The Sydney Taylor Shmooze

A Synagogue Just Like Home by Alice Blumenthal McGinty, illustrated by Laurel Molk Candlewick, 2022 Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Cynthia Levinson Buy at Bookshop.org Rabbi Ruben, a tousle-haired young man who wears sneakers and is accompanied everywhere by his adoring dog (who really wishes someone would play ball with him!), loves his cheery synagogue. However, the kitchen sink leaks. The floors creak. And the windows are so drafty, wind blows out the Shabbat candles. No problem! Rabbi Ruben can take care of everything to make the synagogue feel the way it should--like a happy home. But, alas, he can't do it all by himself, and he makes matters even worse when he tries to fix everything alone. Fortunately, the choir director, the Weinstein girls, and other members of the congregation pitch in, literally mopping up after Rabbi Ruben and repairing the leaks, creaks, and drafts. By the end, everyone realizes that a synagogue can indeed feel like a home--because a home is about h...

Shoshi's Shabbat by Caryn Yacowitz, illustrated by Kevin Hawkes Candlewick Press, 2022 Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Jacqueline Jules Buy at Bookshop.org Six days a week, Shoshi, a little ox, helps Farmer Simon plows his fields. On the Sabbath, she enjoys relaxing and playing with Simon’s grandchildren. Life is pleasant until Farmer Simon feels “the weight of his years” and sells Shoshi to his neighbor, Yohanan. When Shoshi’s new owner expects her to work seven days a week, she plants “her four feet on the ground” and firmly refuses. Yohanan is mystified until he considers how his neighbor Simon enjoys a day of rest with his family each week. Does the little ox understand the importance of Shabbat? Is she trying to teach him something? Shoshi’s Shabbat celebrates the beauty of observing the Sabbath with lyrical language and delightful illustrations. Young readers will fall in love with this adorable little ox who defies her new owner with humorous facial expressions. An author’...

Those Summer Nights by Laura Silverman Margaret K. McElderry Books (imprint of Simon & Schuster), 2022 Category: Young Adult Reviewer: Sarah Blattner Buy at Bookshop.org It’s the summer before her senior year, and Hannah Klein has just returned from a year at Mountain Bliss Academy, a boarding school in the north Georgia mountains for troubled teens. Last summer Hannah lost everything that mattered to her: the ability to play soccer due to an injury, her bubbie to cancer, her best friend Brie Bradley, and her parents’ trust. Hannah turned to self-destructive behaviors: she took partying too far one night and almost got behind the wheel of her car while intoxicated. Her bestie Brie took her keys, drove her home, and notified Hannah’s parents. But now Hannah is back in Atlanta, and she must prove herself to her family, her friends, and most of all, to herself. A main theme in the novel is taking ownership for your actions by repairing harm. While working with her brother Joey at Bona...

A Million Quiet Revolutions by Robin Gow Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2022 Category: Young Adult Reviewer: Emily Roth Buy at Bookshop.org A Million Quiet Revolutions is a stunning novel in verse that tells a profound love story. At the beginning of their senior year of high school, Oliver and Aaron are realizing that their relationship is deeper than a lifelong friendship, and they are both beginning the process of coming out as trans. After history buff Oliver discovers a story of two Revolutionary War soldiers who may have been trans and may have lived together after the war, he and Aaron choose to pay tribute to the soldiers by adopting their names. Oliver, who is white and Jewish, finds that his parents immediately support him and affirm his identity, while Aaron’s more conservative Puerto Rican and Catholic parents have a hard time using the correct pronouns and often deadname him. Although it would be easy to view Aaron’s parents as the villains of this story, Glow succeeds at cre...

