I had a blast interviewing @ruthbehar for @theyarnpodcast. Writing a middle grade novel that covers four generations of a family, and 500 years, feels like quite the task. Listen to the entire episode on your podcast app of choice. @sljournal @penguinkids @PenguinClass… pic.twitter.com/i0sbBV5fKQ
— Colby Sharp (@colbysharp) February 19, 2024
Ruth’s New Middle Grade Novel
ACROSS SO MANY SEAS, a story of four Sephardic girls in four different times and places united by their desire to belong and to matter.
Across So Many Seas, wins 2025 Newbery Honor Book Award
Across So Many Seas, wins 2025 Sydney Taylor Honor Book Award
Across So Many Seas, Read John Schu’s interview with Ruth about receiving “the call” about the Newbery Honor Award.
Best books of 2024
New York Public Library, Best Books for Kids 2024
Kirkus Reviews, Best Middle Grade Books of 2024
School Library Journal, 42 Stellar Middle Grade | SLJ 2024 Stars So Far
Evanston Library, Evanston Public Library’s 101 Great Books for Kids 2024: Middle Grade Fiction / Novels for Kids
Tablet, The Best Jewish Children’s Books of 2024
Imagination Soup, What are the best middle grade books of 2024?
Praise for Across So Many Seas
Behar (Lucky Broken Girl) delivers a moving tale about four generations of a Sephardic Jewish family navigating cultural and societal upheaval from 1492 to 2003.
★ Publishers Weekly, starred review
Powerful and Resonant.
★ Kirkus, starred review
Paths of milk and honey for this new book. It sings with poetry and history and story all at once. I enjoyed traveling and learning the path of the ancestors. ¡Felicidades! May our Dio guide this book and bring it many blessings.
-Sandra Cisneros, author of The House on Mango Street
As lyrical as it is epic, Across So Many Seas reminds us that while the past may be another country, it’s also a living, breathing song of sadness and joy that helps define who we are.
-Alan Gratz, New York Times bestselling author of Refugee
School Library Journal Review
★BEHAR, Ruth. Across So Many Seas. 272p. Penguin/Nancy Paulsen. Feb. 2024. Tr $17.99. ISBN 9780593323403.
Gr 3-7–Beginning with the Inquisition and the expulsion of Jews from Spain in 1492 and spanning over 500 years, this powerful historical novel by Behar relates the journeys and discoveries of four young girls from different generations of the same family. The stories of Benevida, Reina, Allegra, and Paloma are linked through the Spanish songs that they learn and pass along through an oud, a musical instrument that becomes a precious family heirloom and symbol of hope. Another recurrent connecting theme is travel—each protagonist embarks on a journey, whether fleeing persecution, searching for liberty, or discovering her past and her future. The plot takes readers from Spain to Naples and Turkey to Cuba, Miami, and back to Spain. The simple, resonant, and lyrical narrative transmits the hope and trust that have sustained Sephardic Jewish communities through the generations. Even the names of the title characters speak a blessing. Benevida means welcome; Reina means queen; Allegra means happiness; and Paloma means peace. An author’s note explains Behar’s connection to this important history. This moving historic tale treats every word used as if it is a fleeting and impossibly beautiful note in a song that can never be forgotten, as it illuminates a people and a past that deserves to be forever remembered. VERDICT This will appeal to fans of Jane Yolen’s Briar Rose, and is highly recommended for all collections.
–Kelly Kingrey-Edwards
Available now for purchase
Four girls, four narrators, and Ruth narrates the Author’s Note: Ruth Behar (Author, Narrator), Allison Strong (Narrator), Victoria Villarreal (Narrator), Sol Madariaga (Narrator), Frankie Corzo (Narrator), Listening Library (Publisher)