The Sydney Taylor Shmooze

 The Backyard Secrets of Danny Wexler by Karen Pokras Kar-Ben Publishing (imprint of Lerner Publishing Group) Category: Middle Grade Reviewer: Stacy Mozer Buy at Bookshop.org Growing up in a factory town in the 1970s, eleven year old Danny Wexler has always known he was the only Jewish kid in town, but it hasn't really affected him. That is, until his father gets a promotion and some of the other workers don't think he deserves it because he's Jewish. Fortunately, Danny's two good friends stand with him and support him and together they try to solve a mystery inspired by a movie about the Bermuda Triangle and a white van. This book meets the Sydney Taylor criteria because it is appropriate for the intended grade level in style, vocabulary, format, and illustration, is solidly rooted in authentic and accurate detail through scholarship and research by the author, and it has positive and authentic Jewish religious or cultural content. I particularly liked how the author e