Berliners by Vesper Stamper Knopf (imprint of Random House), 2022 Category: Young Adult Reviewer: Ronda Einbinder   Buy at Bookshop.org In WWII Berlin, fifteen-year-old Rudolf is given the Hitler Jugend uniform and told to be on the lookout for Jews in critically-acclaimed author-illustrator Vesper Stamper’s latest novel Berliners . Rudolf doesn’t give it much thought until he discovers his crush is Jewish and turns her in. Later when Rudolf meets scared teen Ilse, he realizes he must do what he can to save her. She will be his redemption. When unfaithful Ilse discovers she is pregnant, they reluctantly decide to wed. This page-turning story fast-forwards the reader to 1961 when twins Rudi and Peter are fifteen and follow the mantra "twins against the world." Peter is a creative thinker, popular and smart. Rudi is jealous of his twin and believes in the words of the socialist party. When the parents split up, Rudolph escapes to West Berlin just before the Berlin Wall is bui...

Shabbat Sabotage by Emma Carlson Berne Yellow Jacket (imprint of Little Bee  Books), 2022 Category: Middle Grade Reviewer: Sandy Wasserman Buy at Bookshop.org This is one of the most uplifting Jewish camp books I've ever read! Camp Shalom, where it takes place, is a girls' camp but the object lessons in the plot are universal. The 11 year olds arriving on Day One do not know each other, some do not want to be there, and there's a bit of edgy unfriendliness as they size each other up upon arrival at their cabin. But what they don't know is that some of the girls have secrets, and so a mystery develops. Someone can't swim, and someone steals a kiddush cup and candlesticks for a very unusual reason, and someone is way more homesick than anyone else. There is just enough of a hint along the way to surmise the identity of the thief, but the story keeps the reader guessing. In the end, the girls solve the mystery and help each other overcome their personal problems and fe...

Shoham's Bangle by Sarah Sassoon, illustrated by Noa Kelner Kar-Ben Publishing (imprint of Lerner Publishing Group), 2022 Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Rachel J. Fremmer   Buy at Bookshop.org What a delight it is to be invited into Shoham’s warm, multigenerational home in Iraq via the pages of Sarah Sassoon’s Shoham’s Bangle . When the family departs for Israel, the reader, too, mourns for the home and fig tree by the Tigris River that they are leaving behind. Shoham’s titular bangle is especially missed, as the Iraqi government did not allow the emigrating Jews to bring their jewelry. Shoham’s grandmother, Nana Aziza, comforts her, comparing their journey to the original Exodus, and entrusts her granddaughter with carrying the pita (instead of matzo) to eat on their arrival in Israel. When she bites into it, she finds a wonderful (and hard to chew) surprise - her hidden bangle! This book is a lovely introduction to Iraqi Jewry and its own exodus, which is handled deftly and ...

A Visit to Moscow Adapted by Anna Olswanger from a story by Rabbi Rafael Grossman, illustrated by Yevgenia Nayberg West Margin Press, 2022 Category: Young Adult Reviewer: Jeanette Brod Buy at Bookshop.org In the summer of 1965, a group of American rabbis visit the Soviet Union to meet with Soviet Jews. Rabbi Rafael Grossman, a member of the delegation, goes in search of the brother of one of his congregants. He finds a hidden child. Zev is a beautiful and fragile four-year-old boy who peeks out from behind a curtain. He has never been outside. He has never met a stranger. His parents believe that the only way the boy can stay safe and remain Jewish is to avoid the prejudice on the streets and the ostracism in the schools, where Shabbat observance would be impossible and unkosher food would be served. The Rabbi helps the boy and his family emigrate to Israel. That is the central story of this hauntingly illustrated graphic novel for older readers. The story begins and ends with Zev seem...

The Woman Who Split the Atom: The Life of Lise Meitner by Marissa Moss Harry N. Abrams, 2022 Category: Middle Grade Reviewer: Merle Eisman Carrus Buy at Bookshop.org The Woman Who Split the Atom is an inspiring story of a woman determined to study science in spite of the challenges she faced. Author Marissa Moss takes us through Lise's life from living at home with her family to traveling to Berlin to work with some of the greatest physicists of all time. Though she was a demure, small young woman and intimidated at first, she persisted. Meitner met important professors and scientists, who would be her friends and supporters: Max Planck, Albert Einstein, Heinrich Rubens, and Niels Bohr. She also worked with her nephew Otto Frisch and the man who became her life-long scientific partner, Otto Hahn. She published articles about her scientific findings under the name L. Meitner, so no one would know that these articles were written by a woman. This is an important book, bringing Meitn...

