The Sydney Taylor Shmooze

My Left Skate: The Extraordinary Story of Eliezer Sherbatov by Anna Rosner Yellow Dog Press (imprint of Great Plains Publications), 2022 Category: Young Adult Reviewer: Eva Weiss Buy at Bookshop.org The life story of Eliezer Sherbatov, the courageous and tenacious hockey player is told in the first person, although it is written by educator and author Anna Rosner. Rosner conducted extensive interviews with the protagonist and the narrative is straightforward, authentic, and compelling. It is not an overstatement to brand Eliezer's story (he is now 31 years old) as "extraordinary." He overcame a freak accident that left him with a permanent disability, yet he pursued a career as a hockey player, encouraged by his mother, a professional skating coach, and supported by his family. He was born in Israel, the son of a family with Russian roots. On the first page, Eliezer shares, “My mother’s grandfather, a proud man, had been imprisoned for ten years for his 'Semitic

Nothing Sung and Nothing Spoken by Nita Tyndall HarperTeen (imprint of HarperCollins), 2022 Category: Young Adult Reviewer: Dena Bach Buy at Bookshop.org   In the summer before World War II begins, Charlotte “Charlie” Kraus, chafing under Hitler’s regulations, follows her best friend Angelika, “Geli,” the daughter of a Nazi officer, to a forbidden, hidden dance club. Despite their complicated feelings for each other, Charlie and Geli feel the thrill and freedom of dancing to the “degenerate” jazz music played there. As their lives in Berlin become more restricted, Charlie and Geli, along with friends Renate and Minna, find a kind of resistance to the Nazi regime by joining the “Swingjugend” movement. Historically, these groups of mostly middle- or upper-class teens, in opposition to Nazi policies, would dance in private homes or clubs to banned American music while dressed like the British and Americans. These clubs were a response to the “Hitlerjugend,” Hitler Youth groups, that those

Ethel's Song: Ethel Rosenberg's Life in Poems by Barbara Krasner Calkins Creek (imprint of Astra Books for Young Readers), 2022 Category: Young Adult Reviewer: Sarah Blattner Buy at Bookshop.org Ethel's Song is a collection of poems telling the story of Ethel and Julius Rosenberg, the notorious Jewish couple who were electrocuted in 1953 after being charged and later convicted for conspiracy to commit espionage by leaking atom bomb secrets to the Soviets. Ethel Greenglass’ story begins as a young girl in tenement housing on the Lower East Side of New York City, where her mother parented harshly and her father toiled over his sewing machine repairs. As a girl, Ethel dreamed of being an actress, and as a youth, she fell in love with singing. Ethel quickly put aside her girlish dreams to help support her family, working as a typist and later as a stenographer. Ethel turned to the fight for workers’ rights and found a like minded companion in Julius Rosenberg. Ethel and Julius

Einstein by Jim Ottaviani, illustrated by Jerel Dye First Second (imprint of Macmillan), 2022 Category: Young Adult Reviewer: Lisa Trank Buy at Bookshop.org Einstein , a new graphic novel by Jim Ottaviani, illustrated by Jerel Dye, (with coloring by Alison Acton), opens in Hollywood. Albert Einstein, along with his second wife, Elsa, is seen entering the premiere of “City Lights, A Comedy in Pantomime” alongside Charlie Chaplin. The crowd recognizes Einstein and breaks out in applause. Einstein says to Chaplin, “We are just walking. Why are they applauding?” Chaplin responds, “They cheer you because none of them understands you. They cheer me because they understand me. It doesn’t mean anything, but in time you get used to it.” Einstein begins with his celebrity, then quickly fades, like a film, to the full span of his life and career as one of the most important scientists and political figures of our time. As his wife tells Chaplin and the reader, all of his life, Einstein straddled

Mordechai Anielewicz: No to Despair by Rachel Hausfater, translated from French by Alison L. Strayer Triangle Square Books for Young Readers (imprint of Seven Stories Press), 2022 Category: Young Adult Reviewer: Rachel J. Fremmer Buy at Bookshop.org Narrated by 13-year-old Feigele, a messenger in the Warsaw Ghetto, No to Despair tells the story of the three week insurrection in the ghetto by the Jews in April-May 1943. The book’s focus is on the 24-year-old leader of the insurrection, Mordechai Anielewicz, and emphasizes his belief in dying - and living - with dignity and not succumbing to hopelessness without a fight. Feigele idealizes Anielewicz, as probably most or all under his command did, referring to him repeatedly as an angel. While this depiction conveys the adoration and loyalty the fighters in the ghetto felt for him, it does mean that we miss out on a fuller portrait of Anielewicz as a human being with his own flaws and foibles. Although the narrator does give us some con

