Bookishly Jewish

I am painfully aware that is hasn’t even been Halloween, yet alone Thanksgiving. I actually really adore Thanksgiving and wish it got more shelf time, both in terms of cute items that I can buy for home decor and books featuring it. However, those of us living in the U.S. appear to be permanently stuck with an all out Christmas palooza that starts in August and gets earlier every year. Which is why I should perhaps be forgiven for not immediately noticing that Merry Little Bookshop, by author team Ali Brady, is a Hanukkah romance.

The cover has much winter themed stuff, plus a very noticeable Christmas bell/ mistletoe thing going on, and “Merry” is usually a Christmas signal, but there is also a menorah and a dreidel woven in to the design. This should clue the reader in to the fact that it is a romance featuring characters celebrating Christmas and Hanukkah. However, I would forgive you if you missed all that. The opening pages, introducing a heroine named Shira Schwartz, should be enough to clue everyone in. Shira herself jokes about her name being the absolute most Jewish thing ever and has chosen to give everyone in the tiny town of Azalea where she is stuck living from Thanksgiving to Christmas her “Starbucks name”: Sarah.

If you have never had a Starbucks name, either due to the wonderful pronounce-ability of your name or your amazing Jewish pride, I salute you. But for many of us, it’s a familiar necessity of life when it would take twenty minutes to spell the whole thing out to a barista who really isn’t getting paid enough for the way they are valiantly trying to pronounce a guttural “ch”. It is not their fault, it just makes life easier. So, I totally get where Shira is coming from. It is bad enough that her boss (who sounds like a human resources disaster) has decided that her Jewishness means that Shira is the primer person to send to Azalea, a town that has likely never seen a Jew, to open a pop up bookstore in their Christmas market as a last minute favor to his finance bro friend from business school who is running the market. Never mid that Jewish people celebrate Thanksgiving too (see my comments above, about it being one of my favorites), or that Hanukkah happens to fall during that time. If Shira wants the promotion he’s been dangling over her for years, she needs to take this job.

The good news? The finance bro friend – Jonny- is Hot. And when he eventually learns about evil boss treating Shira, an actual person, as something that can be shipped off to a friend as a favor, he is horrified. But it takes us a long time to get there. Shira’s friends have been encouraging her to have a holiday fling to help cheer her up over the situation and she identifies Jonny as the best prospect. Except Jonny might be looking for something a little more real. Shenanigans ensue, including Shira fessing up to her real name and Jonny going the extra mile to show he appreciates her trusting him with the fact that she is Jewish. Both holidays are celebrated and there are also a couple of open door steamy scenes.

The pros – this is a very quick read. Took me the space of a couple of commutes. Shira’s friend group is the usual delightful zany bunch you expect from a romance and Jonny’s side provides the requisite cute kids and family. Hanukkah really is respected here, and while I note some reviews from non-Jewish readers having trouble relating to Shira, this Jew fully understood why she was a little hesitant to run around declaring her Jewishness in a random small town in Texas. The town really embraces Shira, and for book lovers the book shop storyline will feel very cozy, if a little overly optimistic. The cons? Like I mentioned, there’s a tiny bit of finance bro not looking into the repercussions of his decisions ick to get over, luckily that mostly seems to be the fault of Shira’s boss whom we are all allowed to hate. I also didn’t particularly love the sex scenes, but I never do when the focus is on penis size. I know many people feel differently and will love that. The major issue for me was how hard Shira kept pushing for sex when it was clear Jonny wanted to wait. I am fine with flings when both parties are in agreement, and I did find some of Jonny’s actions a bit misleading, but let’s face it. If the genders were reversed everyone would agree the repeated pushes for sex in the face of being told your partner wants to wait, are not OK.

Overall, Merry Little Bookshop was a a fun read celebrating both holidays which we could use more of this time of year. And don’t let anyone judge you for having a Starbuck’s name. But also feel free not to use one if you’re comfortable. Maybe one day I will too.

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There is something unique about coming back to the Bible after some time away. Especially as an adult. Suddenly, all the things that seemed so matter-of-fact because I read them every week in school, are now bizarre in the extreme. The story of Dinah and the massacre that follows is one of the more disturbing episodes, but it is not alone in its ability to perplex and offend the modern reader. The story of her mothers, the trickery of both her father and her brothers, and the feuds between generations of siblings all come off as eccentric at best. In The Red Tent, Anita Diamant sorts through these well known stories through the lens of their least well known characters – the women who are so rarely heard from in the Bible.

