The Sydney Taylor Shmooze

The Forbidden Book by Sacha Lamb Levine Querido, 2024 Category: Young Adult Reviewer: Beth Gallego Buy at Bookshop.org Lamb’s sophomore novel (after 2023 Sydney Taylor Award-winner When the Angels Left the Old Country) is a fascinating dive into Jewish mythology and life in the Pale of Settlement. Sorel Kalmans, daughter of a well-to-do lumber merchant, is seventeen and engaged to the eldest son of the Esroger Rebbe. The marriage is meant to unite the local Jews, both Hasidic and Maskilic. The night before the wedding, Sorel makes an impulsive decision to run away instead. She disguises herself as a young man and gives her name as Isser Jacobs. But there is a real Isser Jacobs, and he is in serious trouble with some very dangerous people. In addition to escaping her own life, Sorel also must solve the mystery of what has happened to Isser and why. Sorel has led a sheltered life, protected by her father’s wealth and power. Her education has not prepared her for the reality of life in Es...

Golemcrafters by Emi Watanabe Cohen Levine Querido, 2024 Category: Middle Grade Reviewer: Heather Matthews Buy at Bookshop.org Faye and her older brother, Shiloh, are straddling two cultures at once. Patrilineal European Jews with a Japanese American mother, the siblings struggle to feel that they belong anywhere. Faye doesn’t feel that she belongs in the Asian Student Association or the Jewish Student Association, and both she and her brother face regular antisemitic bullying. However, through the gift of clay sent by their Zeyde, Faye and Shiloh end up spending their spring break in New York City, learning the skill of crafting golems. Over the week with Zeyde, Faye discovers her own powers and abilities, as well as the indominable spirit of her ancestors. Ultimately, Golemcrafters is a story about generational trauma, but more importantly, a story about generational strength.    Faye and Shiloh interact with multiple instances of historic and contemporary antisemitism. Thes...

The Dubious Pranks of Shaindy Goodman by Mari Lowe Levine Querido, 2023 Category: Middle Grade Reviewer: Rachel J. Fremmer Buy at Bookshop.org Shaindy Goodman isn’t special. She’s not at the top of her class academically, she’s not a gifted athlete, she’s not the most popular. She’s not an outcast either. She’s just… forgettable. So when Gayil, the most popular girl in Shaindy’s class suddenly pays attention to her, Shaindy is predictably flattered. What she doesn’t realize - at first - is that Gayil’s attention is not because she suddenly likes Shaindy. Rather, it’s because she needs an accomplice… and maybe someone to blame. As Shaindy helps Gayil play pranks on their fellow Bais Yaacov classmates, Shaindy begins to awaken to the fact that these “harmless” pranks are not so harmless after all… and that she deserves true friendship. With Yom Kippur approaching, she also reckons with her own complicity.   Author Mari Lowe takes readers into the fairly sequestered world of the stric...

When the Angels Left the Old Country by Sacha Lamb Levine Querido, 2022 Category: Young Adult Reviewer: Beth L. Gallego Buy at Bookshop.org With its bookish, slightly absent-minded angel and clever, mischief-loving demon, the best of friends since time immemorial, this debut fantasy has immediate appeal for fans of Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett, but with a thoroughly Jewish perspective. Lamb’s immersive world is infused with Yiddish folklore and Jewish culture. Little Ash, the wingless demon with limited magical ability, is more properly a sheyd, closer to a mischievous fairy. He serves as interpreter for the angel, who only understands Hebrew and Aramaic. Both beings appear to humans as young Jewish men, partners in Talmudic study, their supernatural features unnoticed by all but some children and the most perceptive of adults. After centuries in the tiny community of Shtetl, the pair set out for the “Golden Land” of America. Their mission is to find the baker’s dau...

The Lost Ryū by Emi Watanabe Cohen Levine Querido, 2022 Category: Middle Grade Reviewer: Heidi Rabinowitz Buy at Bookshop.org This debut novel from a talented young Jewish/Japanese      author takes place in Japan twenty years after the end of WWII. Kohei's mother and grandfather both continue to suffer from their wartime experiences, and the boy believes that Ojiisan's grief may be tied to the disappearance of the large ryū or Japanese dragons. Small ryū, reminiscent of the daemons in the His Dark Materials series by Philip Pullman, are companions and confidants to humans. When a Japanese-American Jewish girl, Isolde, moves into the building along with her small Western dragon, she and Kohei set out on a quest to help Ojiisan reconnect with life. The text is beautifully written, with magical elements effortlessly woven into a realistic narrative. Transliterated Japanese language is incorporated in a way that adds to the atmosphere, and is understandable through context. ...

