The Sydney Taylor Shmooze

Banned Books, Crop Tops, and Other Bad Influences by Brigit Young Roaring Brook Press, 2024 Category: Middle Grade Reviewer: Merle Eisman Carrus Buy at Bookshop.org Rose has grown up in this small town all her life like her father before her, among a handful of Jewish families. Rose and Charlotte (who is not Jewish) have stuck together as best friends since grammar school. Now in middle school they continue to stand apart from the crowd, eating lunch together, volunteering at the animal shelter, and spending afternoons together. Then Tali arrives at school, from New York City. She stands out in the way she dresses, the way she speaks out and is loud. She is willing to challenge authority. Rose is intrigued. Rose is surprised to find out Tali is also Jewish, when she spots her in synagogue during Yom Kippur services. Slowly Rose and Tali forge a common bond both because they are Jewish but also because Tali opens her eyes to some new ideas. Tali offers Rose a book to read about the Holo...

Chutzpah Girls: 100 Tales of Daring Jewish Women by Julie Esther Silverstein and Tami Schlossberg Pruwer The Toby Press (imprint of Koren Publishers), 2024 Category: Middle Grade Reviewer: Doreen Robinson Buy at Koren Mazel Tov to the authors of Chutzpah Girls , Julie Esther Silverstein and Tami Schlossberg Pruwer, for writing a must-have collective biography featuring 100 Jewish females with guts! Each spread shares an inspiring story of a Jewish female from around the world and highlights Jewish heroines throughout history, from Ancient Israel through the 21st Century. Some of these fascinating Jewish women fought for feminism and Zionism, and fought against racism and antisemitism; some broke codes or broke glass ceilings. These stories feature Jewish women with incredible intelligence, some of whom have roles in intelligence, cybersecurity and defense. They are sports champions and champions of causes they believe in. Some fought as battlefield warriors and others fought everyday b...

Beam of Light: The Story of the First White House Menorah by Elisa Boxer, illustrated by Sofia Moore Rocky Pond Books (imprint of Penguin Books), 2024 Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Laurie Adler   Buy at Bookshop.org A Beam of Light is a spectacular nonfiction picture book told from the point of view of a wooden beam which is eventually fashioned into the first menorah, indeed the first piece of Judaica, that was added to the permanent White House Holiday Collection. "I was supposed to be destroyed" is a repeated refrain throughout the book, as the beam survives a dilapidated White House, the Truman-era demolition and renovation, landfills, and storage, to experience consequent salvation.  The wood reflects on the "deeper level of destruction" it witnessed in 1943, when the sitting president refused to offer refuge to Jews, and millions perished in the Holocaust. Yet, like the Jewish people, the wood comes from strong roots, can withstand the ravages of...

Oy, Santa! or There's a Latke to Learn about Hanukkah by Joyce Schriebman, illustrated by Gila von Meissner Intergalactic Afikoman, 2024  Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Lila Spitz Buy at Bookshop.org A young Jewish boy named Oliver corresponds with Santa Claus via email regarding Christmas,  correcting unintentional misunderstandings about Hanukkah. Mistakes include Hanukkah nomenclature, holiday foods and their appropriate toppings, and notable differences between the Gregorian calendar and the Hebrew Calendar. As Santa’s confusion with Hanukkah traditions escalates, Oliver’s emails become snarky, demonstrated by the increased size and bolded font of the text. Illustrator Gila von Meissner enhances the juxtaposition of Christian and Jewish holidays by contrasting Santa’s cute felines with Oliver’s playful canine. The artwork portrays Oliver as the African American son of a heteronormative mixed-race couple, with a helpful younger sister. Jewishness is an integral part of ...

  Rachel Friedman and Eight Not-Perfect Nights of Hanukkah by Sarah Kapit, illustrated by Genevieve Kote Henry Holt & Co. (imprint of Macmillan), 2024 Category: Middle Grade Reviewer: Julie Ditton Buy at Bookshop.org The irrepressible Rachel Friedman is back. When a classmate says that Christmas is better than Hanukkah, Rachel feels the drive to make this year the best Hanukkah ever. But then her best friend gets sick, her brother thinks that he is too old for Hanukkah and worst of all, Dad forgets to buy potatoes for the latkes. Sarah Kapit has written a plot that will keep young readers engaged and has developed characters that they can relate to. Rachel is smart and energetic and knows how to take action. Her brother just had his Bar Mitzvah and has the typical attitude of not wanting to do things that seem babyish. The sibling interaction is realistic. Just when Rachel is most fed up with him, he does something nice. The fantastic grey-tone illustrations by Genevieve Kote h...

Don't Invite a Bear Inside for Hanukkah by Karen Rostoker-Gruber, illustrated by Carles Arbat Apples & Honey Press (imprint of Behrman House), 2024 Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Melissa Lasher Buy at Bookshop.org Illustrated in cheerful blues, golds and browns, Don’t Invite A Bear Inside For Hanukkah depicts the worst playdate ever—and how a boy turns the debacle into a treasured holiday memory. Set in a snowy mountain town, a narrator tells the story in a style akin to If You Give A Mouse a Cookie. Despite the narrator’s warning, a generous boy invites a massive, blundering, hungry bear into his home to celebrate Hanukkah. What could possibly go wrong? Only everything. The bear sends dreidels and candles flying. He eats all the gelt and latkes. Then, unbearably, he rips apart the presents. Oy! The boy banishes the bear. When guilt sends the boy out after the bear, through the forest, he sees a tree-branch menorah in the bear’s den window. The boy finds himself in a pickl...

Hiding from the Nazis in Plain Sight: A Graphic Novel Biography of Zhanna and Frina Arshanskaya by Lydia Lukidis, illustrated by Aleksandar Sotirovski Capstone Press, 2024 Category: Middle Grade Reviewer: Jeanette Brod   Buy at Bookshop.org There are as many Holocaust stories of survival as there are survivors. We tell stories of the camps, the Holocaust, by bullets, hidden children, and now Hiding from the Nazis in Plain Sight . This true story is told in a very concise graphic novel. There are two sisters who are musical prodigies and somehow escape the 1941 roundup of Jews in Kharkiv, Ukraine. Taken in by the families of schoolmates, the sisters assume false identities as orphans. In the orphanage, they find refuge in their music. Their piano playing wafts through open windows and despite their efforts to keep a low profile, their artistry propels them into the spotlight. They are offered musical scholarships and invited to perform for the occupying German soldiers. In 1945, wh...