Diamant goes out of her way to say that this is a work of historical fiction, and that while she did extensive research on what communities of that place and time may have looked like, there is no textual or archaeological evidence for many of the narrative choices she made – most notably the use of a menstrual tent by Jaacob’s wives and proposing that Dinah actually consented to the marriage with Shechem. Indeed, menstrual tents were common at the time, but so was rape, so you can really argue either side. Which is why it is best to put preconceived notions aside and enter the narrative as one would any other work of fiction. The Torah is often deliberately vague, allowing readers to find their own comfort in it. Perhaps we can extend that license to our fiction too.

The concept of women having a dedicated time to rest felt more honest to me than the “you’re a princess, royalty hides itself” speeches that some Modern Day religious communities use to enforce strictures of female modesty and propriety. It would have been forward thinking for the traditions of the time to honor the female cycle in this way, rather than shaming the women. Similarly, The Red Tent celebrates the role of women in both household industry and child birthing while not shying away from the horrors of both situations. The awkward jealousies and sibling dynamics at play in a heavily intertwined polygamous situation were extremely relatable. What I found less compelling/convincing were the scenes where the women were clearly still worshiping idols rather than the God of Abraham. That’s my personal religious bias, your results can and will vary.

The Red Tent truly shines in its descriptions of the customs and domestic lives of women, not just in nomadic shepherding tribes but also in the comparatively highly civilized Egypt. It gives flesh to women who are often overlooked by the historical record. This is nowhere more evident than in the many birthing rooms where Dinah attends to women and demonstrates skill as a midwife and healer. Twice the reader sees how all of a woman’s power can be taken away by a single man, even when he has little to no standing in the community, simply because he has decided to become a problem for her.

Bible retellings are a particular joy of mine, and this one is superb in the depth of research that went into it as well as the courage and imagination it takes to completely alter a story that is so familiar to so many. It takes the story for away from the page snd into the realm of the personal, individual, heartbreaking choices we all make in the wake of tragedy. It celebrates women even while acknowledging the limitations of the culture and society in which they lived, and remains full of hope.

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Have you ever identified with a book, but then wondered if this made you a terrible person? You might completely understand how things got so off the rails for a particular character, you might empathize with them despite being horrified by their actions, but there is no way you can safely admit this at book club. That feeling of unnerving understanding? That’s Tova Mirvis’s novel We Would Never.

I myself have watched quite a few men and women experience messy divorces at all different stages of life, and can attest that a contentious separation – especially with custody involved – has the potential to change the entire family in ways nobody would previously think possible. In the case of Haley, one of several viewpoint characters, it is not the crippling financial cost of lawyers and court dates that causes her the most upheaval. Is it the possibility that her ex husband is weaponizing their child as a cudgel to continue controlling her.

As many will know, the courts favor the ‘status quo.’ It takes a lot to convince them that one parent can unilaterally move with the child from the location they were living before the divorce. Haley, and the reader, find this especially unjust since Haley had only agreed to move to this location because her soon-to-be-ex had told her that if she hated it after three years they would relocate. Instead, when they three year mark hit, he served her with divorce papers, became even more open about his disdain for her entire family and his wish to alienate her and their child from them, and used the court and custody systems as a means to harass her for not giving in to his demands. We are filled with righteous rage, until Jonah is shot in his home by unknown assailants. Sure we didn’t like the guy, but nobody would go so far as to kill him? Right?

What unfolds from this point is a sordid family saga told from numerous unreliable viewpoints. While it becomes pretty clear that Jonah is no prize, it becomes equally clear that the levels of co-dependence in Haley’s family are unhealthy. You can understand why someone – I won’t give it away – would think that murder was the simple solution to everything. An almost altruistic version of self sacrifice for the greater family good. But you also get the nagging feeling that pretty much everything about this situation is messed up. Which sums up the majority of drawn out custody battles. Luckily, most of them don’t end in homicide.

If you open We Would Never hoping for a thriller, even a psychological one, you will be disappointed. Except for the last few pages it moves too slowly for that. Similarly, it is not a whodunit. It is, instead, a detailed look into troubled family dynamics and how divorce can push already strained individuals to a breaking point.

Maybe you can admit to understanding the character motives in book club, because Mirvis spends a great deal of time letting us into their heads. It’s deeply unsettling and I imagine makes for great group discussion. So long as everybody in attendance gets along. I’d hate to see what happens if a divorced couple was present. Then again, usually only one spouse gets awarded the book club in the splitting of assets. I hope nobody would kill for it.

