Barbara Rhine of Oakland is a lawyer, activist, grandmother, tennis player and amateur pianist, according to her bio. Now she can add “novelist” to that list.
Rhine is the author of “Tell No Lies,” about a Black Panther fugitive on the run, a farmworkers’ union organizer and a Jewish Berkeley feminist “caught in a love triangle” in the 1970s in the San Joaquin Valley.
Rhine knows whereof she writes. She was a staff attorney for the United Farm Workers union from 1973 to ’75 during the California farmworkers strike, and she’s been a strong advocate for social change since the ’60s.
A member of Kehilla Community Synagogue, Rhine will join fellow East Bay lawyer and writer Joshua Safran and writers Michael Kaye and Fred Werner in “Stories from the Shtetl,” an evening of storytelling at 7 p.m. Dec. 18 at the Jewish Community Library in San Francisco.
“Tell No Lies” by Barbara Rhine (406 pages, Bravura Press, $16.99)
After years of writing for community newspapers (including freelancing for J.) and national publications, Michelle Gabriel has turned to fiction writing.
Her new novel, “Sadie, Sadie, P.I. Lady,” is a “light” murder mystery, says Gabriel, who recently moved from the South Bay to San Ramon.
“Sadie” is Brooklyn housewife Sonja Maven, who finds herself in deep trouble after she sets out to help her neighbors when the apartment building in which they live goes up for sale to a buyer intent on converting it into condominiums.
“Sadie, Sadie, P.I. Lady: A Stairwell Murder Mystery” by Michelle Gabriel (212 pages, CreateSpace Publishing, $9.99)
If you are the parent of a high school senior in the throes of the college-application process, you might want to grab a copy of Elizabeth Stone’s new book, “The Better College Essay: Fitting In and Standing Out.”
Stone — who also has written for J. — is the founder and executive director of San Mateo–based Campanile, which mentors students through the college admission process. Her book offers strategies for those assisting students with their essays, and for students themselves.
Stone includes examples of “before and after” essays, including one student’s piece about the Holocaust. “A lot of students wonder about appearing ‘too Jewish’ in their applications, or worry how to approach writing about trips to Israel,” Stone tells J. A member of Peninsula Temple Beth El, Stone is a consulting counselor to Meira Academy, an Orthodox all-girls high school in Palo Alto.
“The Better College Essay: Fitting In and Standing Out” by Elizabeth Stone (138 pages, Wintergreen Orchard House, $23)