The Sydney Taylor Shmooze

 The Papercutter by Cindy Rizzo Bella Books Category: Young Adult Reviewer: Dena Bach   Buy at Bookshop.org   The Papercutter , by Golden Crown Award winner Cindy Rizzo, is a gripping, topical, near-future dystopia, that shows a possible future world resulting from red/blue divide in America today. The narrative is told from the alternating points of view of three brave teens who must navigate increasingly difficult lives for Jews and others outside the norm after “The Split” of the United States into two separate countries: the GFS, the majority white, conservative “God Fearing States of America” and the UPR, the majority non-white, liberal “United Progressive Regions of America. In this absorbing first book in a trilogy, Dani, living in the UPR, and Jeffrey, in the GFS, become friends after joining a pen-pal program connecting Jewish teens in the two countries. As anti-Semitism rises in the GFS, tensions rise for Jeffrey and his friend Judith, an artist who expresses he...

Happy 'Roo Year: It's Rosh Hashanah by Jessica Hickman, illustrated by Elissambura Kar-Ben (imprint of Lerner Publishing Group) Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Susan Kusel Buy at Bookshop.org A family of Australian kangaroos celebrates Rosh Hashanah in this board book, with rhyming text that is appropriate for very young listeners. Children who are familiar with the holiday will recognize the shofar, apples and honey, round challah, and more. While most of the holiday foods mentioned are Ashkenazi (brisket, fish, honey cake), the addition of dates to the menu adds a Sephardic touch. The kangaroos are brown, purple, and pink, which can be seen as symbolizing a mixed-race family. Some (including pink 'roos) wear kippot but are not explicitly identified by gender. The brown, kippah-wearing Dad prepares dinner, in a nice disruption of gender expectations. An inclusive atmosphere is displayed in the synagogue, where "Koalas, wombats, wallabies--here everyone belongs....

Summer of Stolen Secrets by Julie Sternberg Viking (imprint of Penguin Random House) Category: Middle Grade Reviewer: Rachel J. Fremmer Buy at Bookshop.org From its opening pages with protagonist Catarina’s distinct voice to its poignant ending, Summer of Stolen Secrets is a unique and age-appropriate take on how the trauma of the Holocaust and survivors’ guilt can reverberate for generations. When New Yorker Catarina visits her cousin Lexie in Louisiana, she meets her paternal grandmother for the first time. Catarina knows only that Safta disowned her son, Catarina’s father, when he married her mom, a non-Jew. As she probes into Safta’s past, she finds out that there is much more than spitefulness or provincialism behind this family rift. Based on - and dedicated to - the author’s own grandmother, and based on her family’s Baton Rouge department store, Summer of Stolen Secrets brings the Jewish South to life. Sternberg addresses sensitive and weighty issues, but at the s...

Sydney A. Frankel's Summer Mix-Up by Danielle Joseph Kar-Ben Publishing (imprint of Lerner Publishing Group) Category: Middle Grade Reviewer: Shirley Reva Vernick Buy at Bookshop.org Rising sixth-grader Sydney A. Frankel plans to spend the summer chilling with her BFF Maggie Stein, enjoying the downtime before middle school starts and before her pregnant mom gives birth. But her mom insists she take a class at the local community center to help her overcome her shyness and stage fright. Sydney can take any class she wants, except for her first choice: reading class. Meanwhile, Maggie’s mom has signed her up for her last choice: yup, reading class. The friends decide to switch places, so they can each take a class they’ll enjoy. Hijinks ensue as the girls struggle and scheme to keep their cover. In the end, Sydney comes clean to her family, teacher and classmates. Along the way, she makes new friends, overcomes her stage fright, and learns the value of embracing one’s tru...

 Kate in Waiting by Becky Albertalli Balzer & Bray (imprint of Harperteen) Category: Young Adult Reviewer: Meira Drazin   Buy at Bookshop.org In Becky Albertalli’s newest novel, KATE IN WAITING, theater kid Kate and her talented best friend Anderson always share crushes—it’s only fun when they can pine after the same boy together, dissecting every smile glanced their ways, every infinitesimal interaction, all while secure in the ultimate relationship: their own friendship. But when their theater summer camp crush Matt shows up in their school, things begin to go off-script. Kate feels left out when Andy and Matt both get into an exclusive drama class meant for seniors, (even though a timetable snafu means next-door neighbor Noah has been assigned it too although he can’t sing to save his life and has never shown any interest in theater.) But Kate finally gets a lead role in the musical, and is playing opposite Matt—a role which includes a kiss. Kate and Andy try to lay dow...

The Summer of Lost Letters by Hannah Reynolds Razorbill (imprint of Penguin Random House) Category: Young Adult Reviewer: Cheryl Fox Strausberg Buy at Bookshop.org When Abigail Schoenberg receives a package of her grandmother Ruth’s personal effects, the last thing she expected to find was a bundle of love letters. However, the stranger part is that these letters were not signed by her grandfather, but instead by someone named Edward, of whom Abby’s family knows nothing. Abby and her family only know that her grandmother immigrated to the United States at the age of four in 1939. So, who is this mysterious Edward?    After reading through the letters and doing a bit of online research, Abby discovers that her grandmother was part of an American Kindertransport program. She was brought to the U.S. and essentially adopted by a wealthy Jewish family who summered on Nantucket Island. After discovering that Edward is still alive, Abby attempts and fails to arrange ...

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...