The Sydney Taylor Shmooze

A Sky Full of Song by Susan Lynn Meyer Union Square Kids, 2023 Category: Middle Grade Reviewer: Stacy Nockowitz Buy at Bookshop.org The pitch for Susan Lynn Meyer’s A Sky Full of Song writes itself: Little House on the Prairie , but Jewish! This exceptional book gives readers the story of a family of Russian immigrants settling in North Dakota at the beginning of the 20th century. It’s 1905, and eleven-year-old Shoshana, along with and her mother and sisters, joins her father and older brother who have already started a new life on the vast American Plains. Meyer fills Shoshana’s story with powerful descriptions of the lush landscape and the harsh, day-to-day life on the prairie. Shoshana finds the land beautiful and exciting, if a bit mysterious, while her dear older sister Libke has difficulty adjusting. Their American classmates at their one-room schoolhouse express ignorant ideas about Jews, and the girls face physical danger at the hands of the school bullies. Should they turn aw...

Ripped Away by Shirley Reva Vernick Regal House, 2022 Category: Middle Grade Reviewer: Leah Cypess Buy at Bookshop.org It's just an ordinary day for Abe Pearlman: he's leaving school, head down, "not exactly frowning but not looking delirious with life either." He's braced for his usual daily routine, the highlight of which is being ignored by his crush. Then, on a whim, he steps into a fortune teller's shop... and next thing he knows, he is waking up in the body of a Jewish boy in Victorian London, where Jack the Ripper's victims are being left in the streets. Thanks to the fortune teller's cryptic warning, Abe knows he has been sent to the past to save someone's life. But is it the life of one of the Ripper's victim? Or is it someone closer to home... like his neighbor, who has been arrested because of the public suspicion that Jack the Ripper is likely a Jewish shochet (ritual slaughterer)? Abe's engaging voice, and the author's deft...

Anya and the Nightingale by Sofiya Pasternack Category: Middle Grade Reviewer: Kathy Bloomfield Buy at Bookshop.org The characters from "Anya and the Dragon" – Anya (the girl), Ivan (the fool), and Håkon (the dragon) – are back, this time on a quest to find Anya's Papa and return him home. Finding themselves unexpectedly in Kiev, they agree to rid the kingdom of the Nightingale, a forest elf who is causing a lot of damage. Upon further research, they discover that the Nightingale, whose name is Alfrecht, is trying to free his brother, Wielaf, from the Kiev castle dungeon. The trio, now with Alfrecht, find their way into the dungeons, locate Wielaf, and are met with an angry, evil monster they must defeat in order to leave. The battle is vicious, frightening, and ultimately successful. While reading the first book is not mandatory, it would be helpful just to know the characters and their backgrounds (which are only slightly reviewed.) In addition, there are a lot of loose...

Judy Led the Way by Sandy Eisenberg Sasso, illustrated by Margeaux Lucas Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Belinda Brock Buy at Bookshop.org Judy Led the Way tells the story of twelve-year-old Judith Kaplan, the first American girl to publicly become a bat mitzvah. Judy is depicted as intellectually curious—questioning and challenging ideas and practices around her that don’t make sense. One of things she questioned was the marginalized role that women played in the synagogue. Fortunately, her father, Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan, was forward-thinking and offered Judy the opportunity to chant a Torah portion and lead the congregation. But he only gave her a day to prepare. Although Judy was intelligent and talented, she struggled with fears and insecurities surrounding her risky undertaking. Even though the rituals of bar and bat mitzvot are commonplace now, today’s children will be able to relate to her fears; in fact, anyone challenging the status quo will find a realistic and worthy role ...

The Girl from Over There: The Hopeful Story of a Young Jewish Immigrant by Sharon Rechter, illustrated by Karla Gerard  Category: Middle Grade Reviewer: Judith S. Greenblatt   Buy at Bookshop.org An unnamed Israeli kibbutz, post World War II, is the setting for this work of historical fiction. A tattered and terrified 11 year old girl, Miriam, has arrived from “over there.” The adults in the kibbutz welcome her, but 11 year old Michal, self described as the “class queen,” is consumed by jealousy and hatred. While Michal’s clique are initially suspicious and cruel, soon only Michal continues to play mean tricks. Not surprisingly, Miriam returns Michal’s hatred. However, Miriam, helped by Michal’s boyfriend Dan, learns to accept her new surroundings, and decides to reach out to Michal. As more new arrivals are welcomed and tell their stories of the horrors of the war. Michal gradually comes to understand how much Miriam has suffered, and after much hesitation apologizes. Writte...

  Review: A Ceiling Made of Eggshells by Gail Carson Levine Category: Middle Grade Reviewer: Meg Wiviott   Buy at Bookshop.org    Loma loves taking care of her young nieces and nephews – her “littles”. More than anything else, she wants to be a Mamá with a husband and children of her own. But Loma’s grandfather, Belo, an influential advisor to Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand, wants her to accompany him as he travels throughout Spain helping Jews and conducting royal business. At first, Loma is thrilled; she is seven years old when Belo notices her aptitude with numbers and singles her out from all her siblings. But the years pass and Belo refuses to look for a husband for her. Loma resigns herself to having the “littles” as her only children. After the King and Queen inform Belo and his friend Don Solomon Bohor, another Royal advisor, of their plans to banish all the Jews from Spain, Belo is incapacitated by an illness. Fearing the royal couple may kidnap him and f...

The Blackbird Girls by Anne Blankman Category: Middle Grade Reviewer: Beth Gallego On an April morning in 1986, Valentina Kaplan and Oksana Savchenko wake up in Pripyat, Ukraine, to a red sky full of blue smoke. Neither of their fathers have come home from the overnight shift at the nearby V. I. Lenin Nuclear Power Plant, better known as Chernobyl. Within a few days, the twelve-year-old girls are evacuated to Leningrad. Oksana is angry and afraid, not least because her father has always told her that Jews are liars and thieves, and Valentina’s family is Jewish. Valentina is resentful that her mother is sending her away to a grandmother she has never met, with a girl who has bullied her for years as company. On an August morning in 1941, Rifka Friedman flees her Kiev home with only an older cousin and the few things they can carry, racing to escape the invading German forces. Her mother and three little brothers remain behind, and she can only hope that she will see them agai...