The Sydney Taylor Shmooze

Honey and Me by Meira Drazin Scholastic, 2022 Category: Middle Grade Reviewer: Jacqueline Jules Buy at Bookshop.org We meet eleven-year-old Milla on a Saturday morning as she follows Honey through the men’s section of their Orthodox synagogue. The two girls are long-time friends and neighbors. Milla loves spending time at Honey’s house with her large bustling family and easy-going mother. Even though they are only a few months apart in age, Milla looks up to Honey, admiring her social skills, even with adults. In the opening scene, Milla reflects that she would never have the chutzpah to ask an adult for what she wants the way Honey does. Later in the story, Milla compares her own outlook to Honey’s: “where I see roadblocks, she see different routes, or that a roadblock might really only be those orange traffic cones that can simply be picked up and moved away.” Milla’s reluctance to assert herself is an important part of this friendship story. Milla worries that she is like the willow

The Two Wrong Halves of Ruby Taylor by Amanda Panitch Roaring Brook Press (imprint of Macmillan), 2022 Category: Middle Grade Reviewer: Beth L. Gallego Buy at Bookshop.org Ruby Taylor’s father is Jewish, and her mother is Catholic. To her paternal grandmother, Ruby is not really a Jew. Grandma Yvette blatantly favors Ruby’s four-months-older cousin Sarah who, in addition to being the sort of tidy, polite, and helpful girl adults adore, has a Jewish mother. Afternoons at their grandmother’s house see Sarah cozy in the kitchen, learning to cook, while Ruby is banished to the living room with her homework. There is a growing distance between the once-close cousins, and Ruby might not be all that interested in closing it. Maybe it is just time for the two of them to make new friends and pursue different activities. Then Sarah starts behaving strangely, acting out in ways that are downright dangerous. Ruby thinks she knows why, and it might be a little bit her fault. Possibly, she accidenta

Dance the Hora, Isadora! by Gloria Koster, illustrated by Barbara Bongini Apples & Honey Press (imprint of Behrman House), 2022 Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Arlene Schenker Buy at Bookshop.org This is a joyful book that captures the delight of dancing the hora at a Jewish wedding. Isadora is a spunky little girl who takes ballet classes. At the end of each class, the students can share a favorite dance. Isadora doesn’t have a special dance of her own, but her grandma tells her that she will have one soon. Isadora knows that her grandma is referring to Cousin Rachel’s wedding, which they’ll both be attending on Sunday. At the wedding celebration, when the band starts playing Hava Nagila, Grandma makes a space for herself and Isadora in the dance circle. With no time to learn the hora, Isadora is swept along with the others—and so is the reader thanks to the lively language describing the music and dancing. The illustrations exude laughter and joy and make the wedding come alive

Lines of Courage by Jennifer A. Nielsen Scholastic Press, 2022 Category: Middle Grade Reviewer: Meira Drazin Buy at Bookshop.org Lines of Courage is a sweeping, ambitious middle grade novel about World War I. The book follows young adolescents Felix from Austro-Hungary, Elsa from Germany, Juliette from France, Kara from Britain, and Dmitri from Russia. Their lives criss-cross and overlap in "deus ex machina" kinds of ways—including through a war medal, a knitted hat, a stitched red star, and homing pigeons—and the reader is shown how even people whose countries are at war with each other do not need to be enemies. The novel begins with Felix Baum witnessing the assassination of crown prince Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo. As the war starts and his father, a sergeant in the Austro-Hungarian army, goes off to fight, Felix's hometown of Lemberg becomes occupied by the Russians (who have joined Bosnia against Germany and the Austro-Hungarian empire). As the Russians be

Repairing the World by Linda Epstein Aladdin (imprint of Simon & Schuster), 2022 Category: Middle Grade Reviewer: Bridget Hodder Buy at Bookshop.org ...maybe there really was magic here, things that were beyond what she thought, beyond what she already knew about the world. Daisy and Ruby are such close friends, they might as well be sisters. And like the best of sisters, they give and take from each other's strengths. Ruby's daring spirit and magical way of seeing the world give Daisy courage and inspiration. But when Ruby is suddenly torn from Daisy's life by a car accident, Daisy loses that courage and inspiration just when she needs it the most.   All the magic seems to have gone out of the world. Daisy will never regain what she has lost. But in the spirit of tikkun olam, she discovers that healing can spring from finding community in the wider world. Working together with new friends, she rekindles the magic for others that Ruby was so good at discovering for hers

What's in Tuli's Box? by Ann D. Koffsky Apples & Honey Press (imprint of Behrman House), 2022 Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Belinda Brock Buy at Bookshop.org In What's in Tuli's Box? the reader meets a cute, curious kitten and his wise, nurturing mama. Tuli discovers a tzedakah box and finds out that it's not a toy, but a tool to collect money and help people. Author/illustrator Ann D. Koffsky has created a book that is perfectly suited for the youngest readers. The adorable cover will attract a child's interest and the title will pique their curiosity right along with Tuli's. Using sparse text, Koffsky has managed to tell an entertaining story while presenting a gentle introduction to the important concept of tzedakah—charitable giving. She also seamlessly integrates a lesson about opposites (light/heavy, empty/full) into the story. Some spreads are laid out vertically, requiring the book to be rotated; this may serve to keep young readers engaged.

Deborah's Tree by Jane Yolen, illustrated by Cosei Kawa Kar-Ben Publishing (imprint of Lerner Publishing Group), 2022 Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Rachel J. Fremmer Buy at Bookshop.org This poetic recounting of the story of the Biblical Deborah’s life is stunningly beautiful, in both text and illustrations. The dreamy, lush illustrations by Cosei Kawa have a “Chagall in the Middle East” feel to them, with their motifs of pomegranate, figs, the scales of justice, circles, and spirals, and, of course, trees and leaves, among others, along with a touch of surrealism. As Deborah grows into womanhood and becomes a judge and then a general, she learns why she has been blessed with the gift of foresight and what her purpose is. Because of the poetic nature of the language, this book may be best suited to readers who are familiar with the story of Deborah. It would be perfect for teachers to use with middle-grade or even middle school students in Jewish day schools or Hebrew schools t