Big Dreams, Small Fish written and illustrated by Paula Cohen Levine Querido, 2022 Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Sarah Aronson Buy at Bookshop.org In Paula Cohen’s Big Dreams, Small Fish , Shirley and her family have big dreams for their new family store. The problem is: all the adults think Shirley is too young to work. They think she should spend her time playing. But Shirley is full of big ideas, and when her family leaves her and Mrs. Gottlieb to mind the store, she includes a free sample of gefilte fish with every purchase. Her parents are upset until the next morning, when members of their ethnically inclusive neighborhood line up to buy more of the new neighborhood delicacy. I loved this picture book. Shirley is plucky and resourceful. She doesn’t accept that she is too young to work at the family store. When she seizes the moment and gets to work in the store, I turned pages to see how she would sell that fish! This girl doesn’t just have big dreams. She has great ideas! (A...

Aviva vs. the Dybbuk by Mari Lowe Levine Querido, 2022 Category: Middle Grade Reviewer: Leah Cypess Buy at Bookshop.org Aviva lives with her mother in the apartment above the town’s mikvah (ritual bath). Aviva’s mother never leaves the apartment, and Aviva herself leaves only to go to school, where she has no friends but is at least good at sports. At home, she does her best to care for her mother, who has sunken deeply into depression since her father died. On top of all that, she has to deal with an exasperating dybbuk – a sometimes friendly, sometimes vengeful spirit who delights in wreaking havoc upon Aviva’s careful, quiet life. When rivalries at school begin to spiral out of control, and vandalism of the synagogue fills the Jewish community with fear, Aviva may be the only one who can make things right. But first she will have to face some hard truths about her present, her past, and what the dybbuk really wants. Aviva vs. the Dybbuk is a gem of a middle grade book. The fully fl...

I'll Keep You Close by Jeska Verstegen Levine Querido Category: Middle Grade Reviewer: Beth L. Gallego Buy at Bookshop.org How does one honor the memory of those who died during a time one wants to forget? Debut novelist Jeska Verstegen examines the toll secret grief took on her own family in this poignant volume, originally published in the Netherlands as Ik zal je bewaren and translated from the Dutch by Bill Nagelkerke.   In snapshot vignettes, eleven-year-old Jesje presents, at first, unremarkable days in the ordinary life of a girl in 1980s Amsterdam. Perhaps her mother is unusually anxious, but that’s just how Mama is. Bomma, Jesje’s maternal grandmother, is in a nearby nursing home, suffering from dementia that has taken a turn for the worse. During a visit, she calls Jesje by someone else’s name, Hesje, and Mama refuses to say more than that it is the name of someone from far in the past.   Curious, Jesje investigates, gathering information from other famil...

Red and Green and Blue and White by Lee Wind, illustrated by Paul O. Zelinsky Levine Querido Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Ruth Horowitz Buy at Bookshop.org In 1993, in Billings, Montana, a rock shattered a window displaying a menorah decoration. The community, overwhelmingly non-Jewish, responded by displaying 10,000 menorah decorations in windows around town. RED AND GREEN AND BLUE AND WHITE turns these events into a picture book that is gracefully written, gorgeously illustrated, appropriate for young readers, and inspiring to all.   Lee Wind centers his story on two real children, neighbors and best friends Isaac and Teresa. The two have a lot in common, including loving each other’s holiday lights– Isaac’s the only blue-and-white display in a sea of red and green. One night, “shadows” approach Isaac’s house, and a stone shatters his window. After the police come and the glass is replaced, Isaac’s frightened family considers keeping their display down. But erring...

 Osnat and Her Dove by Sigal Samuel, illustrated by Vali Mintzi Levine Querido Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Kathy Bloomfield Buy at Bookshop.org Lovely, engaging prose and gorgeous pictures relate the story of Osnat Barzani, considered the first female rabbi and first female Kurdish leader. While most of the book is historical fiction, because few of her writings are extant, the author has done an excellent job of transforming what little is available into a powerful story of wisdom, courage and miracles. Starting with Osnat’s childhood, moving through her marriage and culminating in her rise to Rosh Yeshiva (Head of the School) of her father’s house of study, details of her strength of character, her passion for Torah study, and her care for the students and communities she served abound. The artwork reflects the Sephardic community in Iraq with deep colors and strong lines, bringing the story to life in bold and attractive ways. This gorgeous book has everything it needs to ...