Steve Sheinkin

Steve Sheinkin is an American author of suspenseful history books for young adults. A former textbook writer, Sheinkin began writing full-time nonfiction books for young readers in 2008. His work has been widely acclaimed for its ability to transform historical information into thrilling, accessible accounts.[1]

Steve Sheinkin
Sheinkin at the 2019 Texas Book Festival

Rabbi Harvey

Sheinkin has written and illustrated three fictional graphic novels about Rabbi Harvey, a fictional Jewish rabbi who also functions as an Old West sheriff, using Jewish rabbinical wisdom to solve problems usually solved with firearms in the high in the fictional Rocky Mountain town of Elk Spring, Colorado. The books, which were published through Jewish Lights Publishing, consist of The Adventures of Rabbi Harvey, Rabbi Harvey Rides Again, and Rabbi Harvey vs. the Wisdom Kid.[2] The eclectic stories, which combine Jewish legends and frontier legends, sprung from Sheinkin's own eclectic childhood as a Jewish-American boy raised on both Jewish folktales and American Westerns. The character of Rabbi Harvey also contains elements of the author's own father, David Sheinkin.[3]

Awards & honors

Sheinkin's nonfiction books, Bomb: The Race to Build—and Steal—the World's Most Dangerous Weapon[4] and The Port Chicago 50: Disaster, Mutiny, and the Fight for Civil Rights,[5] were both National Book Award finalists. In 2013, Bomb also won the Newbery Honor and Sibert Medal from the American Library Association. The Port Chicago 50 won the Carter G. Woodson Book Award in 2015.[6] His 2015 book, Most Dangerous: Daniel Ellsberg and the Secret History of the Vietnam War, was also a finalist for the National Book Award, and was called “easily the best study of the Vietnam War available for teen readers.[7]

Select bibliography

• Born to Fly: The First Women's Air Race Across America, Roaring Brook Press, 2019
• Time Twisters series
  • Neil Armstrong and Nat Love, Space Cowboys, Roaring Brook Press, 2019
  • Amelia Earhart and the Flying Chariot, Roaring Brook Press, 2019
  • Abigail Adams, Pirate of the Caribbean, Roaring Brook Press, 2018
  • Abraham Lincoln, Pro Wrestler, Roaring Brook Press, 2018
• Undefeated: Jim Thorpe and the Carlisle Indian School Football Team, Roaring Brook Press, 2017
• Most Dangerous: Daniel Ellsberg and the Secret History of the Vietnam War, Roaring Brook Press, 2015
• The Port Chicago 50: Disaster, Mutiny, and the Fight for Civil Rights, Roaring Brook Press, 2014
• The Notorious Benedict Arnold: A True Story of Adventure, Heroism & Treachery, Square Fish, 2013
• Lincoln's Grave Robbers, Scholastic Press, 2013
• Bomb: The Race to Build—and Steal—the World's Most Dangerous Weapon, Roaring Brook Press, 2012
• Lincoln's Grave Robbers, Scholastic Press, 2012
• Which Way to the Wild West? Everything Your Schoolbooks Didn't Tell You About Westward Expansion, Flash Point, 2009
• Two Miserable Presidents, Everything Your Schoolbooks Didn't Tell You About the Civil War, Square Fish, 2008
• Rabbi Harvey graphic novel series
  • Rabbi Harvey vs. the Wisdom Kid: A Graphic Novel of Dueling Jewish Folktales in the Wild West, Jewish Lights Publishing, 2010
  • Rabbi Harvey Rides Again: A Graphic Novel of Jewish Folktales Let Loose in the Wild West, Jewish Lights Publishing, 2008
  • The Adventures of Rabbi Harvey: A Graphic Novel of Jewish Wisdom and Wit in the Wild West, Jewish Lights Publishing, 2006
• King George: What Was His Problem?: Everything Your Schoolbooks Didn't Tell You About the American Revolution, Flash Point, 2005

References

1. "Book Review, Starred". Publishers Weekly. Retrieved 18 November 2015.
2. Sheinkin, Steve. Rabbi Harvey vs. the Wisdom Kid.
3. Sheinkin, Steve. The Adventures of Rabbi Harvey.
4. "Steve Sheinkin interviewed by Sofia Quintero". National Book Award. National Book Award Foundation. Retrieved 18 November 2015.
5. "2014 National Book Award Finalist, Young People's Literature - Steve Sheinkin". National Book Award. National Book Award Foundation. Retrieved 18 November 2015.
6. "Carter G. Woodson Book Award and Honor Winners". National Council for the Social Studies. Retrieved 3 January 2019.
7. "Book review, starred". Kirkus. Kirkus Reviews. Retrieved 18 November 2015.