The Sydney Taylor Shmooze

Remember My Story: A Girl, A Holocaust Survivor, and a Friendship That Made History by Claire Sarnowski with Sarah Durand Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, 2024 Category: Middle Grade Reviewer: Sandy Wasserman Buy at Bookshop.org This book is a treasure! It’s the story of the unlikeliest of friendships. The author, Claire Sarnowski, a Christian girl, started a friendship with Alter Wiener when she was only 9 years old, invited by her aunt to hear a Holocaust survivor who was then 89 years old, speak in their very non-Jewish community in Oregon. Soon after they meet, a bond forms between Claire and Alter, a survivor of five work camps and concentration camps. He shares his life story with Claire through their meetings during her middle and high school years, and during those visits she shares her own daily issues with him, speaking frankly as best friends would. She learns from him that just as her education is beginning, it coincides with the time when Alter’s formal education ...

Duct Tape Purim by Carolyn Bernhardt & Jill Collela Bloomfield Kar-Ben Publishing (imprint of Lerner Publishing Group), 2023 Category: Middle Grade Reviewer: Sandy Wasserman Buy at Bookshop.org The title of this book expresses exactly what it offers. It's a lovely craft book perfectly suited for Jewish children in grades 2-3, especially children who are excited about creating Purim costumes of their own with a bit of help from their parents. Though some of the text is a bit above the readability level for those grades, the colorful and attractive illustrations perfectly suit the skills of children eager to create costumes in unusual ways - using duct tape! Most families have that standard silver roll, and the authors add additional colorful tape options in addition to directions for every possible costume, from crowns to rings and bracelets, hats and shields, horses and robes, bows and carry totes. Woven throughout the directions for each costume is the Purim story and all the ...

The Hanukkah Hunt (Ruby Celebrates! series) by Laura Gehl, illustrated by Olga and Aleksey Ivanov Albert Whitman & Company, 2022 Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Sandy Wasserman Buy at Bookshop.org Two cousins discuss the upcoming Hanukkah holiday, but Ruby learns that her cousin Avital is sad. Nothing can cheer Avital because her mother has to travel for work and will be missing the holiday. But that's what cousins are for, and the entire family gets involved in cheering Avital. Ruby arranges a treasure hunt, and each day of Hanukkah, she comes up with a rhyming clue; Avital guesses and we see her smile. By the eighth day, Ruby has run out of ideas, but in a final twist, Mom comes home early, a gift that surprises and delights the whole family.  Hanukkah customs are woven throughout the story, which features features a diverse extended family: most members are white, but biracial Cousin Avital's Dad is Black, and Cousin Ethan has two moms. Backmatter explains the history...

Dear Student by Elly Swartz Delacorte Press (imprint of Penguin Random House), 2022 Category: Middle Grade Reviewer: Sandy Wasserman Buy at Bookshop.org Dear Student is the perfect book for any middle school child, boy or girl. It takes place in Grade 6, where even the most perfect-appearing, self assured kid is not! NOT at all! Autumn is anxious and thinks she's weird and doesn't have friends, never says the right thing, always second guesses what she might say or ought to have said. Author, Elly Swartz lets us in on all of Autumn's thoughts, her conflicts, her attempt at emergence into the world of her new school, her new home, and her family angst. Everyone else seems so in-the-know, even her kindergarten sister. Surprising herself, she makes a friend, Logan, relatively quickly. And the boy-without-a-name she met on her first morning heading to school, Cooper, becomes her friend, too. The reader comes to know what a great writer Autumn is, as we are witness to the creat...

The Rosh Hashanah Recipe (Ruby Celebrates! series) by Laura Gehl, illustrated by Olga and Aleksey Ivanov Albert Whitman & Company, 2022 Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Sandy Wasserman Buy at Bookshop.org Ruby, her cousins, and even the dog are off to the apple orchard, baskets in hand! Apple picking turns into a contest, the kids versus the adults. When the kids win, they realize that together they've collected so many apples they don't know what to do with them all. Ruby comes up with a creative idea, to have a cooking show called "Cooking with the Cousins!" Together, they make apple lasagna, apple pizza and apple pancakes, and still have enough to give a basket of apples to a neighbor. After Rosh Hashanah services at synagogue, the family has a sweet New Year back at Bubbe's house. Only the dog still looks longingly at just one more apple! The story features a diverse extended family: most members are white, but biracial Cousin Avital's Dad is Black, a...

