The Sydney Taylor Shmooze

Facing the Enemy: How a Nazi Youth Camp in America Tested a Friendship by Barbara Krasner Calkins Creek (imprint of Astra Books for Young Readers), 2023 Category: Middle Grade Reviewer: Merle Eisman Carrus Buy at Bookshop.org Facing the Enemy is a book written in verse about a time in American history that should not be forgotten. Written in an easily readable poetic style, Krasner tells the story of two friends who are growing up near Newark, NJ during the rise in power of Adolf Hitler in Germany. It is the summer of 1937. Benjy is turning 14 this summer and looking forward to spending it with his best friend Thomas before they enter high school in the fall. Benjy is from a loving Jewish family, living with his mother and father. His father is a member of the Newark Minutemen, a group of former prize fighters who are working to dismantle the Nazi Bund growing around New Jersey. Thomas lives with his timid mother and his frustrated father, who misses Germany and the life he left behind

Yosef Medelevich: Leader of Soviet Jewry by Leah Sokol Menucha Publishers, 2023 Category: Middle Grade Reviewer: Merle Eisman Carrus Buy from Menucha This is a fabulous book written for middle school readers, but also terrific for adults who are looking to learn about the life of Yosef Mendelevich and more about Soviet Jewry. It's the story of the first Refusenik who helped educate the world about the plight of the Jewish people in Russia. He lived his life as a religious Jew and survived many Russian prisons to finally realize his dream to live in Israel. This book is written in a simple style that explains the life of Yosef Mendelevich, from his childhood growing up in a Jewish home in the Soviet Union. In 1968 Yosef read Leon Uris’, Exodus and found a deep tie to Judaism and the Jewish state. His goal became to leave the Soviet Union and fly to Israel. He was part of the “Operation Wedding,” a wild scheme that he and ten other Jewish activists created to commandeer a small Russi

Artifice by Sharon Cameron Scholastic Press, 2023 Category: Young Adult Reviewer: Merle Eisman Carrus Buy at Bookshop.org Artiface is a thrilling novel that keeps the reader on the edge of their seat with their heart in their throat until the last page of the book. From the first page until the last we are concerned about Isa de Smit’s welfare. Isa is a young woman in Amsterdam, who lived a colorful, exciting life with her parents above their small art gallery until the Nazis invaded. Now, her mother has died, her father seems depressed and uncommunicative and her best friend Truus has joined the secretive resistance. The Nazis have started buying and confiscating all the artwork of the Dutch painters. To get money for herself and her father to stay in their gallery, Isa takes a huge risk, bringing a forged copy of a Rembrandt painting her talented father has painted and selling it to the Nazis. Isa finds out that Truus is working to smuggle Jewish children out of Amsterdam and needs m

Don't Want to Be Your Monster by Deke Moulton Tundra Books, 2023 Category: Middle Grade Reviewer: Merle Eisman Carrus Buy at Bookshop.org When someone mentions vampires, the first thing that comes to mind is a scary vision of the undead drinking a person’s blood by sinking their fangs into the neck. We have learned that from watching movies. Don’t Want to Be Your Monster brings the reader a very different version of vampires. Victor and Adam are brothers but not because they were born to the same parents. They are brothers who are vampires living with their vampire mothers, and another vampire sibling, Sung. Mom is a nurse, working the night shift, in a hospital which gives her access to blood to bring home to share with her family. Mama is an astronomer at the local university. When a rash of murders start to happen in the small town where the Rossi vampire family lives, Adam and Victor both become involved in finding the serial killer. Victor seems to be interested in young murd

Brave Volodymyr: The Story of Volodymyr Zelensky and the Fight for Ukraine by Linda Elovitz Marshall, illustrated by Grasya Oliyko  Quill Tree Books, 2023 Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Merle Eisman Carrus   Buy at Bookshop.org   This picture book biography tells the story of Volodymyr Zelensky, starting with his childhood and leading all the way to his election as the president of Ukraine. Using simple language and concepts, author Linda Marshall explains how the young Zelensky grew up seeing evil and corruption in his country. From a young age, his goal was to make the country and the world a better place for everyone. His career as an entertainer led him to run in the presidential election, because he realized that humor alone cannot keep a country free and independent.    Zelensky is Jewish, and yet he grew up to be president of a country that in the past has been very antisemitic. Ukranian discrimination against in the Jewish people is mentioned in the book. Volodymyr's

