The Witch of Woodland
by: Laurel Snyder
May 16, 2023, Walden Pond Press
304 pages
review by: E. Broderick
Jewish middle grade books often feature a rite of passage called, depending on what culture the character is from, either a bat mitzvah, bar mitzvah, b’nei mitzvah or the newer phrase zerah mitzvah. Suffice it to say that all these terms are for a life cycle event celebrating the transition from immature childhood to emotional and spiritual maturity. It is a ceremony meant to mark the ability of the individual to take responsibility for their own actions while simultaneously having the community embrace and support them. This is done in different ways in different steams of Judaism, and as my own bat mitzvah was fairly low key I always enjoy reading about how other cultures and individual personalities celebrate their event. Including those, like main character Zippy from Laurel Snyder’s MG fantasy The Witch of Woodland, who were not intending to celebrate at all.
Zippy, which is short for Zipporah, is an only child from a family that identifies as reform Jewish and mostly attends services for the high holidays. She has to miss school for Jewish holidays, resulting in extra school work, and does not attend Jewish after school like some other young people from her Synagouge so she is surprised when her mother decides that she is to have a bat mitzvah, including leading prayer services in Hebrew. She is specially concerned because she’s not entirely sure she believes in any of the faith aspects of Judaism. The Rabbi is encouraging, even pointing out that her questioning of faith is in itself a very Jewish concept, and encouraging Zippy to be welcomed into their community.
Turning twelve has not exactly been simple for Zippy. She feels left behind by her classmates, who are suddenly interested in dating and lip gloss, while Zippy is more interested in witchcraft and spells. She’s even losing her best friend who wants to hang out with the cool crowd and cannot understand why Zippy won’t at least try to go on this journey with her. The addition of new religious obligations isn’t helping matters. Which is why Zippy, performing a spell in desperation, manages to summon a magical winged girl named Miriam who seems to need Zippy just as much as Zippy needs a friend.
The Zippy/Miriam relationship is complicated but so is the Zippy/Torah relationship. Her bat mitzvah parsha, Mishpatim, is not what she expected. In her own words, it’s “wackadoodle” and even the grown ups in her life seem surprised and uncomfortable when they realize what they have actually asked her to read. Except the Rabbi. He handles the entire thing with aplomb, praising Zippy’s willingness to engage with the text.
Indeed Zippy’s engagement with the text is a lesson in both perspective and how grown ups underestimate teens. When Zippy discovers the sentence “though shalt not tolerate a sorceress to live,” in her parsha her response is not the abject horror I would expect a self proclaimed witch to feel. It’s delight that the Torah acknowledges witchcraft and a mild annoyance with the people in her life for not sharing this crucial fact with her. Eventually, she gets around to dealing with why witchcraft was prohibited and how to read the Torah in a modern context. She also deals with the mysterious amnesiac magical girl with wings situation, and works things out with her best friend.
Zippy does not come around to desiring a dating life, but she does ponder why everyone else does and some of her friends are engaged in relationship both straight and queer. So if your kid is one that does not want any of the kissy stuff in the books they read, this may be a good choice for them. They may find a kindred spirit in Zippy who is in no rush to think about all that, but finds a way to still be supportive of her friends.
In the end, the story of a bat mitzvah is a story of emotional maturity, no matter what ceremony is involved. Zippy learns about community, friendship and how to be herself without cutting herself off from things those around her enjoy. It was fun to spend some time with her and read her story.