The Sydney Taylor Shmooze

 The Papercutter by Cindy Rizzo Bella Books Category: Young Adult Reviewer: Dena Bach   Buy at Bookshop.org   The Papercutter , by Golden Crown Award winner Cindy Rizzo, is a gripping, topical, near-future dystopia, that shows a possible future world resulting from red/blue divide in America today. The narrative is told from the alternating points of view of three brave teens who must navigate increasingly difficult lives for Jews and others outside the norm after “The Split” of the United States into two separate countries: the GFS, the majority white, conservative “God Fearing States of America” and the UPR, the majority non-white, liberal “United Progressive Regions of America. In this absorbing first book in a trilogy, Dani, living in the UPR, and Jeffrey, in the GFS, become friends after joining a pen-pal program connecting Jewish teens in the two countries. As anti-Semitism rises in the GFS, tensions rise for Jeffrey and his friend Judith, an artist who expresses he...

Happy 'Roo Year: It's Rosh Hashanah by Jessica Hickman, illustrated by Elissambura Kar-Ben (imprint of Lerner Publishing Group) Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Susan Kusel Buy at Bookshop.org A family of Australian kangaroos celebrates Rosh Hashanah in this board book, with rhyming text that is appropriate for very young listeners. Children who are familiar with the holiday will recognize the shofar, apples and honey, round challah, and more. While most of the holiday foods mentioned are Ashkenazi (brisket, fish, honey cake), the addition of dates to the menu adds a Sephardic touch. The kangaroos are brown, purple, and pink, which can be seen as symbolizing a mixed-race family. Some (including pink 'roos) wear kippot but are not explicitly identified by gender. The brown, kippah-wearing Dad prepares dinner, in a nice disruption of gender expectations. An inclusive atmosphere is displayed in the synagogue, where "Koalas, wombats, wallabies--here everyone belongs....

Summer of Stolen Secrets by Julie Sternberg Viking (imprint of Penguin Random House) Category: Middle Grade Reviewer: Rachel J. Fremmer Buy at Bookshop.org From its opening pages with protagonist Catarina’s distinct voice to its poignant ending, Summer of Stolen Secrets is a unique and age-appropriate take on how the trauma of the Holocaust and survivors’ guilt can reverberate for generations. When New Yorker Catarina visits her cousin Lexie in Louisiana, she meets her paternal grandmother for the first time. Catarina knows only that Safta disowned her son, Catarina’s father, when he married her mom, a non-Jew. As she probes into Safta’s past, she finds out that there is much more than spitefulness or provincialism behind this family rift. Based on - and dedicated to - the author’s own grandmother, and based on her family’s Baton Rouge department store, Summer of Stolen Secrets brings the Jewish South to life. Sternberg addresses sensitive and weighty issues, but at the s...

Sydney A. Frankel's Summer Mix-Up by Danielle Joseph Kar-Ben Publishing (imprint of Lerner Publishing Group) Category: Middle Grade Reviewer: Shirley Reva Vernick Buy at Bookshop.org Rising sixth-grader Sydney A. Frankel plans to spend the summer chilling with her BFF Maggie Stein, enjoying the downtime before middle school starts and before her pregnant mom gives birth. But her mom insists she take a class at the local community center to help her overcome her shyness and stage fright. Sydney can take any class she wants, except for her first choice: reading class. Meanwhile, Maggie’s mom has signed her up for her last choice: yup, reading class. The friends decide to switch places, so they can each take a class they’ll enjoy. Hijinks ensue as the girls struggle and scheme to keep their cover. In the end, Sydney comes clean to her family, teacher and classmates. Along the way, she makes new friends, overcomes her stage fright, and learns the value of embracing one’s tru...

 Kate in Waiting by Becky Albertalli Balzer & Bray (imprint of Harperteen) Category: Young Adult Reviewer: Meira Drazin   Buy at Bookshop.org In Becky Albertalli’s newest novel, KATE IN WAITING, theater kid Kate and her talented best friend Anderson always share crushes—it’s only fun when they can pine after the same boy together, dissecting every smile glanced their ways, every infinitesimal interaction, all while secure in the ultimate relationship: their own friendship. But when their theater summer camp crush Matt shows up in their school, things begin to go off-script. Kate feels left out when Andy and Matt both get into an exclusive drama class meant for seniors, (even though a timetable snafu means next-door neighbor Noah has been assigned it too although he can’t sing to save his life and has never shown any interest in theater.) But Kate finally gets a lead role in the musical, and is playing opposite Matt—a role which includes a kiss. Kate and Andy try to lay dow...

