Don't Feed the Lion

How should a 13-year-old boy react when his soccer hero’s antisemitic remark goes viral — and his teammates dismiss it as “no big deal”? What if, shortly after, he finds a swastika scrawled on his gym locker? Should he quit the team? Speak up? Stay silent? 

And what about an 11-year-old girl who decides to fight back against a flood of antisemitic posts after the soccer player’s statement – even if it means breaking the rules to sneak onto social media? Is she a troublemaker or a hero? 

What happens when school officials fail to respond with the urgency the situation demands? 

Parents have long struggled to shield their children from the rise in antisemitism. But who is helping kids navigate the confusion, fear and pressure to keep quiet? 

Two acclaimed journalists – Bianna Golodryga and Yonit Levi – are tackling that challenge through their new middle-grade novel, Don’t Feed the Lion. It’s a powerful, timely story about one family’s response to growing hatred, and how young people can lead with courage and pride in the face of it. 

 
About the speakers: 

Bianna Golodryga is an Emmy Award–winning journalist and senior global affairs analyst at CNN. She co-anchors One World with Zain Asher and Bianna Golodryga and is a regular host on CNN’s flagship programs, Amanpour and Fareed Zakaria GPS. She has led in-depth coverage of the October 7 attacks, Russia’s war on Ukraine, and global antisemitism. 

Yonit Levi has anchored Israel’s leading primetime news program on Channel 12 for more than two decades, interviewing world leaders from multiple US presidents to global heads of state. She also co-hosts the acclaimed podcast UNHOLY: Two Jews on the News.