The Sydney Taylor Shmooze

Dream Big, Laugh Often, and More Great Advice from the Bible by Hanoch Piven and Shira Hecht-Koller, illustrated by Hanoch Piven Farrar Straus and Giroux, 2023 Category: Middle Grade Reviewer: Ann Koffsky Buy at Bookshop.org Dream Big, Laugh Often explains its mission on its first page, saying that, “even though the stories of the Bible are very old, there is still a lot that we can learn from each of these characters." With that premise set up, the book describes fourteen biblical characters. Each one has an illustration and a brief text. The headers include the character’s name, followed by the lesson to be learned. (For example: Noah: Be Good. Abraham: Trust the Journey.) The text references the traditional bible stories, but does not retell them. Instead, it uses them as jumping off points, highlighting the “advice’. So for example, In the profile of Jonah there is no mention of Nineveh. It instead focuses on Jonah needing a time out (inside the fish!). Most times, this appro...

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...

 Why Is Everybody Yelling? Growing Up in My Immigrant Family by Marisabina Russo Farrar, Straus & Giroux Category: Young Adult Reviewer: Sandy Wasserman Buy at Bookshop.org This graphic memoir is by author/illustrator extraordinaire of over 35 picture books and illustrated books for older readers and novels. It's classified as a Tween or YA [or JB at one branch] in my library system, and appears to me to be a YA book at least. 230 pages, it is rich with artistic panels and much dense language. Comprised of 23 chapters, it spans the time in separate chapters from 1957 to 1967, the author's childhood and teen years. There is so much in each chapter: coming of age during the 50’s and 60’s, made more complicated by an absentee father and confusion about religion… We meet Marisabina in the first panel dressed in her white Communion dress, surrounded with Catholic ritual items yet the text and following comic panel feature Yiddish family members speaking Yiddish, so we enter Mari...

Thank You, Dr. Salk! The Scientist Who Beat Polio and Healed the World by Dean Robbins, illustrated by Mike Dutton Farrar Straus Giroux Books For Young Readers (imprint of Macmillan) Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Belinda Brock Buy at Bookshop.org Thank You, Dr. Salk introduces us to Jonas Salk as a child, an unlikely hero who figures out that there is more than one way to be brave. Inspired by his desire to heal the world, and specifically to eliminate polio, he demonstrates determination and a strong work ethic to realize his dream. The author relates Dr. Salk's life of study and scientific research in an uncomplicated and easily understandable way. Jonas Salk is a warm and relatable hero who will capture children's interest. The bright and engaging illustrations enhance the text and reinforce how important Dr. Salk and polio research was to the community. Dutton creates appealing and detailed urban neighborhoods of an earlier era filled with people of diverse backgrounds...

 Chance: Escape from the Holocaust by Uri Shulevitz Category: Middle Grade Reviewer: Rachel Fremmer Buy at Bookshop.org Chance: Escape from the Holocaust by Uri Shulevitz is a tour de force, a culmination of his life’s work, in which he traces his family’s journey from Poland to various locations in the Soviet Union during World War II. In direct, simple, and yet beautiful prose, he matter-of-factly recounts the horrors and the hunger - such hunger! - of those days. The book also traces his personal evolution as an artist, reader, and writer. In a particularly appropriate choice of words, he says that, as a refugee, his “only refuge was drawing” and that drawing was his “home.” The title of the book reflects Shulevitz’s belief - dare I say theology? - that he and his parents were saved by chance alone. He asks why he and his non-observant parents were saved while his deeply devout grandfather was not and concludes “I have no answers.” This philosophy, hard for anyone to accept, ma...