The Honeys by Ryan LaSala PUSH (imprint of Scholastic), 2022 Category: Young Adult Reviewer: Stacey Rattner Buy at Bookshop.org Right from the start, you know that the elite sleepaway camp in this story, Aspen Conservancy Summer Academy, is not like any camp you may be familiar with. It’s no Ramah or Tel Yehudah, that’s for sure. Mars’s twin sister, Caroline, is deep in the heart of the culture of Aspen, especially her cabin and friends, the oldest girls in camp, called The Honeys. These are her people. This, of course, is relatable to anyone who has attended or sends their own kids to camp. But when Caroline runs away from camp and in an unfortunate series of events, dies suddenly at home, genderfluid Mars, who never completely felt comfortable at camp, makes the decision to return to Aspen and find out what really happened . Aspen is filled with history and connections. Some we learn right away; others a bit later. Who can Mars trust? Who is friend? Who is foe? While trying to figure...

Ballad & Dagger (An Outlaw Saints Novel) by Daniel José Older Rick Riordan Presents (imprint of Disney Publishing), 2022 Category: Young Adult Reviewer: Aleah Gornbein   Buy at Bookshop.org As readers of Jewish books, we are intimately familiar with the theme of diaspora. So jumping into Daniel José Older’s Ballad & Dagger where the focus is on the close-knit community of Little Madrigal is like settling into a well-worn couch, no matter the magical elements at play. Sixteen years ago, the Carribean island of San Madrigal sank, and the pirates, Cuban Santeros, and Sephardic Jews who lived there escaped to Brooklyn to keep their blended culture alive. Mateo Matisse, our protagonist, is now a regular teenager who loves music and lives with his Tía Lucia while his parents travel for work. Not one for the spotlight, he just wants to get the attention of Gerval, a popular local musician, at the annual celebration, the Grand Fete. However, when Mateo witnesses the rabbi’s daught...

We Worship Here: Jewish Synagogue by Angela Wood, illustrated by Emma Trithart Franklin Watts, 2022 Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Stacy Nockowitz We Worship Here: Jewish Synagogue is a title in the We Worship Here series from Franklin Watts. It’s an odd little book. Coming in at 32 pages, it seems like a picture book meant for a very young audience, but the index in the back is not common in picture books. Perhaps it’s an easy reader, but much of the vocabulary and ideas in the book are on the sophisticated side for an early reader. I certainly wouldn’t call it a middle grade book. So, I’m not sure who the audience is for We Worship Here: Jewish Synagogue .    There is no indication that the building on the cover is a synagogue, other than a person in a tallit waving from the sidewalk in front of the building. It could just as easily be a mosque or Greek Orthodox church. Each spread addresses a different aspect of Jewish life in a synagogue, from the Ner Tamid to how Jews...

Start the Day by Vicki L. Weber, illustrated by Shirley Ng-Benitez Apples & Honey (imprint of Behrman House), 2022 Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Jeff Gottesfeld Buy at Bookshop.org The very best time for kids to learn nearly anything is when they are young. This is especially true when it comes to learning a second language. Vicki L. Weber's START THE DAY, with inviting illustrations by Shirley Ng-Benitez, puts this principle to work with the Hebrew phrase for "Good morning," *boker tov.* Her board book for the youngest children is part of a series from Apples & Honey Press that includes the havdalah-centered A NEW WEEK, SHABBAT SHALOM, and more. Weber's rhyming text is simple enough for any toddler to grasp -- "good morning all, it's time to rise / and rub the sleep from rested eyes" -- and uncommonly active. Each page will give the young person being read to the opportunity to do something. They can touch their noses, or wiggle their toes. ...

