The Sydney Taylor Shmooze

We want to thank our dedicated team of volunteer book reviewers! They've been doing an incredible job evaluating Jewish children's and YA books for The Sydney Taylor Shmooze throughout 2024. Read their reviews so you'll be ready to VOTE for the Mock Sydney Taylor Book Awards, starting January 8, 2025! If you're interested in joining our reviewing team, CLICK HERE . Todah Rabah to: Laurie Adler Sarah Arnold Rachel Aronowitz Sarah Aronson Dena Bach Freidele Biniashvili Amy Blaine Belinda Brock Jeanette Brod Merle Carrus Mindy Civan Leah Cypess Julie Ditton Judy Ehrenstein Ronda Einbinder Karin Fisher-Golton Claire Freeland Rachel Fremmer Beth Gallego Jeff Gottesfeld Judy Greenblatt Suzanne Grossman  Kathryn Hall Jacqueline Jules Mirele Kessous Rebecca Klempner Ann Koffsky Melissa Lasher Cindy Marshall Linda Marshall Heather Matthews Stacy Mozer Rochelle Newman Stacy Nockowitz Chava Pinchuck Heidi Rabinowitz Stacey Rattner  Doreen Robinson Marcia Rosenthal  Denise Ros...

Upside-Down Summer (A Fun-to-Read Book) by Libby Herz, illustrated by Sarah Chyrek Hachai Publishing, 2024 Category: Middle Grade Reviewer: Rochelle Newman-Carrasco Buy at Hachai.com Upside-Down Summer is the poignant story of ten-year-old Sara and the summer that turned her family’s world upside down. In fact, it wasn’t just her family that experienced the shock of The Great Depression. Her best friend Etty would need to move away and Sara’s room would be converted to a sewing room for a woman who becomes their boarder, before becoming a true friend and a critical part of Sara’s story. The historical context gives the young reader a simple but truthful sense of what The Great Depression meant to individuals and communities, and it is very effective in building tension, grappling with loss, and zooming in on the importance of family and faith during times of crises. The simple, charming black and white illustrations and art design feels vintage and focuses on faces, relationships and ...

The One and Only by Sarah Maddali, illustrated by Marcin Piwowarski Hachai Publishing, 2024  Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Doreen Klein Robinson Buy at Hachai.com This picture book reads like a psalm, with its beautiful rhyme, and feels like a balm, with its soothing message. The repeated Hebrew phrase, Ein Od Milvado - There is nothing besides Him - introduces the reader to the concept of the Oneness of Hashem (G-d). Each spread affirms the belief that Hashem is in control of everything – and that we should be thankful when things go our way and even when they don’t – a lesson that even adult readers would benefit from. Another important idea imparted in this beautiful book is that we are all unique and created for something important. The Jewish (frum) family portrayed in this story looks Ashkenazi, with father, mother, son, and daughter characters. Some spreads show them doing secular things, such as hiking, picnicking in the rain, and swimming. Other spreads lean into their...

Undaunted Ursula Franklin: Activist, Educator, Scientist by Monica Franklin & Erin Della Mattia Second Story Press, 2024 Category: Middle Grade Reviewer: Amy Blaine Buy at Bookshop.org Student. Survivor. Newcomer. Quaker. Mother. Environmentalist. Scientist. These are but a few of the words used to describe the literal and figurative chapters in a labor of love titled Undaunted Ursula Franklin: Activist, Educator, Scientist , a biography carefully and skillfully written by her daughter Monica Franklin and co-author Erica Della Mattia.    The only child of a Protestant archeologist and a Jewish art historian, Ursula Maria Martius was born in Munich in 1921. Ursula was a curious and inquisitive child. She began her higher educational career just as Hitler was coming to power. By the time Ursula was awarded a scholarship to England, it was too late: the war broke out and Ursula had to remain in Germany. She attended the University of Berlin in perilous circumstances and stud...

  The Lumbering Giants of Windy Pines by Mo Netz Clarion Books (imprint of HarperCollins Publishers), 2024 Category: Middle Grade Reviewer: Rebecca Klempner Buy at Bookshop.org For the last year, Mama and 11-year-old disabled Jerry have been bouncing between motels with cheap prices and wheelchair access in order for Mama to chase seasonal work. It's the only way they've figured out to make ends meet since Dad's death. Homeschooled, Jerry's chief companion has been her imaginary friend: a tiny dinosaur named Paul. Mama tells Jerry that at the Slumbering Giant motel, they'll stay for good. Mama has been hired to clean rooms and do repairs at the motel. Her job includes some kind of mysterious work at night in the very forest that she's told Jerry to stay away from. Late at night, Jerry awakes to strange static on the radio, and voices muttering messages about "the Witch of the Woods" and "Guardians." Mama sleeps through the noise. The next ni...

Standing Together: The Story of Natan Sharansky by Leah Sokol Green Bean Books, 2024 Category: Middle Grade Reviewer: Stacy Nockowitz Buy at Bookshop.org Standing Together is a biography of refusenik and human rights leader Anatoly Sharansky, who would later change his name to Natan Sharansky and fight for the freedom of Jews in the former Soviet Union. Sokol’s book follows Sharansky’s life from his childhood in Soviet Ukraine through his harrowing years as a political prisoner in a Russian jail to his role today as a Jewish advocate for freedom across the world. The book is important because it’s unlikely that young readers have ever heard of the refuseniks, and Sharansky is a genuine contemporary hero. Sokol does not shy away from discussing the truly difficult times of Sharansky’s life, particularly his years in jail, where he endured the “punishment cell” and psychological torture from the KGB. However, everything is described in an age-appropriate way that emphasizes Sharansky’s ...

Aren't Sisters and Brothers Wonderful! by Shevi Morgenstern, illustrated by Valentina Jaskina  Hachai Publishing, 2024 Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Jeff Gottesfeld Buy at Hachai.com Goodness, am I the right reviewer for this book. I'm the eldest of four boys, and my youngest brother is just seven years younger than me. It's very different today in the liberal Jewish world (1.4 is the rate), but our Orthodox brethren (and all Israelis, for that matter) are still holding to big families. Thumbs up for them, and I mean it. The hero here, in an Orthodox family, is Shmuly. He's number three in a family of four, with an older brother who always beats him to the bathroom in the morning, a sister who tends to use his favorite cereal bowl, and a little sister who enjoys hiding his slippers. I relate to all of this. Shmuly is unhappy with his circumstances, but his mom -- dad isn't in this story -- relates how she too faced some of the same struggles, and that her mom ha...