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One of the most frustrating pieces of feedback for a writer is that their main character is unlikable. Putting aside the entire topic of writers self inserting themselves into stories or over-empathizing with their characters even when they don’t resemble them, sometimes characters need to be unlikable in order for the plot to make any sense. Is it possible to like a book without liking any of the characters in it? In my view, yes, so long as those characters are interesting.

I intensely disliked Jessa Gidney, the main character of Jacqueline Friedland’s Counting Backwards from the very first page. I also really hated her husband Vance. I found him controlling and chauvinistic. If there was a wrong thing to say, there was an 80% chance that this guy was going to say it. Yet, I also felt kind of bad for him, because Jessa refused to treat him like an equal partner in their fertility journey. Warning – if you are adopted, or have adopted, you may find some of Jessa’s views on the topic repugnant, even though she and the narrative both try to justify her desire for a child of her own body and refusal to consider other options just as legitimate. (Possibly all this ineffective rigamarole was an effort to make her more likable, which frankly failed). It is not a healthy relationship. But it is necessary for the narrative.

You see, in addition to her own fertility journey, which will be familiar to many women, Jessa is a lawyer about to embark on a journey that pertains to women’s fertility everywhere. During a pro bono immigration case she discovers that women in a detention center are being sterilized without their knowledge or consent. Which is a horrifying discovery for anyone, but especially for a woman desperately trying to get pregnant herself. To further compound things, Jessa makes a discovery about her family’s past and their involvement in a famous Supreme Court case regarding sterilization and racial supremacy. And this discovery does very little to help her relationship with Vance, who is Jewish and an active podcaster helping to restore art stolen in WWII to its rightful owners. Let’s just say she has many motivations for taking on the immigration case, even though it is not her field of law.

While Jessa’s personal life slowly implodes, like we all expected it would, readers are also given a glimpse into the aforementioned supreme court case by reading diary entries from the woman involved – Carrie Buck. While these diaries may be fictitious, Carrie’s case is not, and she is perhaps the most likable character in the book. But also the least interesting because the government has taken away all her agency for most of her narrative. Her story is heartbreaking and infuriating, which is entirely the point. It makes us want to rail at a woman like Jessa, who has so may choices and options if she would just get up the courage to use them. Watching her learn to do so is rewarding, as is learning about how Carrie still finds a way to make some choices for herself that do indeed bring her peace if not restitution.

Counting Backwards is a powerful read. It’s OK that you want to yell at the characters sometimes and shake them. You don’t need to like these people to be interested in their stories, which are indeed worth knowing. I love the idea of a real life court case from the past being dramatized. I’d love to see more of that. No matter who the main characters are.

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The title sentence of this post might surprise some, given rising antisemitism and a history of years of persecution. That’s because they haven’t bothered to take the time to understand Jewish culture and tradition, which has always felt the status of “Jew” was to be celebrated and embraced no matter what hardships it may come with. Anything but pride in our existence is actually a largely Christian or secular view imposed upon Jews, and often the precursor or excuse given for the aforementioned antisemitism.

Another misguided outsider view imposed upon Jews? That we’re an all white culturally homogeneous group. People are shocked to learn that we have Jews in every color of the rainbow with diverse cultural practices and unique heritage and traditions. Below are some books that highlight famous Jews who have made important contributions to the world. While a few individuals repeat, the vast majority are unique across the books. Technically, most are written for children, but grown-ups will enjoy them too. Each book has a unique take on what it means to be Jewish, but they all agree on one thing – it’s good to be a Jew!

This book features a wide variety of women broken down into the categories of activists, entertainers, writers, artists, scientists, entrepreneurs, leaders, and justices. Most were born in the 1900’s or later and there were good cultural touch stones for young women today. The vibrant illustrations pair with shorts 1-2 page descriptions and the Jewish geography map in the back cracked me up. My personal favorite? Heddy Lamarr. People are always shocked this glamor icon is both Jewish and an inventor too!

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There is more text per woman, usually 3-6 pages, and accompanying drawings in blue/grey/black. I was extremely impressed by the artistry of these portraits. This particular volume is suitable for older children who might want to delve a bit more into the backstory of each famous woman but likely not suitable for the read-out-loud younger set.

Note: We received a copy of this book from the publisher

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Each biography contains a large illustration and 3-6 paragraphs of accompanying text. Plus a little shout out bubble for fun facts and Jewish lessons. Not only do the authors successfully defy expectations on the answer to the title question – they provide a really neat map and overview of various Jewish customs and cultural heritages that many, many adults would benefit from reading.

