The Sydney Taylor Shmooze

A Forgiveness Stone for Ezra (Golda & Ezra series) by Hollie Michaels, illustrated by Claudio Cerri Picture Window Books (imprint of Capstone Publishing), 2025 Category: Early Chapter Books  Reviewer: Jacqueline Jules   Buy at Bookshop.org This early chapter book opens with a one-page introduction of the characters: Golda Gene Fisher, her stepbrother Ezra David Gomez, their parents, Ima and Aba, and their cats, Bagel and Lox. Ezra and Ima have brown skin. Golda and Aba have white. The illustrations show a multicultural school setting. Chapter 1 starts with Golda eating a large lunch and commenting how “she can’t stop noshing” because yesterday she fasted for Yom Kippur for the first time. Since her class is eating outside, she has a view of the playground. Golda’s stepbrother Ezra is hanging on the monkey bars, clearly frightened. His classmates are beneath him, waiting to see what happens. When Ezra falls to the ground and hurts his wrist, Golda runs over to help. In the...

The Fisher Family Beach Project (Golda & Ezra series) by Hollie Michaels, illustrated by Claudio Cerri Picture Window Books (imprint of Capstone Publishing), 2025 Category: Early Chapter Book Reviewer: Katie Dawson   Buy at Bookshop.org This early chapter book, an installment in the Golda & Ezra series, is about a blended family of four: Ezra, Golda, Ima and Aba. Ezra and Golda are step-siblings, and they have a pair of kitties named Bagel and Lox. This entry in the series takes us to the beach with the family around the Jewish holiday of Tu BiShvat. The reader can empathize with Ezra, who is a bit hesitant at first to participate in beach day due to all the stuff they have to schlep for their sandcastle contest, his dislike of getting sand in his hair, and his resistance to having to endure putting on sunscreen. As the family goes through the routine of getting themselves settled at the beach, they realize with a start that the beach is really messy– there is trash everyw...

A Ring for a King: A Tale of King Solomon by Martha Seif Simpson, illustrated by D. Yael Bernhard Wisdom Tales, 2025 Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Rebecca Klempner   Buy at Bookshop.org   When King Solomon's (fictional) cup-bearer Ezra brings the king his evening wine one night, the king complains that he has two problems: "I struggle to find the right words to make a sad person hopeful or a proud person humble." Ezra decides he will help King Solomon by asking the other workers in the palace for advice. However, his quest distracts him from his job, and Ezra is sent away by the cook after he causes a tray to crash to the floor. Believing that the only way to redeem himself is to solve King Solomon's problem, he wanders around asking people "What can make a sad person hopeful and a proud person humble?" Most people have no answer. However, when Ezra helps a farmer pick up the pomagranates that have tumbled from his basket, the farmer offers him a ring wi...

You Belong Here by Sara Phoebe Miller, illustrated by Morgan Beem First Second, 2025 Category: Young Adult Reviewer: Rachel Aronowitz   Buy at Bookshop.org In this angsty graphic novel, readers follow aspiring actor and 17 year old Jewish girl Essie Rosen through a drama-filled senior year of high school. Her long time boyfriend breaks up with her, her best friend is distant and busy, and her family is more focused on her brother in rehab than on her. We watch Essie navigate anxious parents, the challenges of changing friendships, and the expectations and pressure of a difficult life stage. The story explores topics of drugs, sex, alcohol, mental health, body type, religion, and race and includes a diverse cast of characters. The graphic novel includes very mature content and is a fit for older teens.  The overdramatic tone of the text does a good job of evoking what it feels like to be a teen navigating such a transitional and often confusing life stage and will speak to teen...

A World Worth Saving by Kyle Lukoff Dial Books for Young Readers (imprint of Penguin Random House), 2025 Category: Middle Grade Reviewer: Lisa Trank   Buy at Bookshop.org Told in first person, A World Worth Saving tells the story of A, a 14-year old transgender boy who is struggling to live his truest life against the wishes of his parents. They force him to attend meetings of SOSAD, “Save our Sons and Daughters," a conversion group that is part of a nationally led movement.  A and his friends discover that the transphobia displayed by the SOSAD leaders and parents is the result of possession by sheydim (demons). A meets an otherworldly being - a new kind of golem, one made out of trash instead of clay - who tells A that he will have to repair the world. The golem also teaches A its own valuable lesson from prior failed attempts to repair the world: asking for help. With the help of the golem, other trans and genderfluid teens, and a friendly rabbi who provides essential info...

Pedal Pusher: How One Woman's Bicycle Adventure Helped Change the World by Mary Boone, illustrated by Lisa Anchin Henry Holt & Co. (imprint of Macmillan Children's Publishing Group), 2025 Category: Picture Books Reviewer: Jeff Gottesfeld   Buy at Bookshop.org In the late 1800's, the idea of a woman riding a bicycle around the world was preposterous. Yet that is just what petite Annie Cohen Kopchovsky did. A Latvian-Jewish immigrant to America with three little children, Annie took a bet offered by two Boston business people. Off she went, and change her unwieldy name for the ride to the name of one of her sponsoring companies, becoming known as Annie Londonderry. This book tracks her journey, illustrated with fun period art that takes Annie from New York to Egypt to Japan to Africa -- at least that's what she claimed! -- and home again, breaking all kinds of norms and setting the stage for women in sports and business that we are living today. It's an inspiring...

Gittel by Laurie Schneider Fitzroy Books (imprint of Regal House Publishing), 2025 Category: Middle Grade Reviewer: Ellen Scolnic   Buy at Bookshop.org   Gittel is the story of a Jewish family in 1912 who escaped shtetl life and pogroms in Eastern Europe to settle in Wisconsin. We see their adjustment to farming life and to being a very small minority in a new world/town. Daughter Gittel must deal with a town bully, but she has two good girlfriends and a loving family who support her love of books and poetry.   This quiet story could give readers a glimpse of farming/pioneer activities like churning butter and harvesting hay. Some names and terms (Chautauqua, Jane Addams, Dubliner) are not explained well and may be difficult for young readers to understand. The pace is slow, and may not hold the attention of readers seeking adventure. The Jewish content feels authentic. The chapter where Gittel is embarrassed about celebrating Hanukkah did ring true. Jewish holidays, food...