Review: Neshama

Neshama

by Marcella Pixley

Candlewick (imprint of Penguin Random House), 2025

Category: Middle Grade

Reviewer: Heather Matthews

 

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Sixth grader Anna Fleischman has a "Shayna Neshama," a beautiful soul, according to her Bubbe Esther. Anna, however, is more focused on the souls of those around her – more specifically, the ghosts that she can see and hear. As she interacts with these spirits, her classmates deem Anna as scary, leading to social isolation and bullying. Anna’s home life isn’t much better, with an emotionally distant and cruel father. Anna finds solace spending Shabbat and the weekends with Bubbe, learning about her aunt Ruthie. Ruthie, who died at eleven years old, appears to Anna and requests to enter her niece’s body to “finish what [she] started,” in exchange for giving Anna “the strength [she] need[s] to stand up to [her] father, to the horrible girls and shortsighted teachers,” so that both girls can “find some peace.” Upon striking the deal, Anna and her aunt set out to seek justice and revenge, though disagreeing on what exactly this entails.

Author Marcella Pixley, a middle school ELA teacher, shows a familiarity with the inner world of middle school girls – the cruel whispers, the non-apologies, and the drive for acceptance by one’s peers. In addition to writing novels for young readers, she is also a published poet. Subsequently, it is no wonder that this novel in verse flows organically, and is interspersed with poems throughout as Anna and Ruthie write verses back and forth to communicate with one another. This stylistic choice of poetry within a verse novel serves the narrative well, showcasing character development of both Anna and Ruthie, allowing the reader to learn both girl’s perspectives throughout the novel.

The Jewish content in this book is integral to the story as a whole – Anna and her family are patrilineal secular Jews, with her practicing Jewish grandmother, Bubbe Esther, playing a vital role in the book and in Anna’s life. Bubbe Esther, and eventually Ruthie, are the only meaningful sources of Judaism in Anna’s life – it is through interactions with Bubbe and Ruthie that Yiddish and Hebrew is spoken, that Judaism is practiced, and that other Jewish aspects of life are revealed. As such, while the Jewish content appears throughout the manuscript from start to finish, it does not often appear in a way that majorly affects the plot – if the family were not Jews, the story wouldn’t need to undergo significant changes. That said, the Jewish representation is authentic, and welcome.

 

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Reviewer Heather J. Matthews is an assistant professor of literacy in the Department of Early and Elementary Education at Salisbury University. She specializes in diverse representation within children’s and young adult literature.