The Sydney Taylor Shmooze

 The Many Mysteries of the Finkel Family by Sarah Kapit Dial Books (imprint of Penguin Random House) Category: Middle Grade Reviewer: Meira Drazin Buy at Bookshop.org Told from alternating perspectives of neurodivergent sisters Lara and Caroline Finkel, THE MANY MYSTERIES OF THE FINKEL FAMILY by Sarah Kapit follows the girls as they begin the new school year as 7th and 6th graders respectively. With her younger sister as her best friend until now, Lara feels protective when Caroline joins her middle school. But Caroline, who speaks through her tablet, wants to be just like any kid making new friends and going to classes, and feels her sister is acting unnecessarily overprotective and, frankly, interfering. But the trouble really begins to take shape when Lara, who has started her own detective agency (FIASCCO—Finkel Investigative Agency Solving Consequential Crimes Only) discovers, along with Caroline, the answer to the mystery of why their father burned the brisket. This distresses bo

  An Egg for Shabbat by Mirik Snir, illustrated by Eleyor Snir Kar-Ben Publishing Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Laurie Adler Buy at Bookshop.org An Egg for Shabbat , written by Mirik Snir and illustrated by Eleyor Snir, is a thoroughly engaging book for children in preschool through age six. The story is simple and infused with humor: young Ben, eager to help his mother, visits the chicken pen every morning to fetch an egg, only to have something different- OH NO, CRACK- go wrong each day. Mom never gets angry, and by Friday Ben has learned from experience and is finally successful in bringing home an egg, used to make the shiniest challah in honor of Shabbat. This story is told in rhyme with repeated refrains, perfect for a young audience. The pencil illustrations are uncomplicated and engaging, with soft colorful scenes from mom’s kitchen interspersed with soft blue and gray scenes from the chicken pen. What makes this book a cut above, however, is the design. Each day of the w

Let Liberty Rise!: How America's Schoolchildren Helped Save the State of Liberty by Chana Stiefel, illustrated by Chuck Groenink Scholastic Press Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Sandy Wasserman   Buy at Bookshop.org   FANTASTIC BOOK, but first: Though technically a picture book, there is so much wonderful information here beyond the picture book genre; this book tells us how Lady Liberty came to be -- it's her biography! When France gifted the Statue of Liberty to the US for its 100th birthday, funds ran out, and there wasn't enough money for her pedestal. What to do? Saving the day, Joseph Pulitzer, Jewish journalist and owner of the newspaper The New York World had an idea. He published the problem in the newspaper, asking for donations, and then published the names of all the donors, no matter the amount, large or small, including those from children! From spring 1885 to fall 1886, it all worked out: Lady Liberty rose, pedestal and all, and a parade ensued.

I Love You, My Dear by Chaya Baron, illustrated by Nancy Munger Hachai Publishing Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Jeff Gottesfeld   This book is old-fashioned in its art, Orthodox in its depictions, rhyming in its text, and reverent in its tone toward the arrival of newborns in the world, and the love between traditional parents (and two older siblings) with the baby. As such, it's not for everyone. But for the people for whom it is right, or who are willing to stretch their boundaries a bit and step into a world that might not be their own, it's a winner. There's a glossary at the start for a few terms that might be unfamiliar. Munger's art shows a close Ashkenazi Orthodox family, with enough variance in skin color -- especially in a grandmother -- that it's impossible to code everyone as white. Another nifty art feat, supported by Baron's second-person voice text, is that the new arrival in the family is not named, nor specifically referred to as male or fem

 Lenny and Benny by Naama Benziman, translated from Hebrew by Shira Atik Green Bean Books Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Shirley Vernick Buy at Bookshop.org Lenny and Benny is a contemporary retelling of the Kamtza and Bar Kamtza midrash about the value of friendship and the dangers of baseless hate and anger. Written and illustrated by Naama Benziman and translated from Hebrew by Shira Atik, the English version of this picture book was released by Green Bean Books on April 28, 2021. Rabbits Lenny and Benny are best friends…until Lenny grows envious of Benny’s jumping skills and says mean things to Benny. The bunnies stop playing together. Later, when Lenny accidentally receives a birthday party invitation from Benny, he decides he’s ready to reconcile. But now Benny is angry and says mean things to Lenny. Things seem hopeless. Months later, though, Benny finds the unopened birthday gift from Lenny, a gift that includes a picture of the two bunnies in happier times. This helps Ben

 I Am Defiance: A Novel of WWII by Jenni L. Walsh Scholastic Press Category: Middle Grade Reviewer: Chava Pinchuck Buy at Bookshop.org This fictional story is narrated in the first person, present by Brigitte Schmidt, a twelve-year-old girl living in Munich in the early 1940s. She goes to Jungmädelbund (Young Girls’ League) (JM) meetings with her best friend Marianne. Their group leader, Elisabeth, encourages the girls to “report” to her, and Brigitte is conflicted. Her older sister Angelika had polio, and she and her father fear that if people notice her limp, she will be sent away. Brigitte often feels this tension of whether she is a “good German” or a good daughter and sister when she does not agree with the anti-Semitic dogma taught at JM meetings. When Angelika has to fulfill her national service requirement by working in a munitions factory in Ulm, she meets the charismatic Sophie, who will be attending university with her. Soon there are more secrets in Brigitte’s house, as her

 The Magical Imperfect by Chris Baron Feiwel and Friends (imprint of Macmillan) Category: Middle Grade Reviewer: Sarah Aronson Buy at Bookshop.org When you don’t talk a lot I think your ears get stronger. —Chris Baron, The Magical Imperfect    A historical fiction novel in verse, Chris Baron’s The Magical Imperfect is an emotionally powerful story of friendship, family, acceptance, Jewish mysticism and values, and the importance of community.   It’s 1989, the Giants are vying for the playoffs, and Etan is not speaking. His mutism is triggered by his mom, who has left for the hospital to focus on her mental health issues. When his neighbor sends him to a house on an errand, he connects with Malia, a girl with a skin condition, who his peers have dubbed The Creature. The two of them quickly become friends. With a talent show on the horizon, Etan wants to give her his grandfather’s special (and mystical) clay from Prague to heal her skin.    Read this book with tissues! Baron’