behind-the-scenes mechaincs of youth ministry. The tasks of budgeting, decision-making, time management, team ministry, staff relationships, conflict resolution, working with parents, and a range of other issues, are the things that keep a ministry together and functioning well. Nobody gets into youth ministry because they want to think about these things; but a lot of people get out of youth ministry because they didn't think about them. All youth workers--whether paid or volunteer, full-time or part-time--will find Youth Ministry Nuts and Bolts to be a thoughtful, fun, practical guide to youth ministry administration.
Youth Ministry on a Shoestring: How to Do More with Less
by Lars RoodMost youth pastors find it a constant struggle to get enough money allotted to their ministry’s budget, and with the latest recession, they’re feeling the crunch now more than ever as churches are cutting costs anywhere they can. But a youth pastor doesn’t have to feel stuck. In this book, youth workers will find innovative ideas to help them discover useful resources in places they hadn’t looked before. In his 15 years of youth ministry, Lars Rood has had his share of tight budgets, and he found that by looking at things from a different perspective, he was able to make his ministry work with limited funds. Here, Rood helps youth workers discover resources in the things around them, or through partnerships and people around them. He offers hope and encouragement to (often) frustrated youth workers as he guides them toward a new perspective when it comes to their ministry budgets.
The Youth Ministry Survival Guide: How to Thrive and Last for the Long Haul
by Len KagelerIt’s more common in youth ministry than we want to admit—burnout and failure. Exhaustion, frustration, disappointment, and conflict bring many youth workers to a point where they either choose a new church, a new career, or someone makes that choice for them. After thirty years of youth ministry experience, Len Kageler wants to help youth workers avoid the pitfalls that are common to their calling, and give them the tools to not only survive, but also to thrive in youth ministry. Along with his own wisdom, Len offers insights gained from his 2006 survey of more than 300 burned out or fired youth workers who come from a variety of ministry contexts and denominations. If you’re new to youth ministry, or you’ve been at it for a while and feel like you may be on the verge of burnout, The Youth Ministry Survival Guide will help you: • deal with conflict and compromise • determine the causes of burnout (and how to avoid them!) • discover how your personality, and the personality of those you work with, affects the dynamics of your ministry experience • develop the best plan for working with senior pastors, church leadership, parents, and students, so you can… • do youth ministry in your 40s, 50s, 60s, and beyond! Don’t let burnout force you out! Inside this book you’ll find steps you can take to help build fences against failure, and you’ll learn what it takes to survive and thrive in youth ministry.
Youth Ministry That Transforms: A Comprehensive Analysis Of The Hopes, Frustrations, And Effectiveness Of Today's Youth Workers (YS Academic)
by Karen Jones Dave Rahn Merton P. StrommenA first-of-its-kind study of Protestant youth ministers reveals the hopes, frustrations, and effectiveness of today’s youth workers. Of the 7,000 youth workers assembled in 1996 under Atlanta’s Georgia Dome, a sample of 2,130 full-time youth ministers from dozens of Protestant denominations and parachurch organizations answered a battery of exhaustive, deliberate questions covering: What they liked best about youth ministry What particularly pleased them in their work with youth What they found most encouraging or discouraging Their biggest obstacle to an effective youth ministry Their biggest concern in youth ministry Their answers revealed a dedicated group of professionals, concerned a out the students in their ministries, but troubled with a variety of perplexing issues. And their answers form the backbone of Youth Ministry That Transforms, a comprehensive analysis of this groundbreaking study (funded by the Lilly Endowment) focusing on the hopes, frustrations, and effectiveness of today’s youth workers. Spearheaded by Merton Strommen--one of America’s most exemplary and influential thinkers and authors in youth and family ministry--the research-writing team is joined by Karen E. Jones and Dave Rahn of Huntington (Indiana) College’s Link Institute for Faithful and Effective Youth Ministry, and acknowledged leader in the task of undergirding youth ministry with a research base. These three deliver thorough analysis and sound interpretation regarding the state of youth ministry at the dawn of the 21st century. Youth Ministry That Transforms belongs on the desks and in the classrooms of all who are concerned with this developing profession, including denominational and parachurch leadership, professors, youth ministry students, and thoughtful youth workers themselves. It is also an insightful resource for any who want to understand youth ministers and their profession: senior pastors, executive pastors, and other individuals and committees charged with hiring and supervising youth workers.