The Jake Show by Joshua S. Levy Katherine Tegan Books, 2023 Category: Middle Grade Reviewer: Merle Eisman Carrus Buy at Bookshop.org Starting at a new school is always difficult and switching to a new school mid-year is even harder. Jake knows because he has changed schools five times since his parent’s divorce.  Jake imagines he is living in a television sitcom and enjoying the current episode until the show is canceled. Jake explains his life like a television show spin off. In the original series he and his parents celebrated Jewish holidays and enjoyed Shabbat dinners but also watched TV together after dinner. Then his parents divorced and now life is like a TV spin off. This show has two different families with different religious observance. At Imma’s house he answers to Yaakov, wearing a suit with a velvet yarmulke under a fedora. At his father’s secular home he wears jeans and T-shirts and is called Jacob. Things get more complicated when he meets Caleb and Tehilla at his newes

The Royal Recipe by Elana Rubinstein, illustrated by Jennifer Naalchigar Apples & Honey Press (imprint of Behrman House), 2023 Category: Middle Grade Reviewer: Merle Eisman Carrus Buy at Bookshop.org Saralee Siegel is back again in The Royal Recipe ! We last met Saralee with her super nose at Hanukkah, when she traveled back in time to meet her great grandmother, in A Donut in Time . Now we are back at the Siegel House Restaurant with Saralee and her family. Her grandfather, Zadie owns the restaurant and Saralee assists him in the kitchen. In this novel the family is getting ready to hold a Purim banquet at Siegel House. Zadie wants everything to be authentic to the historical time of Esther and Mordechai in Shushan, Persia. He asks Saralee to use her special nose to figure out the most genuine hamantaschen recipe she can create. As Saralee starts sniffing, she feels herself connecting with the Purim story. Then an unusual and very controlling party planner named "Herman"

A Donut in Time: A Hanukkah Story by Elana Rubinstein, illustrated by Jennifer Naalchigar Apples & Honey Press (imprint of Behrman House), 2022 Category: Middle Grade Reviewer: Merle Eisman Carrus Buy at Bookshop.org In A Donut in Time , Saralee helps out in her Zayde's restaurant, Siegel House. Noses play a very important role when Jewish holiday meals are involved. Saralee knows very well how important it is to distinguish the different smells when you work in a restaurant kitchen. Especially for Hanukkah, there are all the delicious fried foods with very distinctive smells.Everyone in the Siegel family joins in to get ready for customers on the first night of Hanukkah. They are cooking latkes and sufganiyot. This year they are going to use Saralee's original recipe for peanut butter and jelly donuts.  Saralee has an unusual talent, a super nose, which Zadie says she inherited from her great grandmother, Golda or Gigi. Saralee has always felt unusual because of her extra

Naomi Teitelbaum Ends the World by Samara Shanker Atheneum Books for Young Readers (imprint of Simon & Schuster), 2022 Category: Middle Grade Reviewer: Merle Eisman Carrus Buy at Bookshop.org Naomi Teitelbaum Ends the World is a fast paced, captivating story for every Bar/Bat Mitzvah student. Naomi is studying and preparing for her upcoming Bat Mitzvah along with her two best friends, Eitan and Becca. They are excited about the parties they will have with delicious food and presents. As the gift checks arrive in the mail, their mothers remind them to not forget the religious and communal significance of the ceremony. When Naomi opens a mysterious gift with a small clay doll in it, her friends urge her to follow the directions in the package.    Naomi instructs the small Golem, but she does not realize the power she holds over this tiny creature. At first, the magical gift seems entertaining and fun, but things soon get out of control. With each simple command from Naomi, the littl

Hidden on the Hire Wire by Kathy Kacer Second Story Press, 2022 Category: Middle Grade Reviewer: Merle Eisman Carrus Buy at Bookshop.org Hidden on the High Wire tells the story of a traveling family circus. Author Kathy Kacer begins the story in November, 1939 in Germany. Irene Danner is 13 years old and the star performer on the high wire for the Lorch Family Circus. She learned her balancing act from her grandfather, who has recently died. He passed the family business to her father, as the first Danner to run the Lorch family circus in four generations, as the ringmaster. These are difficult times for the Jewish people living in Germany and it is becoming dangerous and ultimately impossible for the Lorch Family to continue traveling and performing. The circus is sold and Irene's father is sent to serve in the army. Irene and her mother are hiding from the Nazis. Reading a circus poster, Irene discovers the perfect way to protect herself and her mother. She approaches a German f