The Summer of Lost Letters by Hannah Reynolds Razorbill (imprint of Penguin Random House) Category: Young Adult Reviewer: Cheryl Fox Strausberg Buy at Bookshop.org When Abigail Schoenberg receives a package of her grandmother Ruth’s personal effects, the last thing she expected to find was a bundle of love letters. However, the stranger part is that these letters were not signed by her grandfather, but instead by someone named Edward, of whom Abby’s family knows nothing. Abby and her family only know that her grandmother immigrated to the United States at the age of four in 1939. So, who is this mysterious Edward?    After reading through the letters and doing a bit of online research, Abby discovers that her grandmother was part of an American Kindertransport program. She was brought to the U.S. and essentially adopted by a wealthy Jewish family who summered on Nantucket Island. After discovering that Edward is still alive, Abby attempts and fails to arrange ...

My Israel and Me by Alice Blumenthal McGinty, illustrated by Rotem Teplow Kalaniot Books (imprint of Endless Mountains) Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Sandy Wasserman Buy at Bookshop.org This is the perfect book for introducing the diversity that exists in Israel. In gentle rhymes and careful detailed illustrations, the young picture book reader is introduced to Israel’s bustling city life, kibbutz life, Bedouin life, Arab/Muslim life, Christian life, and Jewish life, all coexisting. Even the cats in Israel play a part in this book, along with the history of how there came to be so many cats. Theres’s the varied geography of this nation (the size of New Jersey), the Negev’s geography, and the story of Israel’s farms and fields, and animals. A double page spread for the tourist enhances the reader’s inclusion in Israel’s story. Some books have back matter for the parent or teacher; this book offers additional information in a small paragraph accompanying each double page...

 One Small Hop by Madelyn Rosenberg Scholastic Press Category: Middle Grade Reviewer: Stacy Nockowitz Buy at Bookshop.org One Small Hop is a surprising departure for author Madelyn Rosenberg from her other middle grade novels, This is Just a Test and Not Your All-American Girl (both co-written with Wendy Wan-Long Shang). Those books are both set in the 1980s and tell stories of young teens dealing with typical issues involving school, friendship, and family. In contrast, One Small Hop is a tale of a not-so-distant future devastated by climate change. In the small shore town of Town Harbor, Maine, Jonathan “Ahab” Goldstein and his friends come upon something rare and wondrous- a real, live bullfrog. They should turn the frog over to the Environmental Police Force. But the EPF is completely inept, and Ahab worries that the frog will die in the agency’s care. No, this might be the last bullfrog in the country, and Ahab and his friends decide they must find it a mate on ...

  Natan Sharansky: Freedom Fighter for Soviet Jews by Blake Hoena, illustrated by Daniele Dickmann Kar-Ben Publishing (imprint of Lerner) Category: Middle Grade Reviewer: Shirley Reva Vernick Buy at Bookshop.org This graphic novel biography tells the story of Soviet “refusenik" and human rights activist Natan Sharansky. Through narration, dialogue and illustration, the book follows Sharansky’s youth in the Ukraine, his activism on behalf of Jewish refuseniks, his detention in Soviet prison/labor camps, and his ultimate immigration to Israel. In addition to portraying Sharansky as the hero among Soviet Jews, the book rightfully highlights the roles of his wife, international Jewish activists, and world leaders in paving the way for his and other Soviet Jews’ release. A short afterword summarizes Sharansky’s human rights work in Israel since his arrival in 1986.    This is a fast-paced and suspenseful story about the dangers of totalitarianism and the imperative o...

 The Good War by Todd Strasser Delacorte Press (imprint of Penguin Random House) Category: Middle Grade Reviewer: Stacy Nockowitz Buy at Bookshop.org In 1981, Todd Strasser wrote The Wave , based on the true story of high school history teacher Ben Ross and the class experiment he carried out in 1969. By creating a stringent behavioral “system” in his classroom, Ross showed his students how easily people could be swept up in a movement like Nazism. Now, forty years later, Strasser has written an updated, middle school version of The Wave titled The Good War. Instead of a high school history class, The Good War takes place in the newly formed eSports club of a middle school. The students in the club represent a wide swath of middle school types: the goody-goody, the high achiever, the hulking athlete, the “weird” loner, the bully, the mean girls, and so on. The kids come together after school to play a video game called The Good War , a World War II simulation game that pits the ...