Youth on Edge: Facing Global Crises in Multicultural French Society (Studies in Childhood and Youth)
by Vincenzo Cicchelli Sylvie OctobreThis book explores disrupted youth cohesion in France within the context of multiple ongoing global economic, migratory, social, political, and security-related crises. While these trends can be observed in numerous Western societies, France provides a unique case study of various anti-cosmopolitan and anti-Enlightenment movements shaping youth conditions and reconfiguring relationships between the individual, the group, and society. The authors undertook in-depth interviews with French young people between the ages of 18 to 30 years old to inquire into how they experience "vivre ensemble" (living together) in a time of rising economic inequalities and multicultural tensions. Through these findings, they invite decision-makers, politicians, educators, and parents to propose a renewed narrative of social cohesion for youth who are not disillusioned, but deeply on edge.
Youth Pastor: The Theology and Practice of Youth Ministry
by Houston HeflinA youth pastor--whether paid or unpaid, full-time or part-time, right out of college or right out of retirement--has a big job to do. Actually, anyone who accepts God's call to help young people grow as disciples of Christ has several big jobs to do. The youth minister must be a teacher who can communicate the essentials of the faith; a friend who can listen to and be present with young people; a prophet who challenges teens to live lives of justice and righteousness; and an administrator who can manage the day-to-day logistics of youth ministry. Youth Pastor: The Theology and Practice of Youth Ministry provides a biblical and theological grounding for the many jobs a youth minister does, explains what each of these jobs entails, and helps youth pastors identify where their gifts lie and where they still need to grow. Whether you are a first-time youth minister or a seasoned youth ministry veteran, Youth Pastor gives you valuable tools for evaluating your ministry and vocation. It also serves as an excellent text for undergraduate courses in youth ministry. Table of Contents: Introduction Chapter 1 Becoming All Things in Ministry Chapter 2 Discipling Teacher Chapter 3 Evangelistic Missionary Chapter 4 Pastoral Shepherd Chapter 5 Organized Administrator Chapter 6 Bold Prophet Chapter 7 Compassionate Priest Chapter 8 Spiritual Friend Chapter 9 Equipping Recruiter Chapter 10 Visionary Leader Chapter 11 Faithful Teammate Chapter 12 Discover Your Ministry Style Epilogue: Character and Competence in Ministry Appendix: Youth Ministry Role Inventory
The Youth Worker Book of Hope: True Stories of Brokenness and Healing
by Tim BakerYou know, we’re an interesting breed. We pour our whole life into ministry—giving physically, emotionally, spiritually, relationally, even financially. And, we do all of this to encourage students to live like Christ beyond youth group. Even when we struggle, fail, or find ourselves at the end of a long month feeling drained and discouraged we’re still called to show our students the love of Jesus. The Youth Worker Book of Hope offers you encouragement and hope in those moments of darkness by using experiences and advice from people who have been through the valley and learned from it. Youth workers from around the country have contributed personal stories of their own desire to quit, confrontations with parents, struggles with running the ministry, getting fired, and many more. You’ll read about how other youth workers messed up and how they found hope at the end of a seemingly hopeless road. In tough times it’s easy to get lost. The Youth Worker Book of Hope meets you while you’re still struggling and draws you in to the hope of God.