The Vanishing by David Michael Slater Library Tales Publishing, 2022 Category: Young Adult Reviewer: Merle Eisman Carrus Buy at Bookshop.org The story of the Golem goes back generations. The original Golem was created to help the Jewish people of Prague during a time of peril. Now author David Michael Slater uses a similar fantasy to make a very disturbing topic more palatable for the teen reader. This is a story of the faith, strength, and fortitude of a young girl as she helps her friend survive the most horrific experience of his life. Sophie Siegel and her parents have been moving from town to town as the pogroms are getting more prevalent. The rules increase, restricting the lives of the Jewish people. Sophie doesn't want to wear a yellow star on her jacket or stop going to school. The day she is finally to be awarded for her studiousness and be named Top Student in her class, the Nazis come to school and send all the Jewish children home. She and her friend Giddy next door s

The Woman Who Split the Atom: The Life of Lise Meitner by Marissa Moss Harry N. Abrams, 2022 Category: Middle Grade Reviewer: Merle Eisman Carrus Buy at Bookshop.org The Woman Who Split the Atom is an inspiring story of a woman determined to study science in spite of the challenges she faced. Author Marissa Moss takes us through Lise's life from living at home with her family to traveling to Berlin to work with some of the greatest physicists of all time. Though she was a demure, small young woman and intimidated at first, she persisted. Meitner met important professors and scientists, who would be her friends and supporters: Max Planck, Albert Einstein, Heinrich Rubens, and Niels Bohr. She also worked with her nephew Otto Frisch and the man who became her life-long scientific partner, Otto Hahn. She published articles about her scientific findings under the name L. Meitner, so no one would know that these articles were written by a woman. This is an important book, bringing Meitn

Wishing Upon the Same Stars by Jacquetta Nammar Feldman HarperCollins, 2022 Category: Middle Grade Reviewer: Merle Eisman Carrus Buy at Bookshop.org Wishing Upon the Same Stars is the first novel written by author Jacquetta Nammar Feldman. When twelve-year-old Yasmeen’s father gets a new job, her family picks up their lives from a predominantly Arab Detroit neighborhood and moves to San Antonio, Texas. In their new neighborhood and middle school they are the only Arab American family. To Yasmeen they stick out like a sore thumb, from the way they decorate their home to the foods they eat. Yasmeen is self-conscious about how different she looks from the other girls in her new school. If you have ever felt alone or invisible in a social situation you will relate to Yasmeen. Yasmeen meets Waverly, a friendly girl whose father works in the same office as Yasmeen’s father. She invites her to join the popular girls at lunch. But soon the leader of the group begins to tease Yasmeen and she f

Hidden Powers: Lise Meitner's Call to Science by Jeannine Atkins Atheneum Books for Young Readers (imprint of Simon & Schuster), 2022 Category: Middle Grade Reviewer: Merle Eisman Carrus Buy at Bookshop.org Young people who are interested in science will find a wonderful role model in Lise Meitner, and girls may be especially inspired. This book, written in a beautiful poetry style, easily explains the life of Lise Meitner and her critically important contribution to science. Each chapter is written in a simple poetic style that makes it easy to understand the complicated science that Lise and her fellow laboratory partners discovered. The story of Lise’s life and how she worked her way through many obstacles is amazing as well as inspiring. Lise Meitner wanted to be a scientist from a very young age. She lived at a time in history when women were not offered an education and certainly not encouraged to attend university, get a doctorate, or become a professor. She overcame all

A Boy Is Not a Ghost by Edeet Ravel Groundwood Books Category: Middle Grade Reviewer: Merle Eisman Carrus   Buy at Bookshop.org A Boy is Not a Ghost is an incredible story. Written by Edeet Ravel as a sequel to A Boy is Not a Bird , it is the story of a young boy caught up in life during the Second World War in Russia. Readers will feel like they have stepped into the shoes of Natt Silver and really understand what it was like to live through this horrific experience. Natt is twelve years old as he rides with his mother and their neighbors in the cattle car of a train headed for Siberia. He describes in perfect detail the sounds, smells and crowded conditions on the train as they slowly travel across Russia for two long months. The food is scarce and the weather gets colder as they travel north. His father is in a Gulag or prison under extreme conditions. He and his mother do not know where they are going to end up or what life will be like there. Then his mother is falsely arrested.