The Sydney Taylor Shmooze

Friends to the Rescue by Ellen Schwartz, illustrated by Alison Mutton Apples & Honey Press (imprint of Behrman House), 2024 Category: Middle Grade Reviewer: Lisa Trank Buy at Bookshop.org In  Friends to the Rescue , a poignant illustrated novel, the story unfolds in the aftermath of the devastating 2009 earthquake that ravaged the Italian town of Fossa. Young Luca, orphaned by a car accident, lives with his grandfather, Roberto, when the disaster strikes. Their trauma is compounded by the town's collective grief. The early chapters introduce Antonio, Luca's braver best friend, and portray the community's unwavering resilience as they come together to aid the injured and rescue the trapped. A turning point arrives with the discovery of a beloved townswoman's body. This prompts a flashback to 1943, when Nazi Germany occupied Italy. Roberto, then a young man, witnesses the persecution of Italian Jews. His family risks their lives to harbor the Rosettis, including Sara,...

The Girl Who Sang: A Holocaust Memoir of Hope and Survival by Estelle Nadel, illustrated by Sammy Savos Roaring Brook Press, 2024 Category: Middle Grade Reviewer: Lisa Trank Buy at Bookshop.org “I’m not going to be here forever. Someday there will no longer be any Holocaust survivors still living. We will be gone. I want you, the young people, the next generation, to carry our stories on and someday tell your own children that, yes, you know a Holocaust survivor. She was real. It really happened.” - Estelle Nadel   The Girl Who Sang: A Holocaust Memoir of Hope and Survival is a poignant graphic novel recounting the story of Estelle Nadel, born Enia Feld in 1934 Poland. The youngest of five, Enia is depicted as a joyful child who loves singing. However, her life drastically changes when the Holocaust disrupts her peaceful existence in Borek. The graphic novel, with concise language and compelling illustrations, follows Enia as she survives with the aid of non-Jewish neighbors who r...

On All Other Nights: A Passover Celebration in 14 Stories edited by Chris Baron, Joshua S. Levy, & Naomi Milliner Amulet Books (imprint of Abrams), 2024 Category: Middle Grade Reviewer: Lisa Trank Buy at Bookshop.org On All Other Nights: A Celebration of Passover in 14 Stories is exactly that - celebration of the many ways we celebrate, challenge, question, and find humor and deeper meanings in our shared traditions. The stories are organized as if we are sitting around the same Passover table (if only!), with each story representing a step of the seder and offering a brief lesson, as well as asking thought-provoking questions. I can imagine families supplementing (or even replacing) their Haggadot with this special collection. I know our family will. Written by a remarkable line-up of contemporary Jewish children's literature luminaries, each story presents a unique aspect about Passover. The entries are diverse, surprising, and universal. To name only a few of the gems - Mar...

The Puttermans Are in the House by Jacquetta Nammar Feldman Harper (imprint of HarperCollins), 2023 Category: Middle Grade Reviewer: Lisa Trank Buy at Bookshop.org Seventh grade fraternal twins Sammy and Matty are unbeatable on the baseball field. Sammy, the only girl in the league, is fierce at first base and behind the bat. Matty, a southpaw powerhouse, is compared to a young Sandy Koufax. But in the middle of the game before the playoffs, Matty walks off the mound and the field, sending a text to his parents that he's done with the game of baseball forever, and stops talking to Sammy, breaking their lifelong streak of twin telepathy. Matty has a secret that he is not ready to acknowledge, to himself, or to his twin sister: he kissed his best friend Ethan and is realizing that he is gay. In the Putterman family, baseball is sacred and close to being the most important thing in the world, except to Matty and Sammy's cousin, Becky, who is a year older and filled with jealousy a...

Under-the-Sea Seder written & illustrated by Ann D. Koffsky Apples & Honey Press (imprint of Behrman House), 2023 Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Lisa Trank Buy at Bookshop.org In Under-the-Sea Seder , Miri is crunching the matzoh too loud, she’s slurping the grape juice, and doing just about anything she can do to fight off her Passover seder boredom. Her parents beg her to be quiet and sit still, but Miri simply can’t, so she escapes underneath the seder table and to an imaginary Under-the-Sea Seder, accompanied by Abby the cat, complete with submarines, underwater caves, and sea monsters. After a truly original and hilarious version of the four questions, Miri’s parents call her back in time for seder songs, which she can sing at the top of her lungs.  This is a book that every Jewish family will connect to and laugh out loud with. The illustrations are colorful, charming, and add to the overall fun and humor of the entire story, as well as make the reader want to turn...

Einstein by Jim Ottaviani, illustrated by Jerel Dye First Second (imprint of Macmillan), 2022 Category: Young Adult Reviewer: Lisa Trank Buy at Bookshop.org Einstein , a new graphic novel by Jim Ottaviani, illustrated by Jerel Dye, (with coloring by Alison Acton), opens in Hollywood. Albert Einstein, along with his second wife, Elsa, is seen entering the premiere of “City Lights, A Comedy in Pantomime” alongside Charlie Chaplin. The crowd recognizes Einstein and breaks out in applause. Einstein says to Chaplin, “We are just walking. Why are they applauding?” Chaplin responds, “They cheer you because none of them understands you. They cheer me because they understand me. It doesn’t mean anything, but in time you get used to it.” Einstein begins with his celebrity, then quickly fades, like a film, to the full span of his life and career as one of the most important scientists and political figures of our time. As his wife tells Chaplin and the reader, all of his life, Einstein straddled ...

We Survived the Holocaust: The Bluma and Felix Goldberg Story by Frank W. Baker, illustrated by Tim E. Ogline Image and Wonder, 2022 Category: Young Adult Reviewer: Lisa Trank Buy at Bookshop.org The field of graphic novels often covers difficult topics through a delicate balance of the visual and the word. In the world of Jewish literature, graphic novels provide a unique way to tell the story of the Holocaust to a wide range of audiences, and in particular, younger readers. The graphic novel We Survived the Holocaust by Frank W. Baker and Tim E. Ogline began with a simple request. “Frankie, do something with this,” Felix Goldberg said, handing the author the speech he’d just delivered to their South Carolina synagogue on Yom Hashoah in 2000. Baker, a lifelong friend of the Goldbergs, worked with the family to create www.storiesofsurvival.org , a website dedicated to the Goldbergs' life before, during, and after World War II, and their life in South Carolina. However, after rea...