The Sydney Taylor Shmooze

My Fine Fellow: A Delicious Entanglement by Jennieke Cohen HarperTeen, 2022 Category: Young Adult Reviewer: Stacy Mozer Buy at Bookshop.org My Fine Fellow is a thoughtful retelling of My Fair Lady that takes on issues of gender norms and the treatment of Jewish people in England, with the feel of The Great British Bake-Off . It's the story of Elijah Little, a poor boy who is hawking food in an 1830s England where going to culinary school and becoming a gentleman chef is as revered as being royalty. When Helena Higgins discovers Elijah, she decides to make him her project in order to graduate from high honors from the Royal Academy. She bets her friend, Penelope Pickering, that she can turn Elijah from a street hawker to a gentleman. But Helena doesn't know that Elijah is Jewish and that makes a difference in 1830s England. My Fine Fellow is a fun read, especially if you know the story of My Fair Lady and love cooking. The story feels true to the time period in language and...

I Hate Borsch! written and illustrated by Yevgenia Nayberg Eerdmans Books for Young Readers, 2022 Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Mirele Kessous Buy at Bookshop.org I Hate Borsch! by Yevgenia Nayberg is an intriguing mix of things: part- memoir, part tribute to her Ukrainian heritage, part amusing children’s book. In it, Nayberg laments growing up surrounded by borsch and being forced to eat the red stew with the “slippery, slimy tomato and the bushy green dill.” The author immigrated to America, where she drifted towards American foods such as peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and the “mysterious” Pumpkin Spice latte. Yet, she feels that something is missing. That’s when she pulls out her grandmother’s borsch recipes and gets cooking, embracing the part of her heritage she had left behind. Nayberg wrote and illustrated this book, which features pictures that are vibrant and whimsical–playing up the color red whenever possible. The cartoon bubbles add to the engaging illustrations,...

The Lost Ryū by Emi Watanabe Cohen Levine Querido, 2022 Category: Middle Grade Reviewer: Heidi Rabinowitz Buy at Bookshop.org This debut novel from a talented young Jewish/Japanese      author takes place in Japan twenty years after the end of WWII. Kohei's mother and grandfather both continue to suffer from their wartime experiences, and the boy believes that Ojiisan's grief may be tied to the disappearance of the large ryū or Japanese dragons. Small ryū, reminiscent of the daemons in the His Dark Materials series by Philip Pullman, are companions and confidants to humans. When a Japanese-American Jewish girl, Isolde, moves into the building along with her small Western dragon, she and Kohei set out on a quest to help Ojiisan reconnect with life. The text is beautifully written, with magical elements effortlessly woven into a realistic narrative. Transliterated Japanese language is incorporated in a way that adds to the atmosphere, and is understandable through context. ...

This Rebel Heart by Katherine Locke A Borzoi Book/Alfred A. Knopf (imprint of Random House), 2022 Category: Young Adult Reviewer: Sarah Blattner Buy at Bookshop.org Living with her Tante Ilona, a Holocaust survivor, in post-WWII Budapest, Hungary, Csilla Tisza’s life rests on the edge of a knife, cutting between the truths and lies about her parents’ deaths and the false exoneration for their crimes. Csilla must decide if she will stay in Hungary and fight or flee to safety. Constantly under surveillance by the ÁVH, the State Protection Authority, Csilla knows you can be “disappeared” for a range of suspicions. While being followed one morning, she finds safety in Azriel, a suspiciously friendly stranger who doesn’t quite sound like a Hungarian. Meeting Azriel is not by chance; however, because he is bound to Csilla and her friends as they light the flames of revolution. Several literary attributes stand out in This Rebel Heart . The Duna River is a magical protector of Csilla, calling...

But Perhaps, Just Maybe... by Tuvia Dikman Oro, illustrated by Menahem Halberstadt Green Bean Books, 2022 Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Rebecca Klempner Buy at Bookshop.org From the moment we meet the main characters of Tuvia Dikman Oro's But Perhaps, Just Maybe , we can tell they have opposite personalities. Thanks to expressive illustrations by Menahem Halberstadt, we can tell Hedgehog has an optimistic disposition and that Duck is a cynic. On their way to a bike shop, they encounter three neighbors–Cat, Billy Goat, and Fox– who disturb Duck and Hedgehog's plans on this sunny afternoon. During each confrontation Duck assumes the worst of their neighbors. Hedgehog, however, suggests giving them the benefit of the doubt. When the friends reach the bike shop, they discover that Hedgehog was right, and all the animals enjoy a pleasant snack in the shade. Halberstadt’s palette combines earth tones and more vibrant ones in a quirky mix which really vibes with Oro’s text, which ...

José and the Pirate Captain Toledano by Arnon Z. Shorr, illustrated by Joshua M. Edelglass Kar-Ben Publishing (imprint of Lerner Publishing Group), 2022 Category: Middle Grade Reviewer: Dena Bach Buy at Bookshop.org José Alfaro is a smart, mischievous teen who has always felt different from those around him yet yearns to be like everyone else. Unlike other children in his time and place, 16th century in the Caribbean, his father made him learn to read, write, and speak several languages, and let him help with his work as the colonial treasurer. Then the Spanish Inquisition comes, in the person of Captain de Guzman, who arrives in Santo Domingo to repair his ship after an attack by pirates. While there, de Guzman makes wager that he will uncover a heretic before his ship is repaired. When the heretic de Guzman finds is José’s father, José learns why he was raised to be different. José’s father tells him they are hidden Jews who fled the Inquisition in Portugal when he was just ...