Destination Unknown by Bill Konigsberg Scholastic Press (imprint of Scholastic), 2022 Category: Young Adult Reviewer: Emily Roth   Buy at Bookshop.org   In 1987, when two gay teens living on the Upper West Side of Manhattan meet by chance, both of their lives are forever changed. Micah is introverted and worried about upsetting his liberal Jewish parents when he inevitably comes out of the closet, while CJ is openly and unapologetically out. Micah finds himself instantly drawn to CJ, even though CJ compulsively lies to keep his past a secret. As Micah and CJ grow closer, and as Micah struggles to figure out if their connection is platonic or romantic, the AIDS crisis looms as a constant invisible threat over everything. Micah and CJ both go on incredibly compelling emotional journeys over the course of the novel, and secondary characters, such as Micah’s parents and his boss, are equally complex and well-drawn. Teen readers will enjoy the pop culture references and cameos from LGBTQ ic

We Survived the Holocaust: The Bluma and Felix Goldberg Story by Frank W. Baker, illustrated by Tim E. Ogline Image and Wonder, 2022 Category: Young Adult Reviewer: Lisa Trank Buy at Bookshop.org The field of graphic novels often covers difficult topics through a delicate balance of the visual and the word. In the world of Jewish literature, graphic novels provide a unique way to tell the story of the Holocaust to a wide range of audiences, and in particular, younger readers. The graphic novel We Survived the Holocaust by Frank W. Baker and Tim E. Ogline began with a simple request. “Frankie, do something with this,” Felix Goldberg said, handing the author the speech he’d just delivered to their South Carolina synagogue on Yom Hashoah in 2000. Baker, a lifelong friend of the Goldbergs, worked with the family to create www.storiesofsurvival.org , a website dedicated to the Goldbergs' life before, during, and after World War II, and their life in South Carolina. However, after rea

Eight Nights of Flirting by Hannah Reynolds Razorbill (imprint of Penguin Random House), 2022 Category: Young Adult Reviewer: Evonne Marzouk   Buy at Bookshop.org   Hannah Reynolds’ newest novel, Eight Nights of Flirting , tells an enjoyable story about a girl finding love and finding herself. Sixteen-year old Shira Barbanel is warm and loving with her large Sephardic Jewish family, but often struggles to build close friendships and connect with love interests. She definitely does not want to connect with eighteen year old Tyler, who humiliated her several years before. But unexpectedly alone together in her grandparents’ Nantucket house for the first night of Hanukkah, Shira and Tyler strike a surprising deal. Tyler will teach Shira how to flirt with her current crush, Isaac, in exchange for an introduction to advance his career. This high society story takes place in snowy Nantucket over Hanukkah, Christmas, and New Years’ Eve, indulging fantasies of wealth, access and elaborate par

When the Angels Left the Old Country by Sacha Lamb Levine Querido, 2022 Category: Young Adult Reviewer: Beth L. Gallego Buy at Bookshop.org With its bookish, slightly absent-minded angel and clever, mischief-loving demon, the best of friends since time immemorial, this debut fantasy has immediate appeal for fans of Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett, but with a thoroughly Jewish perspective. Lamb’s immersive world is infused with Yiddish folklore and Jewish culture. Little Ash, the wingless demon with limited magical ability, is more properly a sheyd, closer to a mischievous fairy. He serves as interpreter for the angel, who only understands Hebrew and Aramaic. Both beings appear to humans as young Jewish men, partners in Talmudic study, their supernatural features unnoticed by all but some children and the most perceptive of adults. After centuries in the tiny community of Shtetl, the pair set out for the “Golden Land” of America. Their mission is to find the baker’s dau

