Author Peter Manseau will bring his award-winning tale “Songs for the Butcher’s Daughter” to life at RUSA’s 2009 Literary Tastes Breakfast, a not-to-miss event for book lovers and ALA conference participants alike.

The breakfast, which will be held from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. Sunday, July 12 in the Red Lacquer Room of the Palmer House Hilton, 17 E. Monroe Street, Chicago, features authors from RUSA’s 2009 selections for the Notable Books List, The Reading List and the Sophie Brody Medal winners. Authors read from their work, ruminate on writing and sign books, while attendees enjoy a scrumptious breakfast.

Manseau’s debut novel was selected as the 2009 Sophie Brody Medal winner at the ALA Midwinter Meeting. The annual award recognizes outstanding achievement in Jewish literature, including fiction, nonfiction or poetry that explores the Jewish experience. In “Songs for the Butcher’s Daughter,” a young American Catholic translator narrates the colorful story of an elderly Yiddish poet, and in so doing covers a century of events in Israel, Poland, Russia and the United States, while recounting intricate histories of religion, love and faith in the power of words. The award committee praised the novel, saying “[its] interwoven stories are a tour de force of writing styles demonstrating the power of passion and commitment to Jewish culture.”

“Songs for the Butcher’s Daughter” has garnered additional literary accolades, winning the 2008 National Jewish Book Award for Fiction and was named a finalist for the John Sargent, Sr. First Novel Prize awarded by the Mercantile Library Center for Fiction in New York. Kirkus Reviews hailed the text as “terrific,” and Booklist, in a starred review, called it “a thrilling tale of secrets and revelations.”

The breakfast is a ticketed event sponsored by the Collection Development and Evaluation Section of RUSA and is one of many CODES events at the Annual Conference. Those not attending the conference are invited to purchase tickets for the breakfast only. Visit the RUSA blog for comprehensive information on how register for the breakfast, the conference and other RUSA ticketed events. Discover the rest of RUSA’s collection development programming, as well as a list of all conference events and programs offered by RUSA, at the RUSA website.