The Counselors by Jessica Goodman Razorbill (imprint of Penguin Random House), 2022 Category: Young Adult Reviewer: Meg Wiviott Buy at Bookshop.org Goldie Eastman can’t wait to return to Camp Alpine Lake, the only place she feels safe, loved, and at home. Her senior year was disastrous, filled with love and lies, and secrets she’s kept from her best friends Ava and Imogen. But will this year’s summer be the same as those in the past, as Goldie, Ava, and Imo work as counselors, or will the secrets she’s kept ruin their friendships forever? Jessica Goodman’s young adult novel, The Counselors , brings to life the joys, comradery, and appeal of summer camp. Until, that is, a local boy is found dead on the grounds of Camp Alpine. Goldie knows this is no accident and knows she must find the truth behind the murder. What she uncovers is that the truth can be ugly—and that she’s not the only one keeping secrets. The Counselors is a quintessential story about summer camp (or as I imagine summe...

  Sally Opened Doors: The Story of the First Woman Rabbi by Sandy Eisenberg Sasso, illustrated by Margeaux Lucas Apples & Honey (imprint of Behrman House), 2022 Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Shanna Silver Buy at Bookshop.org   Sally Priesand was America’s first female ordained rabbi. This picture book biography is about her dream, realized through self-confidence and persistence. Young Sally fantasizes about being on the bimah and teaching Torah. In the 1970’s, women were claiming their places in the career world as pilots, doctors and lawyers. Growing up in this era, Sally visualized herself becoming a rabbi in the completely male-dominated field. She was undeterred by the nay-sayers and gatekeepers who couldn’t envision a female rabbi. By age 16, Sally used her admirable chutzpah to inquire about admission to the Hebrew Union College. When she finally received a response, it was neither encouraging nor welcoming. The art shows Sally nonchalantly tossing the letter in...

Max Builds a Time Machine (Torah Time Travel series) by Carl Harris Shuman, illustrated by C.B. Decker Apples & Honey Press (imprint of Behrman House), 2022 Category: Middle Grade Reviewer: Sandy Wasserman Buy at Bookshop.org Max is creative, though a bit odd, and attends Jewish school. He likes to putter and build and has many questions about the Bible and Jewish history. Needing answers to some questions he has about Bible stories, he builds a time machine in his room and sets off to find answers. He wonders: Do angels have wings? Do they actually eat real food? He does know quite a bit already about Abraham and Sarah and the custom of inviting guests into their tent and he does recognize the three angels and Sarah and Abraham when he arrives. With his cardboard time machine and using 'Miri,' [AKA: Siri] his mother's old partially working cell phone, he goes back 2000 years. Author Carl Shuman throws delightful humor into every page, into every character's comment...

See You Yesterday by Rachel Lynn Solomon Simon & Schuster, 2022 Category: Young Adult Reviewer: Ronda Einbinder   Buy at Bookshop.org It’s Wednesday, September 21, and Barrett Bloom’s first day of freshman year at the University of Washington. She awakes in her dorm room to learn that her high school nemesis is her new roommate. She messes up her dream job interview for the Washingtonian college paper. She meets Miles Kasher-Okamoto (the son of the physics professor, no less, of whom she is not too fond and accidentally pepper-sprays) before knocking down a tiki torch and setting a frat house on fire. Wouldn’t you want a do-over after that kind of first day of college? Well, Barrett magically gets thirty first days of school when September 21 repeats over and over again. Award-winning author Rachel Lynn Solomon embarks on a journey back in time in See You Yesterday, a page-turning story traveling repeatedly through one day with the protagonist, who experiments with various w...

Shabbat Shalom by Vicki L. Weber, illustrated by Shirley Ng-Benitez Apples & Honey Press (imprint of Behrman House), 2022 Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Rinat Hadad Siegel Buy at Bookshop.org Shabbat Shalom  is part of a collection of four board books for very young children, which also includes  Start the Day, A New Week , and  Time for Bed . This particular title welcomes the reader into Shabbat with a cover showcasing children cheerfully eating and drinking while wearing bibs that say, "Shabbat Shalom." The reader meets toddlers who participate in Shabbat rituals like lighting candles and eating challah. Basic Shabbat vocabulary is introduced, as well as the Hebrew (transliterated) words "Saba" for grandfather and "Savta" for grandmother. I was thrilled to see the toddlers blessed by their parents with the Priestly Blessing (Birkat Kohanim), a customary blessing for Friday night, which is not often portrayed in children's books. The illustrat...