The Sydney Taylor Shmooze

Shira the Singing Puppy by Ilana R. Wieder, illustrated by Alexandra Colombo Kar-Ben Publishing (imprint of Lerner), 2025 Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Cindy Rivka Marshall   Buy at Bookshop.org We first meet the puppy, Shira, in a colorful garden with musical notes floating across the landscape. Shira - whose name appropriately means "song" in Hebrew - loves to sing and howl. The opening pages of nature imagery, with flowers, ladybugs, snail and bee, immediately conveys Shira’s joy in life. Each day of the week, the puppy tries to sing for her human family. But repeatedly, they say, “Hush and shush, Shira. Not today.” The children are doing homework or have music lessons. They are watching TV or have playdates. The puppy’s howls are not appreciated, but the reproach is gentle. The repetition of “sh” sounds in the refrain, “Hush and shush, Shira,” reminding one of comforting a baby. The book has an added layer of teaching the days of the week, with Shabbat and Havdalah a...

Scattergood by H.M. Bouwman Neal Porter Books (imprint of Holiday House), 2025 Category: Middle Grade Reviewer: Ellen Scolnic   Buy at Bookshop.org This historical novel takes place in 1941, as the United States prepares to enter World War II. Thirteen year old Peggy grapples with daily chores and farm life while her town welcomes refugees and her cousin and best friend is dying of leukemia. "Authentic" is the word that comes to mind when describing this book. Bouwman has a solid grasp of her teenage protagonist’s point of view. Dialogue rings true. Peg’s ideas and hopes are valid. She is rational and very talented in math, so she tries desperately to save her cousin’s life - or find a doctor who can care her. Peg’s ideas – ambushing a visiting professor or praying because that’s what some adults have said they are doing - seem like ideas a real teen would come up with. This book is beautifully written. Peg is a self-described nerd who enjoys playing chess with an elderly re...

Call Me Gebyanesh by Arlene Rosenfeld Schenker and Gebyanesh Addisu, illustrated by Chiara Fedele Apples & Honey Press (imprint of Behrman House), 2025 Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Lisa Trank   Buy at Bookshop.org Seven-year-old Gebyanesh, a young Ethiopian Jew, starts the new school year in Jerusalem, where her family has recently settled after escaping from persecution, famine, and civil war. When her teacher is unable to pronounce her name, she is instead assigned a new name - Rakhel. Gebyanesh/Rakhel experiences her new school as an outsider and with the exception of another student named Daria, she is not accepted by the other Israeli kids. She is mocked for her different food, her clothing, and the color of her skin. Gebyanesh hides her school experience from her family until her younger brother discovers her schoolwork with the name Rakhel on it. Gebyanesh's mother tells her to be proud of her name and where she comes from, showing Gebyanesh a family photo album th...

Wicked Darlings by Jordyn Taylor Delacorte Press (imprint of Random House Children's Books), 2025 Category: Young Adult Reviewer: Sarah Blattner   Buy at Bookshop.org Wicked Darlings  opens with the main character, Noa Falk, relishing her newfound opportunity to bask in the spotlight, now that her older sister Leah no longer casts Noa in her shadow. Feeling like a monster for a sense of freedom, rather than the grief for her sister’s tragic death, Noa plans an epic party while her parents are away at a cousin’s bat mitzvah.  Throughout the novel, Noa carries guilt for not responding to Leah’s text message, an urgent cry for help with her journalism internship with the Gotham Sentinel, where Leah covered the lives of Manhattan’s socially elite. But journalism was always Noa’s thing, not Leah’s passion, and it’s just one more situation where Leah blocks Noa’s light. When Noa’s curiosity and sadness lead her to the family safe, she retrieves her sister’s cell phone and evid...

Eve and Adam Discover the World by Leslie Kimmelman, illustrated by Irina Avgustinovich Apples & Honey Press (imprint of Behrman House), 2025 Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Karin Fisher-Golton   Buy at Bookshop.org   Author Leslie Kimmelman and illustrator Irina Avgustinovich, whose talents came together in 2023 for Eve and Adam and Their Very First Day , return with this sequel, Eve and Adam Discover the World . This story recounts Eve and Adam’s actions around the Tree of Knowledge and what follows. As in the first book, Eve is portrayed with a lively intellect. Here, her curiosity is emphasized, so the Tree of Knowledge is alluring. Adam is grateful and trusting, and God is portrayed with a kind-parent energy. Kimmelman shows Eve’s thought process as she is tempted by the snake, as well as all the characters’ interpretations of what results. Through these portrayals of good-intentioned but imperfect humans, Kimmelman deftly provides a safe and positive container for ...