The Youth Worker’s Big Book of Case Studies: Not Quite a Million Stories That Beg Discussion
by Steven L. CaseMore than 180 real-life case studies to get more students talking . . . and thinking! Easy answers are not easy to find. With The Youth Worker’s Big Book of Case Studies, your teenagers will be talking, and thinking about stuff that matters most in their lives. Open-ended questions, excruciating dilemmas, familiar scenarios, and going-deeper at Scripture make these cutting-edge case studies power-packed and unforgettable. Why just have mere chats with teens when you can use The Youth Worker’s Big Book of Case Studies to dig deeper, gaining insights that will enrich your group, and students’ lives outside the group! In this gigantic collection, you’ll get . . . • More than 180 faith-building case studies of issues vital to students complete with provocative discussion questions and themed Bible verses and passages! • Fun, engaging, sometimes very serious discussions! • Easy-to-use, overflowing indexes–contents, categories, multiple topics,–cross referenced for every youth leader’s need. • Among the categories dealt with: Family; School; Sex-Dating; Friends; and Growing Up. Add sizzle, spice, even a little bit of controversy to you next lesson, service, message, or sermon with The Youth Worker’s Big Book of Case Studies!
A Youth Worker's Commentary on James
by Les Christie David P. NystromChristians wrestling to apply the teachings of Jesus to their everyday lives. Communities plagued by divisiveness and hypocrisy, with an emphasis on wealth and status. That’s the book of James … and the story of our modern lives. A Youth Worker's Commentary on James has the entire NIV Biblical text printed alongside a deeply rich, yet readable, look into the meaning of this marvelous book. The book includes dozens of word studies, with fascinating historical accounts and personal stories, followed by a large section of thought provoking questions to get your students thinking and talking. Written for youth workers, ministry volunteers, and everyday people who want to probe deeper into the Book of James, youth workers will find it an invaluable aid for message and lesson preparation. Using this book to achieve a solid understanding of James, including its historical context, rationale, and meaning, youth workers will then apply this pertinent wisdom to the needs and issues they and their youth groups are working through. A Youth Worker's Commentary on James also includes bonus material and activities that make the passages come to life.
A Youth Worker's Commentary on John, Vol 1: Volume 1
by David P. Nystrom Les ChristieWhen a youth pastor is preparing a lesson, it’s sometimes challenging to find a curriculum that really offers depth into the Scripture passages and goes beyond a cursory look at the text. A Youth Worker’s Commentary on John is the first in a new series of commentaries developed with youth workers in mind. An in-depth, yet readable approach to the gospel of John, this first volume includes commentary, word studies, personal and historical stories, and discussion questions that will help get students thinking and talking. The gospel of John is the most personal and revealing of all the portraits of Jesus in the New Testament. This commentary has the entire NIV biblical text printed alongside a rich, deep look into the meaning of this gospel. Youth workers will find this to be an invaluable aid for message and lesson preparation. They’ll get a solid understanding of the gospel of John, including its historical context, rationale, and meaning, to see how to apply what they uncover to the needs and issues the teens in their group are dealing with.
A Youth Worker's Commentary on John, Vol 2: Volume 2
by Les Christie David P. NystromFollowing the first volume of this series, A Youth Worker’s Commentary on John, Vol 2 digs deeper into the miracles and teachings of Jesus as told by John. Covering the remainder of John’s gospel, chapters nine to twenty-one, you’ll find this resource to be an invaluable aid for your message and lesson preparation. The authors give you a solid understanding of the Gospel of John, including its historical context, rationale, and meaning. You’ll see how to apply the wisdom gained from these passages to the needs and issues you and your students are working through. Written specifically for youth workers, A Youth Worker’s Commentary on John, Vol 2 has the entire NIV biblical text printed alongside a deep, yet readable, look into the meaning of this marvelous gospel. The book includes dozens of word studies, historical accounts and personal stories, followed by a large section of in-depth, thought provoking questions to get your students thinking and talking.