Shabbat Sabotage by Emma Carlson Berne Yellow Jacket (imprint of Little Bee  Books), 2022 Category: Middle Grade Reviewer: Sandy Wasserman Buy at Bookshop.org This is one of the most uplifting Jewish camp books I've ever read! Camp Shalom, where it takes place, is a girls' camp but the object lessons in the plot are universal. The 11 year olds arriving on Day One do not know each other, some do not want to be there, and there's a bit of edgy unfriendliness as they size each other up upon arrival at their cabin. But what they don't know is that some of the girls have secrets, and so a mystery develops. Someone can't swim, and someone steals a kiddush cup and candlesticks for a very unusual reason, and someone is way more homesick than anyone else. There is just enough of a hint along the way to surmise the identity of the thief, but the story keeps the reader guessing. In the end, the girls solve the mystery and help each other overcome their personal problems and fe...

Max and Emma Cross the Red Sea (Torah Time Travel #2)  by Carl Harris Shuman, illustrated by C.B. Decker Apples & Honey (imprint of Behrman House), 2022 Category: Middle Grade Reviewer: Sandy Wasserman Buy at Bookshop.org A masterpiece! In just seven perfect short chapters we suspend disbelief and join Max and his reprogrammed old smartphone, enter Max's cardboard time machine, and head back in time. We meet Moses, Nachshon and a few more of the cast of characters in the desert as the Israelites escape Pharoah's advancing army. Max doesn't take this trip alone though; his new friend Emma joins him and builds his confidence so that he can recite the four questions without too much palm-sweating or stage fright. Emma's been looking for a seder for her family to attend anyway, so that invitation comes around perfectly. And this early chapter book, with its delightful illustrations, does not lack for humor: laugh out loud humor, that will not be above the reader's h...

Under the Iron Bridge by Kathy Kacer Second Story Press Category: Middle Grade Reviewer: Sandy Wasserman Buy at Bookshop.org In the months leading up to Kristallnacht (on Wednesday, November 9, 1938), we meet a class of German students: Jews and non-Jews, learning together at school in Dusseldorf. Boys are encouraged to join the Hitler Youth, and little by little it becomes clear to Paul what his beloved new German leadership is up to. He and his physically weaker friend, Harold, realize early on that they have to play the game as ‘good Germans’ but Paul also takes the risk of also joining a group of teenagers who meet to carry out counter tactics to sabotage Nazi efforts, under the shadows of the Iron Bridge. They are the Edelweiss Group, which after the war was honored for their efforts at Yad VaShem as Righteous Gentiles. Among their classmates is a Jewish friend, Analie, whom Paul saves by the end of the book.  Paul is the perfect example of a young person who is an upstander; ...

 Why Is Everybody Yelling? Growing Up in My Immigrant Family by Marisabina Russo Farrar, Straus & Giroux Category: Young Adult Reviewer: Sandy Wasserman Buy at Bookshop.org This graphic memoir is by author/illustrator extraordinaire of over 35 picture books and illustrated books for older readers and novels. It's classified as a Tween or YA [or JB at one branch] in my library system, and appears to me to be a YA book at least. 230 pages, it is rich with artistic panels and much dense language. Comprised of 23 chapters, it spans the time in separate chapters from 1957 to 1967, the author's childhood and teen years. There is so much in each chapter: coming of age during the 50’s and 60’s, made more complicated by an absentee father and confusion about religion… We meet Marisabina in the first panel dressed in her white Communion dress, surrounded with Catholic ritual items yet the text and following comic panel feature Yiddish family members speaking Yiddish, so we enter Mari...

