Susan Sussman
The Official Website of Susan Sussman

Susan Sussman began her writing career freelancing for Chicago newspapers and national publications. Her first book was Hippo Thunder (Albert Whitman & Co.) a picture book. Twenty-two books later, she's published both fiction and non-fiction for ages pre-school through adult. She won an EMMY for the screen adaptation of her classic holiday children’s book: There’s No Such Thing as a Chanukah Bush, Sandy Goldstein and her works have been translated into many languages around the world.

Adult Fiction:

The Dieter (Pocket Books, Hardcover); Time Off From Good Behavior (Pocket Books, Hardcover); Young Wives’ Tales (Headline Publications, British); Audition for Murder (St. Martin’s Press Hardcover; Worldwide paperback; audio: Books in Motion); Cruising for Murder (St. Martin’s Press hardcover; Worldwide paperback; audio: Books in Motion)

Children’s books:

Hippo Thunder; There’s No Such Thing as a Chanukah Bush, Sandy Goldstein; Casey the Nomad; Hanukkah: Eight Lights Around the World; Lies (people believe) About Animals (Albert Whitman & Co.); Big Friend, Little Friend: a book about symbiosis (Houghton Mifflin); contributor to One For You, One For Me (juvenile), Disney/World Books.

Young Adult line books include: Sweet Talk (young adult), Dell; Night After Night (young adult), Dell; Just Friends (young adult), Fawcett/Ballantine; Don't Say Goodbye (young adult), Dell.

Youth Line Books include: The Mystery of the Traveling Tomatoes (Albert Whitman-Boxcar); A Horse Named Dragon (Albert Whitman-Boxcar); The Secret of the Mask (Albert Whitman-Boxcar)
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FILM: Executive Producer and Screenwriter for: “There’s No Such Thing as a Chanukah Bush, Sandy Goldstein”, (short, live-action drama.)
 EMMY Award Winner - Producer/Screenwriter
-Winner: Chicago International Film Festival--Silver Plaque
-Winner: “Best Short Dramatic Adaptation”--Charleston Filmfest,
-Winner: Silver Plaque--Children’s International Film Festival in Chicago
 -Winner: Bronze Plaque - Columbus International Film & Video Festival

Musical: "Let's Go For the Record," written with musician Elaine Burke and produced in San Francisco as part of a Hewlett-Packard Grant.

Other: Free-lance journalist. Articles, features, investigative pieces, sports column, short humor, human interest, travel, features in all Chicago papers as well as U.S. Camera, Chicago, L.A. Times, Boston Globe, and many others. Short stories appeared in various publications, most recently in Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine. "The Mexicans," abridged for Urban America (Scott, Foresman) fan article in Chicago.

Honors and Awards:
 Big Friend, Little Friend voted Outstanding Science Trade Book by the Children's Book Council and National Science Teachers Association
 Lies (People Believe) About Animals voted Outstanding Science Trade Book by the Children's Book Council and National Science Teachers Association

 Jewish Book Council award nominee for There's No Such Thing As A Chanukah Bush, Sandy Goldstein. This book has been translated into Braille by the Library of Congress and is recommended by the National Conference of Christians and Jews as a book promoting brotherhood and understanding.

Civic:
 Judge, Illinois Center for the Book “Books Change Lives”; Judge, Chicago Sun-Times “Chicago Books of the Year” Awards; Member of the planning committee organizing the First International Conference of Jewish Women, held in Kiev, Ukraine; Created Books and Breakfast, a non-profit program to feed
breakfast to and read to “at risk” children.