Brid­get Hod­der is a Sephardic Jew, daugh­ter of a Holo­caust sur­vivor, Com­mu­ni­ca­tions Direc­tor at her syn­a­gogue, and co-admin­is­tra­tor of the inter­na­tion­al group, ​“Our Sephardic Fam­i­ly.” Her Jew­ish works include the co-authored, Kirkus-starred, The But­ton Box and The Promise; and The Thing About Stars, part of an upcom­ing Hanukkah anthol­o­gy (WW Nor­ton & Co.). Bridget’s work has received recog­ni­tion from Kirkus; the Harold Grin­spoon Foun­da­tion; the Cal­i­for­nia, Rhode Island, and Illi­nois Depart­ments of Edu­ca­tion; the Inter­na­tion­al Lit­er­a­cy Asso­ci­a­tion; the Glob­al Chal­lenge Read; and oth­er organizations.