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Review: Coming of Age: 13 B'nai Mitzvah Stories

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Coming of Age: 13 B'nai Mitzvah Stories edited by Jonathan Rosen and Henry Herz Albert Whitman & Company, 2022 Category: Middle Grade Reviewer: Beth L. Gallego Buy at Bookshop.org “Sure, even though one by one we were being called to the Torah as a Bar Mitzvah, none of us had miraculously become a grown-up. But we were getting there,” reflects the narrator of Nancy Krulik’s “The Contest” in this anthology. Krulik is one of thirteen authors presenting tales of young people preparing for B’nai Mitzvah celebrations large and small, ceremonies and parties they look forward to or dread. The characters struggle with self-confidence and religious identity as well as the challenges of school bullies, a global pandemic, and various manifestations of antisemitism. The thread that runs through the anthology is what it means to become an adult. Some characters struggle with shyness, particularly when it comes to approaching a romantic interest, whether they happen to be in suburban Connect