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It makes a beautiful gift, especially as the illustrations might just be my favorite of the bunch for how they interpret these women and their life stories. More importantly, it also reinterprets the word “chutzpah” which was not really a compliment when used by my elementary school teachers. As with all things in Judaism, any trait can be used for the good and finding the courage to stand up and do the right thing even when it is scary does take a lot of chutzpah.

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Note: We received an e copy of this book from the authors

There is a 1-2 explanation that is indeed suitable for reading out loud, along with an illustration. Middle schoolers can read it on their own.

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Note: We received an e copy of this book from the author

It features 59 Jewish women, and is intended for an older audience, roughly around bat mitzvah age. It can make for a good conversation starter with your tween.

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Want to have a really good time? One of the most frequently featured women in these books is Bruriah. I am pretty passionate about this particular topi,c and could go one for hours about the smear campaign lead by the patriarchy against her (but you’d be better served by reading The Mad Woman In the Rabbi’s Attic). I hugely enjoyed seeing how the different authors handled her story. There are a few others that appear in most of the books, and it is interesting to compare the entries.

Let us know which one was your favorite!

I grew up a religious Jew, including observing all the fasts related to the destruction of the Temple. I thought I had a firm grasp on the Jewish struggle with Rome and resulting exile. I was wrong. Partially, this is because as a girl I was not allowed to study Talmud in which many of these stories are contained, and partially it reflects the way oral history can lead to fragmentary transmission of knowledge. I knew a lot of the stories contained in Barry Staruss’s Jews Vs. Rome. What bowled me over was just how long everything took. In my head this was matter of maybe 10-50 years. Luckily, this information is in the subtitle – “two centuries of rebellion against the world’s mightiest empire” – and thus I was convinced to pick up the books and increase my knowledge.

Jews vs. Rome helpfully divides up the various skirmishes into three main rebellions, and framing them in this context makes it easier to remember what happened when. It also explains how this could have possibly taken so long. Along the way Strauss provides bits and pieces of global context that seek to explain why the Jews thought they stood a chance in the first place and bothered rebelling despite the heavy personal cost. I knew the religious religious explanation for this phenomenon, but then, as now, not all Jews were religious. So how could these rebellions go on and on and on? Did not the Jews realize it was futile? Indeed some Jews did not want to risk it and were on the side of Rome! Side note, lots of people are going to quibble over whether Herod was Jewish or not. I had some very conflicting feelings about the guy myself regardless of how we view his ancestry.

While I could go on about the topic of the various Jewish factions for some time, and have already identified further reading on the topic, I’ll leave it in favor of discussing my favorite portion of this book – The role of the Parthian Empire! You don’t hear about the Parthians as much as you do Rome and Greece and other ancient empires, but Rome clearly thought they were a force to be reckoned with and Strauss lays out several compelling reasons for why their presence could have goaded Rome’s Jews into rebellion. They may even have directly encouraged rebellion, and there is an entire conversion story relating to some Parthian nobles that is fascinating. Furthermore, it highlights something about Jews that still frightens leaders today as it frightened the ancient Pharaoh of Egypt. Jewish identity is not tied down neatly within the borders of any one map. It comes from within and our communities have loyalties to each other that cross state, country, and even empire lines. Other religions have managed this as well, but the Jews provide a particular striking example, and it made Rome fear them.

Less persuasive to me was Strauss’s efforts to rehabilitate the reputation of the historian Josephus. Possibly this is due to generations of Jews and Gentiles alike loathing the man as a traitor and a coward, but given my willingness to reconsider Herod, I think not. It was a valiant effort to contextualize a very complicated man, but anyone who stands outside the siege and sack of Jerusalem praising the Romans to the high heavens while his own wife is inside is just not salvageable to me. I understand why Josephus saved his own skin, but I wish he’d made different choices. I also wish we had a less biased and confusing source for much of this history. Luckily, today’s historians do not believe in embellishments and straight up lying the way the ones in Roman times did. Strauss spends a great deal of time unraveling the tall tales of Josephus and his fellow historians and parsing what might be true.

The story of two hundred years of subjugation and eventual exile due to continued demands for self rule and freedom is essential reading for people who seem to think all Jews originated in New Jersey of Eastern Europe. It is also informative for people who want to know about ancient siege warfare and siege mentality. Finally, Jews Vs. Rome gives a glimpse into a side of Rome that people tend to gloss over in their desire to speak of its advances. Particularly informative was the definition of Roman peace and how it differs from what a modern day person might mean when they use the term ‘peace.’ In fact, this “peace” is one of the first extremely well documented cases of Jews being used as a scapegoat for a leader who needs to shore up his own political power by enslaving and subjugating a minority as a show for citizens who can then think better of themselves in comparison to this Jewish “other.”

