The Sydney Taylor Shmooze

The Greatest Treasure Hunt in History: The Story of the Monuments Men by Robert M. Edsel Scholastic Focus Category: Middle Grade Reviewer: Stacy Nockowitz Buy at Bookshop.org Edsel tells the story of eleven indefatigable heroes who risked (and sometimes lost) their lives on a quest to recover Europe’s greatest artistic and cultural treasures stolen by the Nazis during World War II. The Monuments Men – a misnomer, as some of them were women – were carefully selected to act as art detectives across Europe, identifying, locating, recovering, and safeguarding tens of thousands of paintings, sculptures, pieces of furniture, monuments, and other works both large and small. Edsel’s book has all the elements of a great adventure story baked in from page one: a race against time across war-torn lands, brave heroes and vile villains, high stakes, and nail-biting tension. Any reader who devotes the considerable time required to dig into The Greatest Treasure Hunt in History will be rewarded with

Lucy Clark Will Not Apologize by Margo Rabb Quill Tree Books (imprint of HarperCollins) Category: Young Adult Reviewer: Stacie Ramey Buy at Bookshop.org Lucy Clark Will Not Apologize begins as a story about girls living at a boarding school in Texas, but quickly morphs into a New York City adventure with themes of grief, friendship, and finding your place in the world.    When high school junior Lucy Clark is suspended for an unmentionable incident, she is sent to New York City to stay with a distant older cousin in order to care for an older woman, who needs supervision due to her declining mental health. Lucy meets her charge, one Edith Fox, who is the heir to the Fox Fruit Syrup fortune. Edith is a wealthy, colorful, witty, and warm horticulturist with whom Lucy is immediately enthralled. Only there’s one problem--Edith believes that someone is trying to kill her and the police don’t believe her. She needs Lucy’s help to discover the truth.   Despite the cozy mystery set

"Nice" Jewish Girls by Julie Merberg, illustrated by Georgia Rucker Downtown Bookworks (imprint of Simon & Schuster) Category: Middle Grade Reviewer: Stacy Nockowitz Buy at Bookshop.org One of the last pages in Julie Merberg’s wonderful new book Nice Jewish Girls is titled Jewish Geography. Though I found each one of the book’s thirty-six biographical sketches fascinating, the Jewish Geography page is the one to pore over. “It’s a small Jewish world” Merberg writes, and through thumbnail drawings and dotted lines, she shows the reader how many of the women featured in the book are linked to one another. Barbra Streisand held a fundraiser for Bella Abzug when she first ran for office. Ruth Westheimer and Gloria Steinem appeared on The Joan Rivers Show. Are these critically important facts and events? Do we need to know that Diane Von Furstenberg mentored Anne Wojcicki? No. But it sure is fun to play Jewish Geography with all of these inspirational Jewish women and admire

Baby Loves Angular Momentum on Hanukkah! by Ruth Spiro, illustrated by Irene Chan Charlesbridge Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Sarah Aronson   Buy at Bookshop.org   As a brand new bubbe, I am always on the hunt for great board books that are fun to read and capture the kids' imagination, and no one is better at creating these books than the team of Ruth Spiro and Irene Chan.    Angular Momentum is many things: It’s an introduction to the meaning of Hanukkah. It’s an introduction to the game of dreidel. AND it’s a discussion about physics, gravity, and angular momentum. Spoiler: I learned something!   Spiro’s prose are simple, fun, and respectful—and scientifically accurate. No misinformation here! Chan’s illustrations bring the text to life. They are delightful—colorful and engaging--perfect for young eyes.    A special surprise: at the end of the book, Spiro includes a nod to diversity and inclusion (and other titles): not all Baby’s friends celebrate Hanukkah . . . bu

 Is It Hanukkah Yet? by Nancy Krulik, illustrated by Monique Dong Step Into Reading Level 2, Random House Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Heidi Rabinowitz Buy at Bookshop.org The exuberant first person voice of a nameless little girl makes the controlled vocabulary come alive in this early reader. The child and her grandparents happily prepare for the holiday, and celebrate when the parents arrive home from work at sundown. Typical Hanukkah activities such as making latkes, reading about the Maccabees, lighting candles, playing dreidel, and eating sufganiyot are woven naturally into the story. Grandma gifts her granddaughter the music box they play with at her house ("Now you can hear our special song anytime you like!"),  which pleasantly emphasizes relationships instead of consumerism.  Originally published in 2000 with pictures by DyAnne DiSalvo-Ryan, this new edition has energetic, rounded illustrations by Monique Dong, arranged with plenty of white space to give the ey

The $150,000 Rugelach by Allison and Wayne Marks, illustrated by Ariel Landy Yellow Jacket (imprint of Little Bee Books) Category: Middle Grade Reviewer: Judith S. Greenblatt   Buy at Bookshop.org   Jillian Mermelstein and Jack Fineman both love to bake, and they are both Jewish, but Jillian is somber, while Jack is a goofy extrovert. Their similarities and their differences are the key elements in this charming, well-told tale. The story revolves around a baking contest that will garner much publicity as well a $150,000 prize. Will Jack’s parent’s let him enter? Will Jill allow her story to be told? And will they go along with the villainous plans of creator of the contest, Phineas Farnsworth III? You will guess the outcome, but there are many smiles along the way. Among the other well drawn characters are the back-up players, Jack’s parents and brother, Jill’s father, and especially her grandmother. The path to the prize is strewn with lies, half-truths and diffic

I'll Keep You Close by Jeska Verstegen Levine Querido Category: Middle Grade Reviewer: Beth L. Gallego Buy at Bookshop.org How does one honor the memory of those who died during a time one wants to forget? Debut novelist Jeska Verstegen examines the toll secret grief took on her own family in this poignant volume, originally published in the Netherlands as Ik zal je bewaren and translated from the Dutch by Bill Nagelkerke.   In snapshot vignettes, eleven-year-old Jesje presents, at first, unremarkable days in the ordinary life of a girl in 1980s Amsterdam. Perhaps her mother is unusually anxious, but that’s just how Mama is. Bomma, Jesje’s maternal grandmother, is in a nearby nursing home, suffering from dementia that has taken a turn for the worse. During a visit, she calls Jesje by someone else’s name, Hesje, and Mama refuses to say more than that it is the name of someone from far in the past.   Curious, Jesje investigates, gathering information from other family me