The Life and Crimes of Hoodie Rosen by Isaac Blum Philomel (imprint of Penguin Random House), 2022 Category: Young Adult Reviewer: Sarah Blattner Buy at Bookshop.org The Life and Crimes of Hoodie Rosen opens with a flashback during the Jewish holiday of Tu B’Av, where the protagonist and narrator, Yehuda “Hoodie” Rosen proceeds to explain to the reader the first steps toward his ruination. Quickly, the reader is dropped into Hoodie’s world with long days of study at the Yeshiva. Right away, Hoodie’s sharp wit and sense of humor engages the reader, as he admires and characterizes his best friend, Moshe Tzvi, as someone who “makes you feel like an ignorant schmuck,” because of his Talmudic knowledge and acumen in text study and argumentation. While taking a walk during a break from his studies at the Yeshiva, Hoodie meets the captivating Anna-Marie Diaz-O’Leary, a gentile girl who also happens to be the mayor’s daughter. A forbidden friendship and affection ensues, where Hoodie crosses

Dreaming Bigger: Jewish Leadership for Teens by Dr. Erica Brown and Rabbi Dr. Benji Levy, illustrated by Gal Weisman and Shlomo Blass Behrman House, 2022 Category: Young Adult Reviewer: Evonne Marzouk Buy at Bookshop.org Today’s teens are actively involved in addressing the most important challenges of our time, and many Jewish teens are engaged in a wide variety of campaigns and causes, including social justice, the environment, supporting diversity and inclusion, combating antisemitism, supporting Israel, and much more. Therefore, Brown and Levy’s new book, Dreaming Bigger: Jewish Leadership for Teens is a welcome addition to the Jewish Young Adult non-fiction landscape.  Dreaming Bigger is structured around Hillel’s famous maxim, “If I am not for myself, who will be for me? If I am only for myself, what am I? If not now, when?” In the "Leading Yourself" section, teens will find strategies to address practical issues such as when to say yes and when to say no, time and str

How to Excavate a Heart by Jake Maia Arlow HarperTeen (imprint of HarperCollins), 2022 Category: Young Adult Reviewer: Dena Bach Buy at Bookshop.org After a bad breakup with her now ex-girlfriend, all Shani wants to do is escape to Washington DC during winter break for her dream internship: studying prehistoric fish at the Smithsonian Natural History Museum. As Shani heads to DC with her mother behind the wheel, things go from bad to worse. She and her mother spend the drive arguing. That is, until their argument is silenced by a terrible snowstorm. When they leave the highway in the blizzard to head to the house where Shani will be staying during her internship, they start arguing again. Distracted, Shani’s mother doesn’t see a girl crossing the road, and hits her with the car. After making sure that the girl is not hurt, Shani can’t help noticing that she’s also very cute. Literally running into May becomes Shani and May’s, “meet cute” in this Jewish, queer, YA “Hallmark Holiday Roma

Some Kind of Hate by Sarah Darer Littman Scholastic, 2022 Category: Young Adult Reviewer: Heather J. Matthews Buy at Bookshop.org This is a tough book to read. Author Sarah Darer Littman acknowledges as much in a note before the narration begins. I will admit, I read the statement and I did not take it at face value – as a grizzled YA lit reader, I tend to believe that I’ve seen it all, so to speak. But, this book represents the very first YA book about online radicalization I’ve ever read, and true to its warning. I am left rattled. Some Kind of Hate is a dual-perspective narrative of two friends, Jake and Declan. The story begins when both boys are 15 years old, follows both of their lives for about a year and a half, and then the narrative skips two years, ending when the boys are around 18 years old. Readers meet Declan first, a baseball pitcher with great potential. The next chapter is narrated by Jake, Declan’s best friend and baseball teammate. The boys are different in two dis

Heroines, Rescuers, Rabbis, Spies: Unsung Women of the Holocaust by Sarah Silberstein Swartz, illustrated by Liz Parkes Second Story Press, 2022 Category: Young Adult Reviewer: Jeanette Brod Buy at Bookshop.org Sarah Silberstein Swartz brings a unique set of professional credentials and personal experiences to the researching and writing of Heroines, Rescuers, Rabbis, Spies: Unsung Women of the Holocaust . As a daughter of survivors, she fulfills her objective of providing role models and inspiration for a new generation. She gives the reader an opportunity to engage with many aspects of the Holocaust in many European countries from an avowedly feminist perspective. This is an eclectic assemblage of biographies that follows nine women from childhood through the Holocaust and postwar rebuilding of the rest of their lives. A few of the women reflect that their most difficult times came after the war with the realization of the loss of family and the despair of not knowing where to go. It

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