The Youth Worker's Guide to Helping Teenagers in Crisis
by Jim Hancock Rich Van PeltWhen youth work becomes crisis managers. Anyone who stays in youth ministry for a while will encounter significant crises. Family break-ups, substance abuse, sexual assault, eating disorders, cutting, suicide, gun violence. But without proper and immediate care, crises like these can cause years of emotional pain and spiritual scarring in students. Rich Van Pelt and Jim Hancock want to help you prevent that from happening. Through their experience and expertise, you¹ll learn how to: -Respond quickly and effectively to crisis -Balance legal, ethical, and spiritual outcomes -Forge preventive partnerships with parents, schools, and students -Bring healing when damage is done When crises happen‹and they will, ready or not‹there are practical steps you can take. Van Pelt and Hancock provide field-tested counsel and specific, biblical advice for each stage of crisis. Keep this book on hand as your go-to resource when you need it most. Because when it comes to crisis, it¹s not a matter of if, but when.
Youthwalk
by Walk Thru the BibleI feel like I’m all alone in the world. My parents are diving me crazy. I just can’t control my temper. Nobody likes me. The Bible has answers to these problems and more. And this newly revised edition of YouthWalk will help you dig them out in just a few minutes each day. YouthWalk tackles 26 different topics—things like temptation, depression, peer pressure, loneliness, and drugs. An Introductory Page previews the week’s topic. And a Devotional Page—one for each weekday—surveys five different aspects of the topic. Each devotional page includes: · Opening Story—to start you thinking about the topic · Look It Up—to show you what God’s Word says about it · Think It Through—to help you understand what God’s Word means to you · Work It Out—to encourage you to put the Bible to work as you deal with the issue · Nail It Down—to help you build God’s answers into your life Take a leisurely walk through the Bible a few minutes at a time and find answers to your most pressing problems. YouthWalk is a compilation of daily Bible studies from YouthWalk, a monthly student devotional magazine published by Walk Thru the Bible.
You've Been Chosen: Thriving Through the Unexpected
by Cynt MarshallA relentlessly optimistic memoir by one of the most influential Black business leaders in America today, offering hope and practical guidance for navigating life&’s most difficult challenges&“Do you want to be lifted up? You have come to the right place.&”—Hoda KotbCynt Marshall has spent her entire life beating personal and professional odds while also helping everyone she meets see how they are uniquely equipped to thrive. Through it all, this self-described &“people person&” never stopped reaching out and built a reputation as an inspiring motivator and mentor in business and beyond. Marshall grew up in a northern California housing project with a violent father who once broke her nose, but also with a strong, devoted mother who kept her family fed and focused, reminding them, &“It&’s not where you live, but how you live.&” Heeding her mother&’s advice, Marshall excelled first at school and then in her professional life, overcoming overt and subtle racism to become, at forty, one of the first Black woman officers at AT&T, while also navigating both grief and joy as she started a family of her own. All that life experience prepared Marshall for the day when, at fifty-one, she was diagnosed with stage 3 colon cancer, just one lymph node from stage 4. Overnight, her life changed, but her commitment to serve others did not. You&’ve Been Chosen offers what Marshall calls &“the good, the great, the bad, and the ugly parts&” of her journey through both cancer and everything that led up to it. Along the way, she tackles the tough questions we all face: What will I do with what I have been given? How will I respond to challenges with both grace and grit? Where will this new path take me if I keep moving? And how can I offer something good back to the world as a result? Cynt Marshall&’s deep faith and positivity will inspire and motivate you, and her story will help you see how all your experiences, even the hardest moments, can work together for something good, bringing you to positive places you&’d have never experienced otherwise. She shows you how to find your own &“voice of power&” and encourages you to remember—and believe—that you, too, have been equipped to walk your unique path with purpose. That you, too, have been chosen.