Live Your Dream: The Story of a Jewish Basketball All-Star by Tamir Goodman, illustrated by Jim Madsen PJ Publishing, 2025 Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Suzanne Grossman Buy at Amazon.com Written by Tamir Goodman himself, this is the story of a real Jewish basketball hero. Tamir struggled to read all the way through high school until he was finally diagnosed with dyslexia. Despite this, he was able to master basketball, understanding what was happening on the court instantly and developing expert skills. As he had more success in the game, his father constantly reminded him to stay humble. Endless practice, teamwork, and always being respectful of the referee increased his outstanding performance. He became famous worldwide, but passed up many opportunities by always putting Shabbat observance first. Choosing Team Maccabee Tel Aviv’s offer of a spot, he could live fully as a Jew and a professional basketball player.  Tamir suffered many injuries while playing and was disappoin...

Jason Belongs: The Story of Jason Schachter McKinney by Audrey Ades and Jason Schachter McKinney, illustrated by Isabel Mu ñoz Kar-Ben Publishing (imprint of Lerner), 2025 Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Doreen Robinson   Buy at Bookshop.org This is a beautiful true story that expresses the universal themes of embracing one’s identity and what it means to connect to your roots, no matter what other people say or think. It is especially relevant in a world where antisemitism is increasing and diversity equity and inclusion programs are decreasing. Jason Schachter McKinney is Jewish and Black. As a young boy, Jason attends a Jewish Day School. He is proud of his identity and loves to sing, pray, and celebrate Shabbat. Later, he faces doubts when people at school question his identity: can you be both Jewish and Black? Despite the rabbi and his teachers telling him that he does in fact belong, Jason disconnects. He leaves his Jewish school, stops going to synagogue, and stops carin...

Speechless Aron Nels Steinke Graphix (imprint of Scholastic), 2025 Category: Middle Grade Reviewer: Kathryn Hall   Buy at Bookshop.org   This middle grade graphic novel's main character is Mira Toledano-Stone who is hoping for a better year as she starts 6th grade at a new school. Her anxiety and selective mutism prevent her from speaking in school despite her best efforts. At home she is quite able to argue with her younger sister and parents. Chloe, Mira's best friend from preschool to second grade, is now popular but Mira has no friends and blames Chloe. Mira spends all her free time alone creating short stop-motion films. Mira's busy, loving parents do not seem to understand how much her anxiety is interfering with her life until her grades are affected. Then they eliminate her film making and start taking her to a therapist. Mira's mother had invited Mira's nemesis Chloe to live with them until the end of the school year as her family, has had to move to Montan...

D.J. Rosenblum Becomes the G.O.A.T. by Abby White Levine Querido, 2025 Category: Young Adult Reviewer: Jacqueline Jules   Buy at Bookshop.org D.J. Rosenblum idolizes her cousin Rachel. At her Bat Mitzvah, nine-year-old D.J. gives Rachel a necklace with a goat charm because in D.J.’s estimation, Rachel is the Greatest cousin Of All Time. Four years later, when Rachel dies by an apparent suicide, D.J. is devastated. She can’t accept that her beloved cousin would have taken her own life. D.J. is convinced, instead, that Rachel was murdered. It is a theory D.J. has the opportunity to pursue when her mom decides to relocate to Rachel's town in an effort to support her sister through the grieving process. Thus, the beginning of the novel feels like a murder mystery. D.J. and her mom move to Briar, Ohio, where Rachel’s parents and her little brother Davey still live. D.J. enrolls in middle school and begins her quest to prove that Rachel would not have harmed herself. Along the way, D.J....

Many Things at Once by Veera Hiranandani, illustrated by Nadia Alam Random House Studio (imprint of Penguin Random House), 2025 Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Linda Elovitz Marshall   Buy at Bookshop.org In poignant language, Many Things At Once is the story of a young girl whose mother is Jewish, father is Hindu, and ancestors are from India, Poland, and Russia. The main character sometimes feels that she is part of every place. She sometimes feels that she is not part of any place. But, how can that be? She watches a butterfly, recalling that her teacher taught that each butterfly is different. Like the butterfly, she, too, is different. She watches the butterfly sip nectar. The butterfly is part of the big, beautiful world. She, too, is part of the big, beautiful world. Different from everyone, yet part of the whole. Sometimes large, sometimes small, sometimes like nothing...at all. She is many things at once, as we all are. Exquisite illustrations by Nadia Alam beautifully ...

