great illustrations, they're funny and
they read like a real diary.
Now here's the Amelia format, but
with a Jewish twist — it's the story of
an immigrant girl who comes to Amer-
ica at the turn of the century. What
could be better?
In a word: anything.
All you need is a quick glance
through the pages of Hannah's Journal
to come across a picture of a boy,
Samuel, urinating into the ocean. But
the author doesn't use the word "uri-
nating" or
even "peeing"
or "'Dishing"
(from the Yid-
dish)." Let's
just say that
Moss has
selected a
synonym that
would make
rapper Snoop
Dog (formerly
Snoop Doggy
Dog) proud.
What was
she thinking?
I
The author
writes, "He
[Samuel] says
the tricky part is to test which direction
the wind is blowing first and then
select the side of the ship accordingly.
Otherwise, the wind whips the [use
your imagination here] back on you."
What is the point of this? To intro-
duce our children to gritty realism? For
the author to show how cool she is
because she uses offensive words?
Alas, some things in life we may
never understand. Such as: Why so
many of us, when much younger,
I actually loved Gilligan's Island (not
I, Hannah's Journal: The Story
this reviewer, but lots of people I
by
Marissa
of an Immigrant Girl
know ...) Or what the real difference
Moss (Harcourt Inc., $15).
is between *NSYNC and the Back-
: street Boys (if, indeed, they are not
Moss is the author of the popular
all the same people). Why clothing
series,
so
chances
Amelia's Notebook
from the '60s is back in style, and
are you'll be pleased to see this new
why no editor had the sense to make
work of hers at your local bookstore.
some changes in this book before it
Girls aged 8 to 12 love Amelia, and
went
to print.
no wonder: the books are filled with
walks in the snow; Bubbe likes to
play golf. Grammy is Christian;
Bubbe is Jewish.
Central to My Two Grandmothers is
holiday time. With Bubbe, the girl is
shown surrounded by family as they
light the menorah and say a prayer in
Hebrew. "Right after Chanukkah at
Bubbe's, I go to Grammy's for Christ-
i mas!" the girl says. Here, she enjoys
Christmas presents, Christmas dinner
! and Christmas carols. Her parents
stand by happily as the girl sings her
favorite Christ-
mas son 9 ,
"Away in a
Manger," with
,
its lyrics, "I
love the lord
Jesus."
It's too bad
the author had
to take such a
simplistic and
condescend-
: ing attitude
instead of
dealing with
the legitimate
I. STORY Or
issues raised
by having
grandparents
of different religious faiths.
It would appear Older thinks that all
you have to do is say everything is
fine, and that makes it fine. No com-
plex situation in life is like that. Help-
I ing children understand the differ-
ences between gentile and Jewish
I family members can be done, but it
takes a great deal of thought and
I work — neither of which the author
put into her writing.
HANNAH'S JOURNAL
Cobo Hall
Sunday • Feb. 18
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11/24
2000
103