You've Got a Friend: A Smitten Novella (Smitten #1)
by Diann HuntWhen a group of friends devise a plan to turn Smitten, Vermont, into the country's premier romantic getaway, Shelby finds her own true love along the way. With the local lumber mill closing, residents wonder if their town can stay afloat. Then four friends and local business owners--Natalie, Julia, Shelby, and Reese--decide the town is worth saving. How will they do it? They'll turn Smitten into a honeymoon destination! In "You've Got a Friend" by Diann Hunt, Shelby Evans' craft room goes up in flames. When volunteer fireman Nick Majors offers her the use of a building on his Christmas tree farm, Shelby discovers feelings for the tender heart that beats beneath his rough, mountain-man exterior. Excerpted from Smitten, a novel in four parts written by Christian Fiction's most popular romance novelists--and real life BFFs!
You've Got This, Fiona: A Book About Change (A Fiona the Hippo Book)
by ZondervanJoin your favorite hippo, Fiona, the adorable internet sensation from the Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden, in this perfect read-aloud picture book, You&’ve Got This, Fiona, as she learns about the changing seasons of the year and how, even when things change around you, true friendship, family, and love stay the same.Fiona notices that things are changing—her friends the geese are flying south, the leaves are turning different colors and the weather is getting cooler, her baby brother Fritz is born and brings change to Hippo Cove. But Fiona also wonders is everyone and everything going to change? Fiona gets a little worried … and so she heads to Mama and her friends, looking for answers. You've Got This, Fiona:is the perfect story to read aloud to children ages 4 to 8.features art by New York Times bestselling artist Richard Cowdrey (Fiona the Hippo,Bad Dog, Marley)takes kids through the seasons of the year at the zoohelps children see that change—from the seasons to new babies in the family--is normal and it&’s ok to be unsure about changeintroduces Fiona&’s baby brother Fritz, who was born at the Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Gardens in August 2022 You've Got This, Fiona is the perfect gift for Fiona enthusiasts and any gift-giving opportunity.A follow-up to the New York Times bestselling Fiona the Hippo; A Very Fiona Christmas; Fiona, It&’s Bedtime, and Fiona Helps a Friend, You&’ve Got This, Fiona showcases the fearless hippo that&’s as much of a star at the zoo (in the real world) as she is online!
You've Got to Be Kidding! Real-life Parenting Advice from a Mom and Dad of Nineteen: Real-life parenting advise from a mom and dad of nineteen
by Pat Williams Ruth WilliamsKid-Tested (and Tested, and Tested...) Guidance for Parents in the Trenches. The Inside Track to Raising Kids.Most of us find raising one, two...or maybe three or four children to be challenging enough. The idea of parenting a half dozen seems almost crazy, and more children than that--impossible. But Pat and Ruth Williams have together raised (and are continuing to raise) nineteen kids. More importantly, they've not just survived the process--they've loved it! What do they know that the rest of us don't? What does it take to make a family of any size not only work, but thrive? After bringing up nineteen kids--as biological parents, adoptive parents, single parents, and step-parents--Pat and Ruth Williams have gained a volume of insights and experience that will enrich your home, strengthen your family, and help you be the parent you want to be. Inside you'll find counsel that really works-whether you're raising one child, one dozen (or more), or any number in between.
Yārsān of Iran, Socio-Political Changes and Migration
by S. Behnaz HosseiniThis book examines how socio-political surroundings have affected the evolution of Yārsāni religious thought and why the Yārsāni religious belief, despite its fundamental disagreement with Islamic tenets, has been affiliated with Islam. It also considers the historical context and socio-religious milieu in which the Yārsāni belief appropriates religious forces to survive, how Yārsānis experience their religion in Islamic society, and what differences are significant in their lived experiences. The author explores how the experience of worship influences real life for the Yārsānis from the perspectives of sociology, behaviorism, content analysis, cultural studies and ethnography in Iran and diaspora with focus on Sweden. Yārsāni followers became known as those who “don’t tell secrets,” primarily because they were not allowed to promote and advertise their religion in public, but recently have started to reveal their religion, especially in social media. This book discovers the transformation of this religion, and in particular in which context an individual can change the content of religion, and bring about new ideas regarding religion and belief.