 The Upside-Down Boy and the Israeli Prime Minister by Sherri Mandell, illustrated by Robert Dunn Kar-Ben Publishing (imprint of Lerner) Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Sandy Wasserman Buy at Bookshop.org We meet Daniel in this book, a boy who follows his own rhythms, and does not follow rules easily; he just can't behave. So when his class in Israel is headed for a field trip to the Prime Minister's office, his teacher is a bit concerned. He tries to be on his best behavior, but his body seems to do flips and topsy turvy actions all on its own. The comes the crucial moment; the prime minister's assistant shows the young visitors a series of portraits of former prime ministers including one of David Ben Gurion doing a headstand. Uh oh! Daniel immediately imitates the pose, to everyone's dismay. BUT, the assistant says it's OK! And he joins Daniel in a headstand telling him some great news: "Headstands are good training for being prime minister." For chil...

 The People's Painter: How Ben Shahn Fought for Justice with Art by Cynthia Levinson, illustrated by Evan Turk Harry N. Abrams Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Eva Weiss Buy at Bookshop.org The People’s Painter is a picture book that steeps young readers in life and times of the iconic American Jewish artist Ben Shahn. Each artful and commanding spread by illustrator Evan Turk re-creates the landscape of the American-Jewish immigrant experience of the turn of the twentieth century. At the heart of the story is Ben Shahn’s coming of age and the passion for justice which shaped his career as an artist. Cynthia Levinson’s narrative gives center stage to the artist’s purposefulness (“What shall I paint? Stories”) and his commitment to righting wrongs (“I hate injustice.”) The large-size format and illustrations have the look of a picture book for young readers, but the reading level is clearly more suited for middle-school readers. There are moments when the text matches the quir...

What We're Scared Of by Keren David Scholastic UK Category: Young Adult Reviewer: Michelle Falkoff Fraternal twins Evie and Lottie don’t think of themselves as Jewish—their father isn’t, and while their mother was born Jewish, she’s mostly put it behind her, other than occasionally making latkes and honey cake for holidays. But antisemitism is on the rise in their hometown of London, where their mother has a morning radio show, and when she uses her radio platform to denounce it, the girls find they have to learn more about their heritage. Funny, outgoing Evie discovers her secret crush is spouting antisemitic conspiracy theories, and she joins up with some new friends and becomes an underground activist. Shy, curious Lottie calls out her own friends’ racism and bigotry and befriends another Jewish girl named Hannah, who welcomes her into her synagogue. Their paths to understanding Judaism collide when violence erupts outside Hannah’s sister’s bat mitzvah, where Lottie is attending...

 Benjy's Blanket adapted by Miguel Gouveia, illustrated by Raquel Catalina Green Bean Books Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Rachel J. Fremmer Buy at Bookshop.org Benjy’s Blanket , adapted by Miguel Gouveia and illustrated by Raquel Catalina, is the eighth (that I know of!) picture book that retells the old Yiddish folktale, Something from Nothing . A grandfather sews something - usually a coat, here a blanket - for his grandchild. The child outgrows the item or it becomes too worn to use, and the grandfather keeps reusing smaller and smaller scraps - turning them into a jacket, a vest, and so on. When there is nothing left of the original blanket, it turns out something remains - the story! With a beautiful, soothing palette of browns, greys, turquoise and touches of yellow, endpapers that show sewing patterns, and a smaller trim size for smaller hands, Benjy’s Blanket is a lovely - but not necessary - addition to the books that have already adapted this folktale. As in all vers...

 When the World Was Ours  by Liz Kessler Aladdin (imprint of Simon & Schuster) Category: Young Adult Reviewer: Meg Wiviott Buy at Bookshop.org When the World Was Ours follows the lives of Leo, Elsa, and Max from 1936 to 1945. Opening on Leo’s ninth birthday, the three best friends ride Vienna’s giant ferris wheel. When Leo accidentally collides with an English couple, a friendship blooms. The joy of that day does not last long, however. Despite the rising tide of Nazism, Leo’s family remains in Vienna. His father is arrested and sent to Dachau and then to Auschwitz. Leo and his mother scramble to get visas out of Austria, but to no avail. Finally, the couple Leo bumped into on the ferris wheel three years ago agree to sponsor them. Elsa, who is also Jewish, and her family escape to Czechoslovakia, but are eventually sent to Theresienstadt and then to Auschwitz. Max’s father, an ardent Nazi, moves to Munich to work at Dachau. To please his father, Max joins the Hitler You...