Mystery at Landscape Farm by Freidele Galya Soban Biniashvili, illustrated by Deena Weinberg Menucha Publishers, 2025 Category: Early Chapter Book Reviewer: Dena Bach   Buy at Menucha When Tova and Ari’s grandparents take the city kids out for a nice spring outing to Landscape Farm during Chol HaMoed Pesach, the intermediate days of Passover, they decide to begin their tour of the farm at the goat feeding. For Tova, Ari, Bubby, and Zeidy this turns out to be an exciting day at the farm when they learn that the farm’s prize baby goat, Gertrude, has disappeared. But after Zeidy slips and falls, he and Bubby need to sit down for a while, so the curious kids head off on their own in search of the missing goat. Ari and Tova follow clues, question the farm’s staff and visitors, and in the end, solve the mystery and find the goat. This book is the third in a series of books aimed at an Orthodox audience, that involves 9-year-old twins Tova and Ari, who solve mysteries while learning abou...

The House on the Canal: The Story of the House That Hid Anne Frank by Thomas Harding, illustrated by Britta Teckentrup Candlewick Press, 2025 Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Jeff Gottesfeld   Buy at Bookshop.org I write this review having visited the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam not even a month ago, for the first time since I was in my 20s. And also, as the author of a sometimes-loved, sometimes-criticized (not to worry, some of the criticizers are still good friends!) story of Anne Frank from the perspective of the horse chestnut tree in the courtyard behind the secret annex. In this beautiful volume, Thomas Harding and illustrator Britta Teckentrup show off a dazzling amount of research, deft and purposefully detached writing, and glorious artwork as they trace the course of 263 Prinsengracht (in whose Annex hid Anne Frank and others from Nazi persecutions, with a terrible outcome) from before it was built right through to today, where people "learn about the girl with the ...

Avi the Ambulance Goes to the Beach by Deborah Bodin Cohen, illustrated by C.B. Decker Apples & Honey Press (imprint of Behrman House), 2025 Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Ronda Einbinder   Buy at Bookshop.org Avi the Ambulance is the youngest and smallest ambulance in Jerusalem. His four shiny wheels take him everywhere. He is a cute white ambulance that giggles when Zach the med tech puts air in his tires. What Avi doesn’t expect is that Zach is taking him to the beach in Tiberias to meet his friend Esti and her new ambulance partner. Avi pictures himself wearing sunglasses and sipping a pink drink out of a straw on the beach. Avi loves the beach! Cohen delights readers with onomatopoeias of Zoom! Whoosh! and Zip! Esti greets Zach and Avi, but the ambulance partner is nowhere to be found. When questioned, Esti points to a yellow waterboat docked on the pier. Decker draws curious eyes and a tilted mouth on Avi, showing a bit of confusion. Avi doesn’t understand how Noah, t...

The Center of the Earth by Darlene P. Campos Blue Handle Publishing, 2025 Category: Young Adult Reviewer: Merle Eisman Carrus   Buy at Bookshop.org The plot for The Center of the Earth is based on real life accounts by Holocaust survivors. Their experiences are embedded in the characters in this novel. Meet Dahlia Aviles, twelve years old, a courageous and compassionate young lady, who has moved to Berlin with her parents. Originally from Ecuador, Herr Aviles is a diplomat who is working on assignment in Germany. The year is 1938. Living next door is Rabbi and Frau Rubenstein and their nephew Werner, and the families become friends. As the pressure on Jews increases, Werner’s father and Herr Aviles discuss the future. When the Aviles are recalled to Ecuador, they have a plan in place to bring Werner with them. They draw up false papers and bring him home with them. They concoct a plausible story about Werner being an orphan and Frau Aviles being his nanny, bringing him home with...

The Art of Exile by Andrea Max Margaret K. McElderry Books (imprint of Simon & Schuster), 2025 Category: Young Adult Reviewer: Laura Schutzman   Buy at Bookshop.org Ada Castle is a senior in high school whenher family sends her to Rome for a specific mission. The problem is, she does not know what her mission is until she meets a man by the statue of David, named Michaelangelo or Michael for short. Ada’s whole life is changed by this supposedly chance encounter. After she is kidnapped and then rescued by Michael, he informs her that she is a Sire (magic user) with a special power to manipulate and heal the world through “Hai” the lifeforce. He recruits her to go to a special school, Genesis, to hone her talent. Upon arrival Ada is faced with a dilemma: do what the family expects of her and steal the texts of this secluded sect, or try and do what she wants, selfishly improving her skills to be an alchemist? The book is the first of a series, so it ends on a little bit of a cli...

