Jacqueline Jules

She was born in Petersburg, Virginia. In 1979, she earned a BA from the University of Pittsburgh, and in 2001, she received a M.L.S. from the University of Maryland. Since 1995, she has lived in Northern Virginia, where she has worked as a school librarian, teacher, and writer.[1]

Jules began her career as an author with the publication of The Grey Striped Shirt, a story about the granddaughter of Holocaust survivors, published in 1995.[2] She has written over a dozen books of Jewish interest for young readers, including The Hardest Word, Once Upon a Shabbos, and three Sydney Taylor Honor Award winners, Sarah Laughs,[3] Benjamin and the Silver Goblet[4][5] and Never Say a Mean Word Again: A Tale from Medieval Spain.[6] Never Say a Mean Word Again was also named a finalist in the 2014 National Jewish Book Award, illustrated children's book category.[7]

Jules has also written stories inspired by her experiences as an elementary school librarian.[8][9] No English is the story of two second grade girls who find a creative way to overcome a language barrier. Duck for Turkey Day is about a Vietnamese-American child who is concerned about her family’s unconventional Thanksgiving dinner. Unite or Die: How Thirteen States Became a Nation began as a skit she wrote for her students to perform on Constitution Day.[10]

With Zapato Power: Freddie Ramos Takes Off, Jules created a chapter book series about a boy who can outrun trains with his super-powered purple sneakers. The idea for this series was sparked by young students who repeatedly asked for a book about a "superhero" on an early elementary age reading level.[11][12]

Jules’s poetry has appeared in numerous publications, including Christian Science Monitor, St. Anthony Messenger, Cicada, Cricket.[13] and BALLOONS Lit. Journal. She won the Arlington Arts Moving Words Contest in 1999[14] and 2007[15] the SCBWI Magazine Merit Plaque for Poetry in 2009,[16] and the Best Original Poetry award from the Catholic Press Association in 2008.[17]

• The Grey Striped Shirt: How Grandma and Grandpa Survived the Holocaust, illustrated by Mike Cressy, Alef Design Group (Los Angeles, CA), 1995.
• Once upon a Shabbos, illustrated by Katherine Janus Kahn, Kar-Ben Copies (Rockville, MD), 1998.
• Clap and Count! Action Rhymes for the Jewish Year, illustrated by Sally Springer, Kar-Ben Copies (Rockville, MD), 2001.
• The Hardest Word: A Yom Kippur Story, illustrated by Katherine Janus Kahn, Kar-Ben Copies (Rockville, MD), 2001.
• Noah and the Ziz, illustrated by Katherine Janus Kahn, Kar-Ben Publishers (Minneapolis, MN), 2004.
• The Ziz and the Hanukkah Miracle, illustrated by Katherine Janus Kahn, Kar-Ben Publishers (Minneapolis, MN), 2006.
• No English, illustrated by Amy Huntington, Mitten Press (Ann Arbor, MI), 2007.
• Abraham's Search for God, illustrated by Natascia Ugliano, Kar-Ben Publishers (Minneapolis, MN), 2007.
• Sarah Laughs, illustrated by Natascia Ugliano, Kar-Ben Publishers (Minneapolis, MN), 2008.
• The Princess and the Ziz, illustrated by Katherine Janus Kahn, Kar-Ben Publishers (Minneapolis, MN), 2009.
• Benjamin and the Silver Goblet, illustrated by Natascia Ugliano, Kar-Ben Publishers (Minneapolis, MN), 2009.
• Duck for Turkey Day, illustrated by Kathryn Mitter, Albert Whitman (Morton Grove, IL), 2009.
• Unite or Die: How Thirteen States Became a Nation, illustrated by Jef Czekaj, Charlesbridge (Watertown, MA), 2009.
• Before We Eat: A Thank You Prayer, illustrated by Melissa Iwai, Kar-Ben Publishers (Minneapolis, MN), 2010.
• Going on a Hametz Hunt, illustrated by Rick Brown, Kar-Ben Publishers (Minneapolis, MN), 2010.
• Happy Hanukkah Lights, illustrated by Michelle Shapiro, Kar-Ben Publishers (Minneapolis, MN), 2010.
• Miriam in the Desert, illustrated by Natascia Ugliano, Kar-Ben Publishers (Minneapolis, MN), 2010.
• Zapato Power: Freddie Ramos Takes Off, illustrated by Miguel Benítez, Albert Whitman (Chicago, IL), 2010.
• Zapato Power: Freddie Ramos Springs into Action, illustrated by Miguel Benitez, Albert Whitman (Chicago, IL), 2010.
• Zapato Power: Freddie Ramos Zooms to the Rescue, illustrated by Miguel Benitez, Albert Whitman (Chicago, IL), 2010.
• Zapato Power: Freddie Ramos Makes a Splash, illustrated by Miguel Benitez, Albert Whitman (Chicago, IL), 2012.
• Picnic at Camp Shalom, illustrated by Deborah Melmon, Kar-Ben Publishers (Minneapolis, MN), 2011.
• Never Say a Mean Word Again, illustrated by Durga Yael Bernhard, Wisdom Tales Press (Bloomington, IN), 2014

• Official website
• Jacqueline Jules at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database
• Jacqueline Jules at Library of Congress, with 30 library catalog records