Call Across the Sea by Kathy Kacer Annick Press Category: Middle Grade Reviewer: Sandy Wasserman Buy at Bookshop.org I was blown away by this book; I can’t say it any other way. While there’s the need for and interest in Holocaust books for children, so many teachers and parents are not comfortable with the negativity in so many of them, because of the fear of frightening children with graphic images of starvation and worse. This book, on the other hand, is totally positive in numerous ways! Uplifting! We meet the protagonist, a teen, a positive force! On the first page, we feel her love for Denmark, her understanding of her entire community including the Jewish people in it, her neighbors. We see her strength and character and desire to be part of a youth resistance movement when Hitler comes to power and the Nazis, the Gestapo, show up in growing numbers in Denmark. The reader is introduced into Henny’s school life, her entry into the Danish resistance, even the people wh...

Beep Beep Bubbie by Bonnie Sherr Klein, illustrated by Élisabeth Eudes-Pascal Tradewinds Books Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Sandy Wasserman Buy at Bookshop.org We meet brother and sister, Kate and Nate on Shabbat, headed for a visit to Bubbie's house for yet another adventure with their active grandmother. Their plan is to share a library book with her and then buy apples for Rosh Hashanah. Instead they meet their granny on a scooter, and they are hugely disappointed. They assume their active granny is no more! But granny shows them that her new electric scooter is an asset and not a liability; she is as active and fun as ever. Their day with her is filled with the adventures they had planned and even more, with granny leading the way. The colorful illustrations are so inviting and enticing; the young reader will feel they are on the bus with them, and at the market, and meeting new people, and flying a kite in the park. As a wonderful bonus, the scooter is named GLADYS. Why? ...

Boy from Buchenwald: The True Story of a Holocaust Survivor by Robbie Waisman with Susan McClelland Bloomsbury Category: Middle Grade Reviewer: Sandy Wasserman Buy at Bookshop.org I never cease to be amazed at the sheer quality of details some Holocaust survivors share in their testimonies, as if they were able, using today’s slang, to create screenshots to then use at a later date. Robbie Waisman is a master at this. This book is part memoir, part ‘how to’ on the power of resilience.  In 1945, Robbie’s life was turned upside down. The baby in his happy family, at age 14 his life goes from bad to worse as Hitler invades Poland. The reader is carried away with Robbie on his journey, through his fears and panic. The reader doesn’t witness physical horrors, but emotional ones, as Robbie tells his story. But always, his resilience is strengthened, buoyed up, by small family memories and by remembered words and phrases his mother often told him about how to navigate life. This is the st...

My Israel and Me by Alice Blumenthal McGinty, illustrated by Rotem Teplow Kalaniot Books (imprint of Endless Mountains) Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Sandy Wasserman Buy at Bookshop.org This is the perfect book for introducing the diversity that exists in Israel. In gentle rhymes and careful detailed illustrations, the young picture book reader is introduced to Israel’s bustling city life, kibbutz life, Bedouin life, Arab/Muslim life, Christian life, and Jewish life, all coexisting. Even the cats in Israel play a part in this book, along with the history of how there came to be so many cats. Theres’s the varied geography of this nation (the size of New Jersey), the Negev’s geography, and the story of Israel’s farms and fields, and animals. A double page spread for the tourist enhances the reader’s inclusion in Israel’s story. Some books have back matter for the parent or teacher; this book offers additional information in a small paragraph accompanying each double page...

 The Upside-Down Boy and the Israeli Prime Minister by Sherri Mandell, illustrated by Robert Dunn Kar-Ben Publishing (imprint of Lerner) Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Sandy Wasserman Buy at Bookshop.org We meet Daniel in this book, a boy who follows his own rhythms, and does not follow rules easily; he just can't behave. So when his class in Israel is headed for a field trip to the Prime Minister's office, his teacher is a bit concerned. He tries to be on his best behavior, but his body seems to do flips and topsy turvy actions all on its own. The comes the crucial moment; the prime minister's assistant shows the young visitors a series of portraits of former prime ministers including one of David Ben Gurion doing a headstand. Uh oh! Daniel immediately imitates the pose, to everyone's dismay. BUT, the assistant says it's OK! And he joins Daniel in a headstand telling him some great news: "Headstands are good training for being prime minister." For chil...