Yshua: The Jewish Way to Say Jesus
by Moishe RosenA Christian apologetic challenging Jews to examine the prophecies of the Messiah's coming and the evidence for Jesus as the Christ, and to respond to His claims.
Yshua: The Jewish Way to Say Jesus
by Moishe RosenA Christian apologetic challenging Jews to examine the prophecies of the Messiah's coming and the evidence for Jesus as the Christ, and to respond to His claims.
Yudisher Theriak: An Early Modern Yiddish Defense of Judaism
by Morris M. FaiersteinThe Yudisher Theriak [Jewish Theriac] by Zalman Zvi of Aufhausen, first published in Hanau, in 1615, was a response to an anti-Jewish work titled Jüdischer abgestreiffter Schlangenbalg [Jewish Shed Snakeskin], written by a Jewish convert to Chistianity, Samuel Friedrich Brenz, and published in Nürnberg and Augsburg in 1614. Brenz’s work was part of a genre of anti-Jewish books and pamphlets written in German and addressed to Christians that purported to reveal how Jews mocked and blasphemed against the Christian religion, cursed their Christian neighbors, and engaged in magic and witchcraft in order to inflict damage to their possessions and livelihoods. The name of Zalman Zvi’s book is a direct allusion to Brenz’s title, but it also hints at a larger purpose. Theriac is a Greek and Latin term that means “the antidote to the bite of a venomous snake.” Perhaps Zvi hoped that his book would also serve as a theriac for the scourge of anti-Judaism, which was prevalent in his generation. The Yudisher Theriak presents an interesting picture of how a learned Jew might respond to the many accusations against Jews and Judaism that became standardized and were repeated from author to author. The Yudisher Theriak makes a passing appearance in most scholarly books and many articles written about Christian-Jewish relations. Its existence is acknowledged and occasionally a fact or idea is cited from it, but its arguments and ideas have not been integrated into the scholarly literature on this subject. One reason that it has not received the attention it deserves is its language. It is written in a form of Early Modern Yiddish, more influenced by German and less familiar than its contemporary eastern European variant. In addition, Zalman Zvi was a learned Jew who interspersed Hebrew phrases, rabbinic terminology, and allusions to rabbinic literature in his work. Morris Faierstein’s goal in this work is not to respond to all the references and allusions in the scholarly literature that the original text touches on, but rather to make the work available in an annotated translation that can be a useful tool in the study of Jewish-Christian relations in the Early Modern period and, more broadly, for Early Modern Jewish historical and cultural studies. The analysis and clarification of the many issues raised in the Yudisher Theriak await further studies. Faierstein has taken the first step by making the work available to an audience wider than the very narrow band of specialists in Early Modern Yiddish literature. Scholars and students of Jewish-Christian relations and Early Modern Jewish historical and cultural studies will appreciate the availability of this previously inaccessible text.
Yudl
by Layle SilbertSet in 1920s Chicago, the short novel Yudl follows its eponymous protagonist, a middle-aged editor at a left-leaning newspaper called The Yiddish Courier. Yudl and his wife have decided to become landlords, purchasing a vacant lot and hiring an acquaintance--aptly named Mason--to oversee the construction of their future apartment building. However, delays in the construction leave Yudl and his family without a home, forcing them to stay with Mason and his family until the construction is finally complete. Told with wry wit and a masterful sensibility for metaphor, the story explores gender, Zionism, and the immigrant experience in the US. The selection of short stories that follow the novel in this volume were selected by the author from her deathbed during her last weeks and then hours on earth. Silbert's graceful short stories focus on the family, allowing the reader glimpses of a child's happiness, the cripplingly contradictory demands of femininity, the complexity of grief, and a sustained meditation on life and death.