You probably didn't know that The Walpole Gazette is not the only kid-run publication here in Massachusetts. In fact, The Walpole Gazette isn't even the only kid-run publication in this area of Massachusetts.
     Yaldah, a quarterly magazine published at the home of 14 year old Leah Larson of local Sharon, Massachusetts is another example of what kids have the potential to do these days. Yaldah is professionally printed and collated. Larson has also been features in many newspapers across the world and even on a few TV shows.
But what does Yaldah actually mean, and who is it for? Yaldah is Jewish for "girl", and that's exactly who the magazine is geared towards: Jewish girls. The magazine is distributed across the world for all Jewish girls to read. Although most of their business comes from subscriptions, it is also sold at the Israel Bookshop on Brookline, Massachusetts and Judaica world in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, New York.
     Larson, who was interviewed by e-mail this past week, said that the staff consists of 13 girls from around America, on of which is actually from London. However, Yaldah encourages its readers to submit poems, articles, drawings, stories, crafts, or almost anything else for consideration. Larson emphasized that basically, because of this, all Jewish girls are kind of like the staff.
     Larson says that Yaldah's circulation is different for each issue of the magazine that comes out. For example, the Summer 2005 issue had a circulation of 350, but by the time the fall issue came out, it was already up to 600. Larson is unsure of what the circulation will be for the winter issue.
     Larson got started with Yaldah about a year ago, after looking for a magazine for Jewish girls that was in her age group. Unfortunately, her search found nothing, and so her experience with writing, art, and photography helped considerably with the premiere issue of Yaldah. "I want to provide a fun magazine that Jewish girls can read and feel connected with other Jewish girls. It's also a place for girls to express themselves creatively," Larson said. And that is exactly what this amazing magazine does.
     Larson says that publishing and distributing Yaldah is worth it, and she gets quite a bit of help from friends and family distributing, even though she sometimes spends a whole day doing so. Larson also said that as the magazine grows, she would like to hire a distributor, but that is obviously yet to be decided.
Larson's magazine has definitely grown since it first came out last year. Larson is hoping to continue this career into adulthood, but she may someday need to hire a new editor in chief.

Visit the Yaldah website at www.yaldahmagazine.com or e-mail Leah at yaldah@comcast.net.

Christopher Nixon

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