Queen Vashti's Comfy Pants by Leah Rachel Berkowitz, illustrated by Ruth Bennett Apples & Honey Press (imprint of Behrman House) Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Sandy Wasserman Buy at Bookshop.org In perfect rhyme the reader learns about the lesser-known Purim heroine, Queen Vashti! She’s enjoying a fine afternoon with her friends, wearing not-fancy clothes, not ready to perform for the king, but playing cards, drinking tea, and noshing - wearing ‘comfy pants!’ This book is hilarious! Not irreverent, just filled with chutzpah! When the king summons her to dance, assuming she’’ll come just because of his directive - well no! Vashti is not having any of it! Not even when his messenger tries to drag her to entertain, does she budge! - This book is all about a woman’s right to say “NO!” for anything! The illustrations are to die for, with their colorful, whimsical Persian harem feel… And Vashti’s harem-of-friends! They are one-solid-sisterhood of “NO!” She’s got her chevreh, her ...

A Sweet Meeting on Mimouna Night by Allison Ofanansky, illustrated by Rotem Teplow Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Sandy Wasserman Buy at Bookshop.org A lovely historical fiction picture book about a lesser known and more recent tradition to the cycle of Jewish holidays- mimouna, following the end of the Passover holiday, often celebrated in North African Jewish communities, particularly in Morocco. We meet Miriam and Jasmine, a Jewish girl and a Muslim girl and their relationship, though tentative at first, is quickly warm and friendly as they get to know each other, and as they bond over the necessary flour for making moufletas for mimouna. Even after Miriam and her family make aliyah, she thinks back to her Muslim friend back in Morocco. The illustrations are entrancing- both the scenes in Morocco and then in Jerusalem seem like familiar photos. The recipe for moufletas at the end is an usual addition to the typical Passover picture book. This is a Passover book with a twist! This...

The Peddler and the Baker by Yael Molchadsky, illustrated by Liora Grossman Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Sandy Wasserman Buy at Bookshop.org Beautiful book with a powerful message, with the text and illustrations flowing along like instruments in a concert, each enhancing the other. 'The best things in life are free,' words often said, though in this book this message leaps out to both the poor skinny peddler and the stout baker. The message comes through clearly to the reader as it does to the children who peer and eavesdrop from the staircase in the wise rabbi's house as he gives his decree on the situation presented to him: Do we need to pay for what our senses offer up to us in this world, including the wafting aroma of freshly baking bread? A book to read over and over to remind us of all that we can enjoy in life that is free in the world. The illustrations in this book take us a journey all on their own, with glorious endpapers of baking tools. A tale of simple...

Does Your Dog Speak Hebrew? A Book of Animal Sounds by Ellen Bari, illustrated by Holly Clifton-Brown Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Sandy Wasserman Buy at Bookshop.org A delightful very beginner picture book, of five Hebrew words for the youngest set! How humorous it is, that words for animal sounds differ among languages. Preschoolers love to imitate animals and how clever they will feel as they learn to speak the Hebrew of these five animals. Artful illustrations set the scene for the both the American and Israeli locations where the animals reside; one is never to young to learn a bit of geography and know some famous American and Israeli pastimes and locales! Child and parent both will meet a dog, a rooster, a frog, a bird, and of course a cow. And how convenient for all that a cow says 'moo' in every language. The illustrations very subtly and creatively are a child's first glimpse into the American landscape and Israel's, too! We see the dog at the Capitol, a...

Benny Feldman's All-Star Klezmer Band by Allison & Wayne Marks Category: Middle Grade Reviewer: Sandy Wasserman Buy at Bookshop.org This book has 'everything' in it! Everything wonderful! ... Friendship, Judaism, life lessons, music of all kinds, angst of sixth grade first love, shyness, overcoming stage fright, honoring family, how to deal with bullies, jealousy... and even redemption. And all of this 'wonderfulness' is via music, and Benny's ragtag band of friends, who come together in amazing ways. It's about the love of music and how "All music is connected... and how music connects us all." (Even and especially klezmer music) There is so much about Judaism and Jewish history in this fiction book! Via Benny's Uncle Maxwell, he comes to realize his love of, and talent for klezmer music which finds him and binds him to his new friends... and even helps him earn the respect of his arch enemy from a miserable second grade Hebrew school expe...