Let's travel (virtually) to Western Asia, shall we? I have asked Anna Yaphe Levine to give us a peek into the children's and young adult book scene in Israel. Thank you, Anna! Anna is the author of Jodie's Hanukkah Dig (illustrated by Ksenia Topaz and published by Kar-Ben Publishing, 2008), which was named a Notable Book for Younger Readers by the Sydney Taylor Award , and Freefall (Greenwillow Books/HarperCollins, 2008), a Sydney Taylor Honor Award Winner for Teen Readers. She is also the regional advisor of the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) Israel. Anna, how would you define Israeli children's literature and Israeli young adult literature? I asked our school librarian to help me with this question. Fantasy has become really popular of late with the usual titles like the Harry Potter series, the Pullman trilogy and Twilight trilogy. Many of the novels in the fantasy genre that are read here are books in translation. Although, som...