Books with author Carol Matas

At age eleven, Rosie Lepidus's main concerns are winning ring-a-levio, going to school, and staying out of trouble. But when Mama falls ill with pneumonia and Papa throws all the family's savings into the nickelodeon business, the burden of caring for her family falls on Rosie's shoulders. Tall for her age, Rosie is able to pass for sixteen and take Mama's place sewing sleeves at a shirtwaist factory. Her family needs the money. But working conditions are horrible and the factory boss is incredibly strict. The girls are fined for nearly everything -- even talking or humming! Within days of starting work, Rosie hears the buzz about a huge strike of twenty thousand shirtwaist workers. It's the strike that Mama's been working toward for ages: a huge push for change in the workplace. Rosie wants to join in, but as the streets become more dangerous, Papa asks his daughter to return to school. And Rosie must choose: follow Papa's orders...or fight with everything she's got.

A 2014 NATIONAL JEWISH BOOK AWARD FINALIST in the Children's & Young Adult category“Papa is a tyrant; that’s what he is — a tyrant! And I will always be subject to his whims!”When her father decides to run for mayor of Tucson in 1882, fourteen-year-old Josephine Fiedler is reluctant to support his bid. “I could be sealing my fate, helping to elect someone who wants nothing more than my docility.” With a mind of her own, Jo is in constant conflict with her father and doesn’t know how to back down when she feels she is in the right. “Without law, without order, there is no freedom,” states her father, but Jo wants nothing less than the freedom he promised her when he uprooted the family from “civilized” Boston to the Wild West of the Territory of Arizona because of his health. When violence erupts during the election campaign and her father’s opponent attacks him for being an Israelite, Jo has to reconsider her position and even what it means to be a Jew.Inspired by Tucson’s first Jewish mayor, Tucson Jo is packed with action and deeds of derring-do, shootouts and holdups, while dealing with serious moral issues like right and wrong, law and order, and women’s rights.

Aaron and Zev have been protected from serving in the czar's army for very different reasons -- Aaron's father pays to keep his scholarly son free and Zev works as a khapper, kidnapping other poor, young Jewish boys to fulfill the czar's arm quotas. Zev's jealousy of Aaron turns to hate when he discovers that Miriam, the girl he loves, will be Aaron's future wife. Zev decides to rid himself of Aaron forever by turning him over to the czar's army, where few survive the forced labor. In this powerful novel set in the reign of Nicholas I in Russia, Carol Matas explores the complex issues of betrayal, faith and forgiveness. Winner of The Sydney Taylor Award, New York Public Library Book for the Teen Age, Canadian Library Association Notable book, Notable Children’s Trade Book in the field of Social Studies by NCSS, U.S.

2014 National Jewish Book Award Finalist Feisty fourteen-year-old Josephine Fiedler is reluctant to support her father's bid for mayor of Tucson in 1882: "I could be sealing my fate, helping to elect someone who wants nothing more than my docility." With a mind of her own, Jo is in constant conflict with her father and demands nothing less than the freedom he promised after uprooting the family from "civilized" Boston to the Wild West of Arizona because of his health. When trouble erupts during the election campaign and her father's opponent attacks him for being an Israelite, Jo has to reconsider her position and even what it means to be a Jew. Inspired by Tucson's first Jewish mayor, Tucson Jo is packed with derring-do while dealing with serious moral issues.