The Sydney Taylor Shmooze

Night Owls by A.R. Vishny HarperTeen (imprint of HarperCollins), 2024 Category: Young Adult Reviewer: Kathryn Hall Buy at Bookshop.org I am not usually a fan of horror or vampire culture. I have not read or viewed any of the Twilight or Buffy series, as drinking blood seems unhygienic and inadequately nutritious as a sole food source as well as socially disadvantageous, but A.R. Vishny’s skillful writing won me over completely to Night Owls , if not vampirism. I was not aware of the legends of Jewish vampires dating back nearly a millennium. Vishny has done her homework researching estries, the shape-shifting female Jewish owl-demons that are the main characters of this very enjoyable book. The setting is New York City, the plot moves briskly with plenty of romance (both straight and Sapphic), cinematic references, humor, magic, suspense, and just a hint of horror. I highly recommend this for all middle grade and young adult and adult readers, not just vampire aficionados. The Jewish ...

Nothing Sung and Nothing Spoken by Nita Tyndall HarperTeen (imprint of HarperCollins), 2022 Category: Young Adult Reviewer: Dena Bach Buy at Bookshop.org   In the summer before World War II begins, Charlotte “Charlie” Kraus, chafing under Hitler’s regulations, follows her best friend Angelika, “Geli,” the daughter of a Nazi officer, to a forbidden, hidden dance club. Despite their complicated feelings for each other, Charlie and Geli feel the thrill and freedom of dancing to the “degenerate” jazz music played there. As their lives in Berlin become more restricted, Charlie and Geli, along with friends Renate and Minna, find a kind of resistance to the Nazi regime by joining the “Swingjugend” movement. Historically, these groups of mostly middle- or upper-class teens, in opposition to Nazi policies, would dance in private homes or clubs to banned American music while dressed like the British and Americans. These clubs were a response to the “Hitlerjugend,” Hitler Youth groups, that t...

How to Excavate a Heart by Jake Maia Arlow HarperTeen (imprint of HarperCollins), 2022 Category: Young Adult Reviewer: Dena Bach Buy at Bookshop.org After a bad breakup with her now ex-girlfriend, all Shani wants to do is escape to Washington DC during winter break for her dream internship: studying prehistoric fish at the Smithsonian Natural History Museum. As Shani heads to DC with her mother behind the wheel, things go from bad to worse. She and her mother spend the drive arguing. That is, until their argument is silenced by a terrible snowstorm. When they leave the highway in the blizzard to head to the house where Shani will be staying during her internship, they start arguing again. Distracted, Shani’s mother doesn’t see a girl crossing the road, and hits her with the car. After making sure that the girl is not hurt, Shani can’t help noticing that she’s also very cute. Literally running into May becomes Shani and May’s, “meet cute” in this Jewish, queer, YA “Hallmark Holiday Roma...

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...

  How to Pack for the End of the World by Michelle Falkoff Category: Young Adult Reviewer: Judith S. Greenblatt Buy at Bookshop.org How to pack for the end of the world belongs to the genre of YA literature in which a group of dysfunctional young people bond together for support. Amina’s anxiety spins out of control after her family’s synagogue is firebombed. Her parents send her to the prestigious Gardner Academy in hopes that the change of scenery will help her. At the newcomers get-together the evening of her arrival the question is asked, “If you knew the world was going to end tomorrow, would you rather die along with your friends and family and everyone you’ve ever known, or live among strangers to rebuild civilization?” The is the basis for the group Amina joins the very next night. They create a game through which they struggle to learn survival skills. This pursuit is interrupted by the usual high school dramas, especially of relationships, family, and with a mystery added...