The Sydney Taylor Shmooze

Memory Stones by Kathy Kacer, illustrated by Hayley Lowe Second Story Press, 2025 Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Claire Freeland   Buy at Bookshop.org Sophie adores her modern and fun granny, so when she dies, Sophie is bereft. Her mother takes her to the cemetery to visit Granny’s grave where she leaves Granny’s favorite flowers. Upon a return visit, though, Sophie is upset to see the wilted remains of her remembrance. Her mother suggests she participate in the tradition of bringing a stone instead, but Sophie doesn’t think a stone could be as lovely as flowers, even if it lasts forever. Her mama tells her the story of angels watching over graves at night. When they see a stone, they know that someone on earth is caring for that grave, so the angels don’t need to watch that one. At home, Sophie ponders angels, stones, and flowers until she has an idea. She asks her parents to take her to all the favorite places that she and Granny had frequented. Gathering a stone from each sp...

A Storm Unleashed by Carol Matas Scholastic Canada, 2025 Category: Middle Grade Reviewer: Merle Eisman Carrus   Buy at Scholastic   Carol Matas has given a wonderful gift to middle grade readers and anyone else who is interested in the history of Germany leading up to the Holocaust. Her book, The Storm Unleashed , shows how one man with a small group of followers can gather momentum and create a community of hate toward another group of the society. Mia and her father live in an apartment building in Berlin with their Jewish neighbors. Her friend Frieda also lives with her family in the building. They have grown up here with the freedom to walk to the park and to school. Her father is a veterinarian and Mia has a beautiful German shepherd named Max. Freida attends a Jewish school, Mia goes to the local public school. Now as Hitler comes to power, Mia is aware of her life changing as the country moves from a democracy to fascist regime, antisemitism is rising as the Jews become...

Time for Tefillah by Devorah Schwebel, illustrated by Tova Katz Hachai Publishing, 2025 Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Judy Ehrenstein   Buy at Amazon.com A young Orthodox boy cheerfully details all the ways he and his family find time for tefillah (prayer), told in four-line rhyming stanzas. Every opportunity for prayer, whether saying modeh ani upon waking, going to shul, and fitting in words of Tehilim (psalms) into busy days, and more are done with joy and appreciation, as ways to thank Hashem for everything. The stanzas mostly work and have a natural flow without forcing the rhyme scheme. The illustrations feature Ashkenazi people, with fair skin and brown and red hair, drawn in a retro style reminiscent of the Little Golden Books. The text and life depicted work well together, joining a tale of all the ways to praise Hashem, with images of people living very traditional, pious lives in a modern world.  The Jewish world depicted is deeply traditional, marked by modest...

Try Your Worst by Chatham Greenfield Bloomsbury YA, 2025 Category: Young Adult Reviewer: Kathryn Hall   Buy at Bookshop.org   This well-written light sapphic rom-com mystery with an enemies-to-mor-than-friends plot has some serious themes. The story is told in alternating chapters from the point of view of Sadie, who is Jewish, and Chloe, who is not. These high school seniors are dealing with depression, anxiety, chronic pain, uncertainty about the future, an unrequited crush, and mothers. Being lesbian and being overweight are not presented as significant problems. When bad things happen to them and they are unfairly blamed, it becomes obvious that someone is trying to frame Sadie and Chloe, and the school administration will not help them. Gradually misunderstandings are cleared up, and betrayal is revealed. The mental health concerns are handled realistically and with sensitivity. The sexual content does not go beyond kissing. In the dedication the author warns the reader a...

    Leaving the Station by Jake Maia Arlow Storytide, (imprint of HarperCollins), 2025 Category: Young Adult Reviewer: Dena Bach   Buy at Bookshop.org "A Jew and a Mormon walk onto a train.” This sounds like a set up for a joke, as Zoe Tauber says to her fellow traveler Oakley, but it is instead an apt synopsis of Leaving the Station , this sapphic YA romance. When Oakley and Zoe meet, they have just boarded an Amtrak train in New York City. After running away from her actions and inaction during her first semester in college, Zoe has chosen to take the train for a slow trip back to her home in Seattle. Oakley’s destination is Ritzville WA, returning home after escaping from her highly prescriptive Mormon life there. Until she got to Cornell, Zoe had followed the straight and narrow track that her parents expected, towards becoming a doctor, but now she wants to take another route. Both Zoe and Oakley are using the long train trip as a liminal space to figure out how the...

Acts of Lovingkindness by Nina Kentsis Porter Place Publishing, 2025 Category: Young Adult Reviewer: Julie Ditton   Buy at Bookshop.org   Acts of Lovingkindness is a touching coming of age story that relates a teenager's experiences during her senior year in high school. It covers everything from first love, awakening sexuality, and the problems with the possibility of a long distance relationship once she goes to college. Although the character becomes involved in an adult relationship, the scenes are not explicit. The book would be appropriate for younger teens as well. But this is not really a love story, it also explores outgrowing friendships as people change, relatives with addiction, and broken trust. Nina Kentsis captures teenage angst and issues and the characters ring true. Francie is Jewish, but is not particularly religious and has rarely attended services since her Bat Mitzvah. However, she needs community service hours for a high school credit and her mother ha...

Hamantaschen or Latkes? by Kerry M. Olitzky, illustrated by Ruby Silberman Bink Books (imprint of Bedazzled Ink), 2025 Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Amy Brook Cohen   Buy at Bookshop.org   This delightful new picture book was inspired by the real-life Great Latke-Hamantash Debate, started in 1946 and still held annually at the University of Chicago; now held at many other universities around the U.S as well. Our two protagonists are Sandy and Zoe, two girls living in the charming Squirrel Hill neighborhood in Pittsburgh. While Sandy’s mom owns a bakery and their sell-out product is hamantaschen, Zoe’s mom owns a deli where the most popular item is latkes. The girls are friends, and they enjoy playful banter, debating the merits of both foods, each of them steadfast in their commitment to one food over the other. When they come up with an idea to set up a table in the park so that community members can sample both hamantaschen and latkes and vote on which one they prefer, t...