Out of that horrid stew comes Berenice and Titus’s doomed love story. It completely shocked me, and I’m sad I didn’t know it until now. I hated her. I hated him more. And yet I was secretly rooting for them to make it even though I knew what was coming, because in Berenice I saw the story of every attractive minority that is ultimately chewed up and spit out of the machine that seeks to convert and tame them for its own purposes even as it secretly reviles them. At least Berenice held the reigns of control for some time before she was sent packing. It’s more than many get.

Jews Vs. Rome is easy enough for the lay reader to read for pleasure. Strauss is clearly gifted in the descriptions of ancient battle techniques and political intrigue. The only points of confusion for me were the sheer number of people named Eleazer, Simon, Augustus or Titus. We can hardly blame the author for ancient naming conventions. Instead we can thank him for helping guide us through it all.

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I have never had a pet, but I have always wanted an animal familiar. If I had to guess, mine would likely be some sort of feline. I’d hope for a big cat, but likely would get more of a homebody. I myself am something of a house cat if we’re being honest. For Arden, the protagonist of Joanne Levy’s Middle Grade novel Bird Brain, a cat or dog as a pet would be ideal. Yet somehow, she ends up with a bird. And it isn’t even hers! She’s bird sitting Ludwig, an African Grey parrot, for her Uncle Eli while he’s away doing scientific research.

Arden tries to make the most of it by reasoning that a bird is better than no pet at all. Maybe if she takes extra special care of Ludwig maybe she can really have her own animal one day. Besides, Ludwig is a pretty good listener. As Arden struggles with a mean girl trying to kick her off the quiz bowl at school and her best friend not truly grasping what’s going on, Ludwig seems to not only listen to Arden but also to understand her.

Bird Brain deals with some important themes for middle schoolers, including bullying, peer pressure, and personal responsibility without feeling too preachy. In addition, Arden is from a single mother household. Plus there’s a lot to learn about birds and science presented in a fun way. It’s also short enough for more reluctant readers to manage on their own. One small warning though, it may lead your kids to reopen negotiations on obtaining a pet. Prepare yourselves.

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I am an author, which means I am supposed to have all the words, but this review is surprisingly hard to write. When I heard the news about Jane Yolen’s passing, I knew I had to post a review of one of her books. Indeed, I even had one in the queue just waiting to be reviewed. Yet somehow, when I sat down to write about Too Many Golems – written by Jane Yolen and illustrated by Maya Shleifer- the words just would not come. Yolen meant so much to so many. She’s an author I read as a kid without even knowing she was Jewish! How does one review her work?

I decided to look to the book itself for inspiration. Abi, a Rabbi’s son, seems to be forever in trouble. Even when he tries to do something right and practice his Hebrew he goes ahead and steals an ancient scroll from the Synagogue to practice with. He had no idea reading the words would conjure up Golems. He’s a good host though, so while his cat cowers, he promptly invites the horde of magical marauders in and somehow convinces them that the real fight is his battle with Hebrew.

So they stay and help him.

It’s pretty remarkable when you get down to it. The idea that not all battles are worn with swords and sometimes the hardest thing one will do involves facing challenges is ingeniously packaged into a book with Golems so as to entice readers who’d prefer reading about slaying a dragon or riding a spaceship. Abi does not falter before the scary Golems. He offers them beverages. Instead of fighting with them, he struggles day in and day out to become a better person. Improving his Hebrew, but also his overall behavior. The illustrations are deceptively simple – they resemble a child’s crayon drawings except a closer inspection reveals much more skill and sophistication than the typical child can muster. They reflect the practice and honed skill of the artist. Just like Abi is practicing and honing his skills.

What better way to celebrate a children’s book writer who clearly put in the work, publishing hundreds of books for young readers, than with a book whose protagonist does the same? There’s so much to learn here, and the least of it is about GOlems. May Jane Yolen’s memory be for a blessing, as I’m sure her books will continue to delight readers for years to come.

