Join author Sacha Lamb as they discuss their book, When the Angels Left the Old Country, winner of the Stonewall Award and the Sydney Taylor Award.
About When the Angels Left the Old Country
“Steeped in Ashkenazi lore, custom, and faith, this beautifully written story deftly tackles questions of identity, good and evil, obligation, and the many forms love can take.” Kirkus (starred review)
“Richly imagined and plotted, this inspired book has the timeless feeling of Jewish folklore.” Booklist (starred review)
“Simultaneously an exploration of personal identity and the relationship between good and evil, this expansive tale, interpreted through both the Talmud and Jewish folklore, follows Little Ash and the angel’s experiences leaving behind everything they’ve ever known. Broad in scope, the strong queer relationships at its core, particularly between Little Ash and the angel, provide an unfaltering anchor.” Publishers Weekly (starred review)
Stonewall Book Award Winner
Sydney Taylor Award Winner
Michael L. Printz Honor Book
National Jewish Book Award Finalist
AudioFile Earphones Award Winner
BEST OF THE YEAR
NPR - New York Public Library - Kirkus
For fans of "Good Omens"--a queer immigrant fairytale about individual purpose, the fluid nature of identity, and the power of love to change and endure.
Uriel the angel and Little Ash (short for Ashmedai) are the only two supernatural creatures in their shtetl (which is so tiny, it doesn't have a name other than Shtetl). The angel and the demon have been studying together for centuries, but pogroms and the search for a new life have drawn all the young people from their village to America. When one of those young emigrants goes missing, Uriel and Little Ash set off to find her.
Along the way the angel and demon encounter humans in need of their help, including Rose Cohen, whose best friend (and the love of her life) has abandoned her to marry a man, and Malke Shulman, whose father died mysteriously on his way to America. But there are obstacles ahead of them as difficult as what they've left behind. Medical exams (and demons) at Ellis Island. Corrupt officials, cruel mob bosses, murderers, poverty. The streets are far from paved with gold.
About Sacha Lamb
Sacha Lamb is a 2018 Lambda Literary Fellow in Young Adult fiction, and graduate in Library and Information Science and History from Simmons University. Their debut novel, When The Angels Left the Old Country, is a Sydney Taylor and Stonewall award winner, a Printz Honor book, and a National Jewish Book Award finalist, and received the Mythopoeic Fantasy Award. Sacha lives in New England with a miniature dachshund mix named Anzu Bean.