|
|
September 26, 2008
The power of good friends
New publications show kids of all ages that they're important.
CYNTHIA RAMSAY
It almost doesn't matter what the story is – as long as it's well told, it will be interesting. This Rosh Hashanah, the books for younger readers reviewed by the Jewish Independent cover very diverse topics – the Holocaust, homosexuality, psychic phenomena, civil rights and the evils of gossip – but all are engaging. As well, they have a common theme: with the help of a friend or mentor, we can get through the most difficult situations, we can better fight injustice and we can become better people.
Finding strength
What World is Left by Monique Polak will be released by Orca Book Publishers next month. Aimed at readers aged nine to 12, it tells the story of 14-year-old Anneke Van Raalte, who lives near Amsterdam in 1942. When the Nazis invade Holland, she and her family (parents and brother) are deported to Theresienstadt concentration camp in Czechoslovakia.
Anneke's father is an artist – he was a cartoonist at an Amsterdam newspaper – and he is forced to participate in the Nazis' propaganda campaign to show the Red Cross that the camp is an ideal place and that the Jews interned there are thriving. Through the father-daughter relationship, difficult moral questions are explored, such as whether Anneke's father – and other prisoners – should have helped the Nazis. Along the way, Anneke manages to survive with the help of her family, a good friend and a brief romance.
What World is Left was inspired by the experiences of Polak's mother, who was imprisoned in Theresienstadt during the Holocaust. As part of the research for this book, Polak travelled to her mother's childhood home in Holland, went to the Jewish school she attended in Amsterdam and visited Theresienstadt. The result is a very personal, thought-provoking and, ultimately, hopeful book.
In a much different vein, but also dealing with a serious topic – and also inspired by a family member – is another forthcoming Orca Book publication, Gravity by Leanne Lieberman, scheduled to be released in October. Lieberman grew up in Vancouver and Gravity is dedicated to her parents, Carole and Lucien Lieberman. In the acknowledgements, Lieberman thanks her brother for coming out to her while they were taking a walk in Jerusalem and she says that it was this conversation that planted the seeds for this novel, which was the winner of the 2008 So You Think You Can Write? Orca Book Publishers Novel Contest.
Gravity is targeted to readers 12 and up. Set in the late 1980s, it centres around Ellie Gold, an Orthodox teenager living in Toronto, who is certain of her faith and of her place in her community until, on summer vacation, she falls in love with another girl (a non-Jewish one at that).
Ellie's desire to remain both an observant Jew and true to herself sets her on a spiritual search. Not able to be open about her situation, she tries to find answers surreptitiously from her teachers, rabbi and family, but with little success. (In fact, Ellie ends up helping her mother through a spiritual crisis.) In the end, it is her secular and rebellious sister, Neshama, who is able to offer emotional support, but Neshama can't completely comfort Ellie because she doesn't truly understand Ellie's attachment to Orthodox Judaism.
Gravity is a compelling, well-written story that gets Ellie set on the right path, but offers few clues as to what her future will hold. It leaves readers wanting more – and, rightly so, leaves them to draw their own conclusions about whether orthodoxy and homosexuality can coexist.
Lighter in tone, but no less suspenseful, is Carol Matas' new book, Far (Key Porter Books). The third in the Freak series, Far follows The Freak and Visions and offers more insight into how the main character, Jade, is able to see things in her mind before they happen.
Ever since she recovered from a life-threatening illness, 15-year-old Jade has had psychic powers with which she has been trying to cope. In Far, she goes on vacation with her family to Palm Springs, Calif., and, while there, she takes time away from the sun to undergo psychic testing at a local university, which has a division specializing in this type of research.
As interesting as the discussion about psychic phenomena and what might cause them is the mystery (and danger) surrounding an ominous feeling that Jade has about her boyfriend Jon's new tutoring student, as well as various "accidents" that keep happening to her and her family. Support from her friends helps Jade get through these most recent adventures.
Far is a fun read – perfect for a young reader suffering from back-to-school blues or stress.
Never too young
Martin Luther King, Jr., and Abraham Joshua Heschel are icons of the American civil rights movement – and the story of their friendship is the subject of As Good as Anybody (Knopf Books for Young Readers) by award-winning writer Richard Michelson and award-winning illustrator Raul Colón.
A beautiful, well-meaning book intended for kids aged six to 10, As Good as Anybody touches upon several complicated and profound issues, including, but not limited to racism on the scale of the Klu Klux Klan and anti-Semitism as large as the Holocaust. While it is relatively easy to understand how King and Heschel were both discriminated against when they were young and how they grew up to be religious leaders like their fathers, Michelson must gloss over much in order to keep the story simple enough for the 10-and-under crowd. He makes a valiant effort and the necessity to impart King and Heschel's message of acceptance and love, justice and equality – as well as Colón's artwork – makes this a book worth having despite its weaknesses.
Another book worth reading with four- to eight-year-old kids is Sack Full of Feathers, written by Debby Waldman and illustrated by Cindy Revell. It came out in paperback last year from Orca Book Publishers, so it's not a new release, but its moral and its drawings are first class, which is why it rates a mention, especially in the Rosh Hashanah issue.
In a refreshing way, Sack Full of Feathers recounts an age-old Jewish folktale. Young Yankel loves to tell the stories of other people, which he overhears while working in his father's store. He rarely stays to hear the end of these conversations and the rumors he spreads are hurtful, though he doesn't realize it. The rabbi, however, does see the fallout and decides to gently teach Yankel a lesson. The rabbi hands Yankel a bag of feathers, directing him to place one on every doorstep in the village – then to collect them again later that day. When Yankel cannot – "They're gone. I can't get them back" – the rabbi explains that this is the case with gossip. He advises, "Once you tell a story, you cannot take it back. It goes where it goes, and you cannot say where or how or when. Think of that next time you tell a story, Yankel – and make sure the next story you tell is your own."
^TOP
|
|