The Greatest Song of All: How Isaac Stern United the World to Save Carnegie Hall by Megan Hoyt, illustrated by Katie Hickey Quill Tree Books (imprint of HarperCollins), 2022 Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Shanna Silva Buy at Bookshop.org The Greatest Song of All, How Isaac Stern United the World to Save Carnegie Hall , is easily one of my favorite picture book biographies. It’s a dual story about violinist Isaac Stern and the cultural significance of New York’s Carnegie Hall. These story lines weave together as Isaac develops his extraordinary talents and falls in love with the venue whose stage has been graced by the likes of Marion Anderson, Albert Einstein, Duke Ellington, and Pyotr Tchaikovsky. Written in beautiful prose that uses the five senses to place the reader in Carnegie Hall and New York, it’s complemented by sophisticated illustrations that depict a diverse, vibrant city. Isaac is the child of poor Jewish immigrants from Ukraine (particularly resonant with current event...

Alias Anna: A True Story of Outwitting the Nazis by Susan Hood with Greg Dawson Harper (imprint of HarperCollins Publishers), 2022 Category: Middle Grade Reviewer: Karin Fisher-Golton Buy at Bookshop.org Among its many strong attributes, Alias Anna is a tribute to the power of girls. A modern girl’s bold and caring question leads to her grandmother sharing a story she had kept inside for decades. And the protagonist, Zhanna, and her sister Frina’s talents and resourceful choices help them survive Holodomor (the Stalin-contrived Ukrainian famine), local antisemitism, and the Holocaust. Despite having very different personalities, both sisters love music and piano from a young age. They become the two youngest scholarship recipients at the Kharkov Conservatory of Music. While their musical talents contribute to their survival, their notoriety as performers creates obstacles as well. Susan Hood adapted Greg Dawson’s extensive interviews and projects for adults to portray Dawson’s mother’...

I Will Protect You: A True Story of Twins Who Survived Auschwitz by Eva Mozes Kor with Danica Davidson Little, Brown & Company, 2022 Category: Middle Grade Reviewer: Stacey Rattner Buy at Bookshop.org I Will Protect You is the raw, tough true story of Romanian identical twins Eva and Miriam, told from young Eva’s point of view. “We were two girls against the Nazi regime,” she writes early on, vowing to make it through. The book is bitterly honest and descriptive and yet completely appropriate for middle grade readers. “The scariest stories Mama had told me before bed were nothing compared to the scary reality we were living in.” The late Eva Mozes Kor’s words told through Danica Davidson’s writing make it easy to share, remember and never forget this scary story. At Auschwitz, Eva and Miriam are separated from the rest of their family and are selected to be subjects for Dr. Mengele’s twin experiments. Powerful Dr. Mengele, who invoked fear in the SS guards, was someone that Eva wo...

Blips on a Screen: How Ralph Baer Invented TV Video Gaming and Launched a Worldwide Obsession by Kate Hannigan, illustrated by Zachariah Ohora Alfred A. Knopf (imprint of Penguin Random House), 2022 Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Dena Bach Buy at Bookshop.org “Rudolph ‘Rolf’ Baer loved games.” That is the beginning and the essence of the story of the life Ralph Baer, the inventor of the first video gaming system. He and his sister Ilse had enjoyed a typical childhood in Cologne, Germany, of friends, school, and games. Then when Baer was 10 years old, Hitler came to power and everything changed. He and his family managed to escape Germany weeks before the borders closed, eventually arriving in America, changing the children’s names to the less German sounding Ralph and Jane.  There Ralph began working in various industries, from a leather factory to radio repair to designing televisions to military electronics. All this job experience combined to give him the knowledge to do what...

Can Sophie Change the World? by Nancy Elizabeth Wallace, illustrated by Aura Lewis Chronicle Books, 2022 Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Linda Elovitz Marshall Buy at Bookshop.org In Can Sophie Change the World? by Nancy Elizabeth Wallace, Grandpop asks Sophie for one thing for his birthday – he wants HER to change the world! Worried but undaunted, Sophie gets to work. She waters plants, returns dropped stuffed animals, shares puppets, and teaches a clapping song. She does mitzvah (good deed) after mitzvah in a community of diverse people. But Sophie doesn’t feel her efforts work… until Grandpop explains that she is making the world a better place. Sophie realizes that, mitzvah by mitzvah, she’s changing the world. This sweet story about kindness teaches the Jewish value of Tikkun Olam (repairing the world) and demonstrates how everyone can help make our world a better place. Charmingly retro garden-inspired illustrations by Aura Lewis make Sophie’s story even sweeter. With its dive...

If I Swam With Jonah by Pamela Moritz, illustrated by MacKenzie Haley Apples & Honey Press (imprint of Behrman House Publishing), 2022 Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Jeff Gottesfeld Buy at Bookshop.org The story of the minor prophet Jonah, as contained in the biblical Book of Jonah, is in many ways a troubling tale with an ambiguous ending which finds Jonah having learned only modestly from his experience. It's read in synagogues often on Yom Kippur. In IF I SWAM WITH JONAH, author Moritz and illustrator Haley find a nifty way to bring the Jonah story to young children, in a rhyming text that creates a midrash. Moritz's cleverness is to impart the tale in the first person voice of a boy who talks to his beloved pet about a fish way bigger than the goldfish, the one that swallows Jonah when he did not want to assist the people of Nineveh as God commanded. Wisely omitted is the textual reason for Jonah's reluctance -- that Nineveh was just about the most wicked place o...