One of a Kind: The Life of Sydney Taylor

Sarah Brenner was always one of a kind, even with four sisters who dressed just like her. Growing up in an immigrant family on New York City’s impoverished Lower East Side, Sarah’s life was full of things that weren’t fair. It wasn’t fair that her parents had to leave Europe because of their religion. It wasn’t fair they worked hard all day and the family barely had enough to eat. It wasn’t fair how girls were treated in her school.

When she grew up, Sarah gave herself a modern, boyish name, Sydney, just right for a woman who was going to forge her own path and continue to fight for a fairer world. When Sydney’s daughter complained that it wasn’t fair that there were no books about Jewish children like her, Sydney dreamed up a one-of-a-kind children’s book called All-of-a-Kind Family, which is still beloved today.

“I am pleased my mother’s stories allowed Jewish children to finally see themselves in books. I know she would have believed that all children today should have that same opportunity. May every reader of this story know how very special you are and, like my mother, truly one of a kind.”—Jo Taylor Marshall