Interrupted Lives: Nine Stories of Child Survivors of the Holocaust by Amanda Friedman and Kelley Szany Kar-Ben Publishing (imprint of Lerner Publishing Group), 2025 Category: Middle Grade Reviewer: Rochelle Newman-Carrasco   Buy at Bookshop.org This book is an inspiring collection of autobiographical stories developed using insightful interviews. A note from the authors even before the opening page speaks to a powerful purpose: “For all the survivors. Thank you for your strength, courage, and resilience, reminding us of the need to remember the past in order to transform the future.” The nine stories also remind us that it won’t be long before hearing directly from survivors, in their own words, is a thing of the past. Authors Amanda Friedeman and Kelley Szany bring their expertise as Holocaust educators to this powerful work as they frame each story with an optimistic life lesson of relevance to the interviewee. These include: "Try to be Optimistic In Life," "Learn fr...

Spark by Chris Baron Feiwel & Friends (imprint of Macmillan), 2025 Category: Middle Grade Reviewer: Laura Schutzman   Buy at Bookshop.org Writing about wild fires is not a new concept. What makes this novel in verse unique is the sensitive writing and descriptions that Chris Baron includes in his story. It begins with Phineas Katz (aka Finn), and his friend Mirasol (aka Rabbit) putting hidden trail cameras in the local California forest to monitor animals. They create a field journal to document their observations, especially as the drought spreads and affects the flora and fauna. When the small brush fires begin to spread and change the landscape, Finn and Rabbit are determined to document everything, even as they escape from a massive wildfire with their lives.  The story is divided into segments that document the progression of the destruction, beginning with the “spark” in the air, the fast and destructive power of fire, and the aftermath of fire. Each section is beau...

Maccabiah: The Long Ride to the International Sports Games by Deborah Bodin Cohen & Kerry Olitzky Apples & Honey Press (imprint of Behrman House),2025 Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Rinat Hadad Siegel   Buy at Bookshop.org   Many of us are familiar with the Maccabiah, an athletic competition in Israel that brings together Jewish and Israeli athletes from around the world. Some refer to it as the Jewish Olympics, and the 2025 Maccabiah Games are just around the corner.  This child-friendly picture book biography takes the reader back to 1912, where the seeds of the Maccabiah were sown when a 15-year-old Yosef Yekutiel listened to radio broadcasts from the Stockholm Olympics. The story highlights a problem: on the one hand, Yosef was happy to learn that Jewish athletes won medals, but at the same time, he discovered that not all countries allowed their Jewish athletes to participate in the Olympics. That drove Yosef to find a solution, which came in the shape of ...

Beinoni by Mari Lowe Levine Querido, 2025 Category: Middle Grade Reviewer: Leah Cypess   Buy at Bookshop.org In this unique take on the “chosen one” trope, 12-year-old Ezra has been trained since birth to fight a monster. If he succeeds, he will keep the world “beinoni”—in an in-between-state in which nothing terrible can happen. But after Ezra is nearly kidnapped at a classmate’s bar mitzvah, bad things begin to happen in his neighborhood and in the larger world—things that should be impossible in a “beinoni” time. Meanwhile, Ezra himself is falling out with his best friend, falling behind in school, and falling in with a bad influence—foster kid Aryeh, who spreads chaos wherever he goes. His life feels like it’s spiraling out of control, and no one will tell him why. But his pursuit of the truth will make him question everything he’s been told about his place in the world. Ezra, his family, and his friends are all Orthodox Jews, and the depiction of his community is deep and aut...

GLITCH GIRL! by Rainie Oet Kokila (imprint of Penguin Young Readers), 2025 Category: Middle Grade  Reviewer: Esty Schachter   Buy at Bookshop.org GLITCH GIRL! is a heartbreaking verse novel by Rainie Oet that begins with a content warning: "This book contains depictions of difficult subjects that some may find triggering. These include trauma, physical abuse, emotional abuse, violence, self-harm, misgendering, transphobia, homophobia and bullying." This is important, as Oet’s book, taken from personal experiences, is a painful exploration of a child experiencing emotional and physical abuse at home, and the significant impacts that result. The main character, J—, uses a crossed-out name in reflecting on the past because she identifies as a nonbinary girl and uses she/her and they/them pronouns interchangeably. Oet acutely shows J— from 4th to 7th grade as they struggle with rejection, very low self-esteem and isolation, finding some respite through a video game they play. J...