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There’s a long standing joke I have with a friend that ultimately points to the type of writer we each are. When visiting a museum, I am drawn to the portraits. The landscapes, and the abstracts, and the modernism really don’t do much for me. She, on the other hand, could stare at a Monet water lily for hours. Which fits with her ability to write the most atmospheric, lyrical stories to contrast with my character driven, high octane romances. We torture each other by each choosing a gallery. Given my particular proclivity towards anything with a human face in it, you’ll understand my love for John Singer Sargent paintings and the stories they spark in my head. He was, after all, the king of portrait painters. 

Jean Strouse’s Family Romance is not a Sargent biography. It does sketch out some of the particulars of the artists life, but only in so far as this is needed to explain his relationship with some of his most frequent subjects – the Wertheimer family. Indeed, we also have entire chapters devoted to the Wertheimer family itself, their work as art dealers, and the descendants of those seen in the portraits. 

Sargent was unique in his willingness to paint Jews. Indeed, he made several statements indicating he found them more interesting than some of his other subjects. He received quite a bit of critical flack for this, with some critics saying the portraits should not be hung in galleries, others leaving scathing antisemitic reviews, but time would show these portraits would be very successful in the long term. Indeed two of his most lauded works, A Vele Gonfie and Ena and Betty. Ena, the oldest Wertheimer daughter, had a particularly close relationship with Sargent and A Vele Gonfie was partly conceived due to her particular temperament and handsomeness. Sargent was know for painting his sitters as he saw them, unveiling their true personality, and in Ena he found a willing collaborator.

Don’t get your party hats out just yet, though. While Sargent was willing to paint Jews, and had friendly relations with many, his later works including the Triumph of Religion murals show he had some serious misunderstandings about Judaism and what would offend Jews. Indeed, even the Wertheimer family’s relationship to their own Judaism was complicated. I thoroughly enjoyed the chapters describing how the Wertheimer children had varying Jewish observance and the digression into wealthy Jewish families of the time and their trend towards assimilation. 

I read Family Romance via audiobook and the text was particularly suited to this format. I found the narration enjoyable and the subject matter easy to follow. Whatever format you select, it will increase your knowledge about the relationship between Jewish people and the art world.

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The opening of Helaine Becker’s middle grade novel Gottika feels like a classic Holocaust book. The main character Dany’s community is subjected to a series of increasingly humiliating restrictions due to their racial and/or religious background, books are burned for their knowledge, and everyone is sort of terrorized by the local ruler. However, there are some subtle clues that we are not in fact reading historical fiction. Instead of Jews, Dany’s people are “stoons” and their version of a yellow star is a red hat. They still use Hebrew letters though, making it obvious they are Jewish stand ins. There also seems to be less of a global/widespread issue than was present in WWII or even the prior decades of organized European antisemitism, making the books world just a bit more manageable for children. 

Even after reading Gottika several times I’m still not sure whether it is a second world fantasy, an alt universe, or a far future dystopian version of our world. Things like household appliances and methods of communication seem primitive, the big bad leader persecuting the Stoons rides steam powered horses, and the chapter illustrations have a very pre-industrial vibe in both setting and fashion, but then the cops have scanners? For implanted digital ID cards? My personal genre confusion aside, I think we can all agree there’s some element of fantasy because there’s a Golem. Which is frankly where we probably should have started, but a Golem is always enough to keep me reading. 

When things between the Stoons and the Gottikans take an unfortunate turn towards blood libel, Dany’s father uses knowledge and power to create a creature of the earth that helps thwart an evil plan against the community. It’s all very Maharal of Prague reminiscent. Unfortunately, even the Golem isn’t enough top stop the attacks and eventually it’s Dany’s mother who must step up and start talking after years of suffering from a strange illness – that seems to have elements of depression in it – that left her unable or unwilling to speak. The villain origin story she shares about the source of all their problems is an example of how the scale of Gottika deals in the close and personal rather than global geopolitics. Turns out the root of all this is a miscommunication leading to a broken heart. Ultimately, it is Dany that must right the wrongs that even the Golem could not fix. 

This is where the book shines. The world itself was not fully explored and I found the main bad guy and his motivations a little too oversimplified, but the dynamics between child and parents – especially father and son – are depicted in a relatable fashion. This is a story of external events forcing Dany to grow up, realize his parents are not perfect, and that he has a role to play. Without sharing too many spoilers, it is Dany who in the end makes the hard choice that none of the grown ups are willing to face. 

Gottika is an easier entry point for families looking to talk about antisemitism than most WWII novels that comes weighed down with a lot of other external baggage and layers. It is also a thin/quick read for the middle graders that prefer shorter books. And at it’s heart it’s a story about growing up, which works in any universe.

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