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Southwest Portland author Bonni Goldberg won Best Debut Author at the Oregon Spirit Book Awards for Doña Gracia Saved Worlds, a picture book highlighting a little-known figure in Renaissance Jewish history.
Illustrated by Alida Massari and published by Lerner’s Kar-Ben Publishing, the book tells the story of Gracia Mendes (1510–1569), a Portuguese Jewish philanthropist and businesswoman who used her vast wealth and political resources to help Jews escape the Portuguese Inquisition in the 16th century.
Goldberg, an academic advising specialist at Portland Community College’s Sylvania Campus, was inspired to write a book about Mendes after attending a mother-daughter bat mitzvah program and being surprised to learn that no one had heard of this pivotal figure.
“There are no other children’s books to introduce her,” Goldberg says. “She was an amazing person for what she did, but also she was an incredible figure during the Renaissance—one of the most powerful and wealthy women during a time when women usually didn’t have that kind of power and wealth unless they were royalty.”
The Oregon Spirit Book Awards were founded in 2005 by the Oregon Council of Teachers of English to highlight Oregon authors who make distinguished contributions to children’s or young adult literature. Doña Gracia Saved Worlds was published at the end of 2023 and won a 2023 Oregon Spirit Book Award.
Goldberg hopes the increased attention to Doña Gracia afforded by the award will help raise public consciousness of Gracia and her efforts to help the Jewish community.
“What I hope by this recognition is that more people—educators, parents, grandparents, librarians, all the people who buy books for children—will be more interested in learning about Doña Gracia and introducing her to their kids. She has an incredible message on so many levels.”
