Littman, Sarah Darer

PERSONAL:

Born in New York, NY; children: two. Hobbies and other interests: Reading, traveling, playing tennis, swimming, building sand castles, and going to hear live music.

ADDRESSES:

Home—Greenwich, CT. E-mail—sdl@sarahdarerlittman.com.

CAREER:

Writer. Worked previously as a financial analyst.

AWARDS, HONORS:

Sydney Taylor Award for Older Readers, Association for Jewish Libraries, 2006, for Confessions of a Closet Catholic.

WRITINGS:

Confessions of a Closet Catholic, Dutton Children's Books (New York, NY), 2005.

Columnist for Greenwich Time.

SIDELIGHTS:

Sarah Darer Littman started writing seriously only after realizing that she spent "too much time trying to please other people instead of following my passion," as she noted on her home page. Her decision to take writing classes eventually encouraged Littman to write her first novel, Confessions of a Closet Catholic, winner of the Sydney Taylor Award for Older Readers from the Association for Jewish Libraries. In addition to being a published novelist, Littman is also a columnist for her city's local paper the Greenwich, Connecticut, Greenwich Time. As she commented on her columnist Web site, www.sarahlittman.com, one of the joys she gets from writing editorials "is hearing from people who violently disagree with me." Littman advises aspiring writers to read, "use your own feelings and experiences," and to "know your character."

Geared for a young teen readership, Confessions of a Closet Catholic utilizes religion and individual identity as its central themes. At the center of the novel is eleven-year-old Justine Silver. Raised in a Jewish family, Justine is undergoing a religious identity crisis and in the spirit of experimentation decides to secretly adopt the Roman Catholic faith of her best friend, Mac. It is not until her paternal grandmother, Bubbe—who is also a Holocaust survivor—suffers a stroke that Justine begins appreciating the religion of her heritage. A Publishers Weekly contributor noted that readers "will find much to savor in the warm, angst-lite tone … and will likely relate to the universal conflicts and emotional challenges" of Littman's young protagonist. According to Kimberly Monaghan in School Library Journal, "readers can't help but laugh and cry with this winning protagonist." In Kirkus Reviews, a contributor regarded the characterization of Justine as "both amusing and somber as she negotiates religion, family, and bereavement."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, February, 2005, Elizabeth Bush, review of Confessions of a Closet Catholic, p. 257.

Kirkus Reviews, January 1, 2005, review of Confessions of a Closet Catholic, p. 54.

Publishers Weekly, February 28, 2005, review of Confessions of a Closet Catholic, p. 68.

School Library Journal, January, 2005, Kimberly Monaghan, review of Confessions of a Closet Catholic, p. 132.

Voice of Youth Advocates, April, 2005, review of Confessions of a Closet Catholic, p. 42.

ONLINE

Sarah Darer Littman Home Page,http://www.sarahdarerlittman.com (November 29, 2006).

Sarah Littman's Columnist Site,http://sarahlittman.com (November 29, 2006).*