Under the headline, “Lion Roars, ‘Times’ Snores,” the Page Six Hollywood newsletter (part of the New York Post) reported that the middle-grade novel, Don’t Feed the Lion, a book about antisemitism for tweens by Israel’s Channel 12 evening news anchor Yonit Levi and CNN anchor Bianna Golodryga, has sold 34,000 copies, making it a top seller in its category.
The novel follows three middle schoolers in Chicago and examines how they are affected when Theo’s idol, a soccer player, tweets an antisemitic comment. The comment is repeated endlessly and uncritically on social media and leads Theo’s soccer teammates to deface his locker with a swastika.
Despite its timely subject matter, its stance against bullying and prejudice, and the clout of authors Golodryga and Levi, Don’t Feed the Lion has not cracked The New York Times Bestseller List, Page Six’s Hollywood reporter Tatiana Siegel reported.
She wrote that she had received sales data from Arcadia, the book’s publisher, which is co-owned by former Sony Pictures Entertainment chief and current Snap chairman Michael Lynton, showing the book had sold well over 30,000 copies.
Siegel wrote: “Conventional wisdom in the publishing world finds that a book needs to sell roughly 3,000 to 6,000 copies in a single month to crack the Gray Lady’s Middle Grade Paperback list, which comes out monthly rather than weekly. Don’t Feed the Lion has exceeded that in each of the four months it has been eligible for the list and has made USA Today’s list.”
But not the NYT's famous list. In response to a query from Siegel, the NYT shared a link to a page that essentially says the staff compiles data from many sources.
While its sales may not have impressed the editors at the NYT, Don’t Feed the Lion has won praise from celebrities including Gal Gadot, Sacha Baron Cohen, Robert Kraft, and CNN anchor Jake Tapper.
Bianna Golodryga speaks to 'Post'
Golodryga spoke to The Jerusalem Post when the book was published in November, saying, “The seed for Don’t Feed the Lion was planted before October 7. I had noticed rising antisemitism in the US, and it really hit home in 2022 when several celebrities – from rappers to NBA players – made antisemitic remarks online. My son, who’s a huge sports fan, asked, ‘Why do they hate us? Can I not go to basketball games anymore?’ It was a gut punch. I came to this country [from the former Soviet Union] as a Jewish political refugee, and I didn’t know how to answer that question – in 2022, in Manhattan.”
Levi said, “Here in Israel, my son is almost the same age as Bianna’s – 12. After October 7, he asked, ‘Why do people who don’t even know me hate me?’ I felt prepared to answer questions about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, but not that one.”
The two high-powered television journalists collaborated on the writing via email and Zoom. When they finished and began shopping the book to publishers, they faced rejections from established publishing houses. But although Arcadia had not published a middle-grade book before, Lynton was so taken with Don’t Feed the Lion that he accepted the title.
Lynton told Siegel, “I always knew it would sell well. But yes, I'm surprised that it's sold in the numbers that it has. And delighted… It has been a joy and an honor to publish the book. It's a book that deserves to be published, and Brianna and Yonit did a brilliant job writing it and publicizing it. And I'm glad that it's getting into the right hands.”
Golodryga told the Post that the two enjoyed working together so much that they plan to collaborate on another book. “This experience, born out of tragedy, became one of the most rewarding of our lives. We hope it helps readers find empathy and courage,” she said.