The Sydney Taylor Shmooze

The Light in Hidden Places by Sharon Cameron Category: Young Adult Reviewer: Stacy Mozer In The Light in Hidden Places, sixteen-year-old Stefania has to decide whether to risk her life and the life of her six-year-old sister Helena to hide a group of Jewish people when the Germans invade her town. Based on a true story, Stefania, who had been living and working with a Jewish family before the war, knows that the way the Jews in her town are being treated is not right. So when the son of her former boss shows up broken at her door after jumping off a moving train, Stefania knows that she has to help any way she can. She never expected that would lead her and her sister to hide thirteen Jews during her town's occupation, but even when things are at their worst, she never regrets her choice. The Light in Hidden Places is a story of heroism and hope when people and life is at its worst. It's about standing up for what you believe is right. I love how the author uses small

Alligator Seder by Jessica Hickman, illustrated by Elissambura Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Lila Spitz This board book by first-time author and native Floridian, Jessica Hikman, chronicles a family of alligators as they prepare-for and celebrate Passover. The book incorporates an A, B, C, B end rhyming pattern. For example: A Every year in Florida, B Our favorite sunshine state, C A very special family B takes out its Seder plate. The book also includes information about alligators such as their habitat and their physical features. It states,“. . . Her cooking is the best in the entire Everglade. . . Their many extra teeth make for an even louder crunch. The meal is being served now, and the gators start to chomp. The delicious smells of dinner go drifting through the swamp”. The illustrator used layers of vibrant color and texture to create cartoon alligators and their swampy environment. The simple, yet playful illustrations depict alligators c

Asteroid Goldberg: Passover in Outer Space by Brianna Caplan Sayres, illustrated by Merrill Rainey Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Fern Richardson Asteroid Goldberg is a rhyming picture book about a young girl’s celebration of Passover in outer space. The main character, Asteroid, finds herself unexpectedly celebrating Passover in her family’s space ship. The quick thinking girl sets off on an adventure to find creative alternatives to the usual Passover fare. She uses the big dipper as a ladle to scoop up Jupiter’s moons, which Asteroid envisions as matzo balls. Saturn’s rings become matzo, while Jupiter’s red spot fills in for horseradish. The rest of the story is a good-humored explanation of how a seder might look in a zero gravity situation. Brianna Caplan Sayres manages to fit a lot of Passover information into fun story over 15 spreads. Some of the humor, children will get; some only parents will enjoy. For example, the Jupiter moon matzo balls float right out of the

A Persian Princess by Barbara Diamond Goldin, illustrated by Steliyana Doneva Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Jane Kohuth In this book, Raya, a contemporary young Persian American Jewish girl, celebrates Purim with her family and friends from her neighborhood. Raya bakes koloocheh, traditional Persian Purim cookies with her stylish grandmother Maman joon, who recounts eating the crunchy cookies shaped like little “Hamans,” (the Purim villain) when she was a child in Hamadan, Iran. Raya is disappointed that she is not old enough to be in the Religious School Purim play like her brother Nati, who is playing the important role of Mordecai, Queen Esther’s cousin. Raya wants to be a sparkly princess for Purim, so, to cheer her up, Maman joon takes her up to her bedroom, which is decorated with colorful Persian items, perhaps brought from Iran. Maman joon wraps Raya in layers of colorful scarves and strands of gold coins to create a Persian princess costume. Raya is delighted

Sweet Tamales for Purim by Barbara Bietz, illustrated by John Kanzler Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Kathy Bloomfield This charming story is set in the American Southwest during the late 1800s and was inspired by a Purim Ball hosted by the Hebrew Ladies Benevolent Society of Tucson, AZ. The whole town is invited to the Purim Ball. Rebecca plans to attend in her Esther costume, while her best friend, Luis, decides to go as a vaquero, (Spanish for cowboy). Rebecca explains Purim to Luis, including drawing out the story of Esther and describing how graggers are used to blot out Hamen’s name. When they discover that their wayward goat, Kitzel, has eaten all the hamantaschen, Mama sadly says there will be no cookies this year – all the flour, butter and apricot jam are gone. Unfortunately, Luis’ mama does not any of the ingredients either. Fortunately, she does have masa (corn flour) and raisins, enough to make sweet tamales for Purim. The story is told in clear, engaging lan

Our next few reviews will feature Purim and Passover stories, just a little out of season. This topsy turvy posting seems fitting in our current pandemic situation, where things feel so mixed up. It made us think that this was a good time to check in and see how everyone is doing. How are you, readers? If you like, let us know in the comments. We hope that you and your loved ones are staying healthy and safe. We want to acknowledge the amazing job being done by our Shmooze reviewers, who are persevering despite the chaos. We hope that our continuing stream of book reviews brings a little normalcy to you, and helps showcase great titles that aren't getting their normal exposure in bookstores and libraries. Above you can see Shmooze editor Susan Kusel in a Highlights Foundation Zoom meeting held on April 27, 2020 for members of the Jewish Kidlit Mavens Facebook group. Panelists Susan Kusel, Linda Epstein, Becca Podos, Erica Perl, Ruth Horowitz, and Veera Hiranandani discussed

I Have a Jewish Name by Rochel Vorst, illustrated by Dena Ackerman Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Freidele Galya Soban Biniashvili Shakespeare asks, “What’s in name?” in the most famous soliloquy of Romeo and Juliet. In the latest offering from Hachai Publishing, I Have a Jewish Name, Vorst answers the question from a Jewish perspective. In simple, rhyming text that a young child will easily understand, the author explains when and how Jewish boys and girls receive their Jewish name. With questions directed to the reader, children will immediately be captivated with wonder about the story behind their own unique names. This uniqueness is underscored on the inside covers with personalized hand-written name tags, featuring names that are either Yiddish or Hebrew in origin, common or rare in usage. Some are written in Hebrew printed letters, some in Hebrew script; others are written in English, printed in capitals or with lower-case letters or in script. Children, and even adu