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7

Great summer

Lisa Silverman

reads before it's

Jewish Journal
of Greater L.A.

back to school.

W

hether the kids are off
to camp, a vacation or
just staying at home,
summer is a time to find a few
good books — and not just those
assigned for book reports as school
approaches. It's not too late to get
started. Here is a suggested list of
summer reads for kids.

1. Death by Toilet Paper by
Donna Gephart (Delacorte;
2014).
The title of this recent Sydney
Taylor Award-winner may cause
an adult to wonder about its appro-
priateness, but kids will love it.
Likable seventh-grader Benjamin
Epstein is feeling sad because his
dad died a year earlier and his
mom is having trouble dealing
with the financial fallout.
Benjamin decides to do his
part by figuring out ways to make
money. He uses his wit and ability
to think up advertising slogans to
enter all sorts of contests for prize
money, including one for the best
toilet paper ad.
Not only does each chapter
heading come with a fun fact or
two about the fascinating history
of toilets, but the spectacle of his
zayde dressed up as a zombie bride
with a toilet paper dress creates a
satisfying final chapter. Some seri-
ous stuff is mixed with the humor;
we root for Ben through all his

worries, cheer for his easily relat-
able family and friends and close
the book with great satisfaction.

2. Nest by Esther Ehrlich
(Wendy Lamb Books;
2014).
One of the most talked about
books of last year, Nest recounts the
crisis in Naomi "Chirp" Orenstein's
family that began in the summer of
1972. A well-imagined Cape Cod
setting serves as a backdrop for the
author's poignant and lyrical writ-
ing as she explores the mysterious
disease that afflicts Naomi's dancer
mother and how life changes for
the family.
The beauty of the prose and the
depth of issues such as depression,
anti-Semitism, trust and friendship
will grip youthful readers who like
a good cry, like those who loved
Bridge to Terabithia. The wonder-
fully imagined characters stay with
you long after you turn the last
page.

3. Under the Egg by Laura
Marx Fitzgerald (Dial;
2014).
Children who have never heard of
From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs.
Basil E. Frankweiler may feel com-
pelled to pick up that classic mid-
dle-grade book after reading this
fun New York City mystery adven-
ture. Kids will be fascinated by the
Manhattan lifestyle of 13-year-old
Theo, a girl who uncovers an
old painting (left to her by her
deceased grandfather) that could

Betsy

R. Rosenthal

possibly be a
stolen masterpiece.
With some adult help,
intrepid Theo traces the pos-
sible provenance of the painting
all over Manhattan — from the
Metropolitan Museum of Art to
the Center for Jewish History,
among other stops along the way.
A delightful bunch of offbeat char-
acters make this book a winner.

4. Looking for Me ... in This
Great Big Family by Betsy
R. Rosenthal (Houghton
Mifflin; 2012).
This novel is an easy-to-read,
historically accurate depiction
of 1930s-era Baltimore as seen
through the eyes of an 11-year-old
girl. Each page is graced with a
poem, sometimes rhyming, some-
times not. Each poem captures the
distinct voice of Edith Paul, the
author's mother and the fourth of
12 siblings.
As Edith searches for her indi-
vidual identity within her large and
boisterous Jewish family, she also
wonders about the type of person
she can become. The Judaism that
is practiced by Edith's family will
intrigue today's children. Edith
sincerely describes her struggles
to fit in. She is pleased her family
changed its name from Polansky
to Paul, and astonished to discover

JN

that a "dumb neigh-
bor" thinks Jews
have horns.
Each poem is a little
gem, and readers will
admire the author's
ability to create entire
characters out of more
than 100 individual prose poems.
Pair this one with Sydney Taylor's
classic All-of-a-Kind Family, for a
take on what it was like to grow up
in a Jewish family in the first half
of the 20th century.

5. The Berlin Boxing Club
by Robert Sharenow
(Harper; 2011).
This novel for older grades is
another Sydney Taylor Award-
winner, and particularly popular
with boys who are reluctant read-
ers. It is historical fiction, loosely
inspired by the true story of boxer
Max Schmeling's experiences after
Kristallnacht.
The story revolves around Karl
Stern, a German-Jewish 14-year-
old in the 1930s who has little
interest in identifying as a Jew
until Hitler's anti-Semitic policies
start marking him for school bul-
lies. When he meets Schmeling,
he takes on a different persona by
learning how to fight, and there-
fore, he thinks, he will be able to
protect his family. The well-drawn
characters and the tension of the
period, including the distrust of
Karl's hero Schmeling, provide an
excellent and educational read for
young teens.

❑

August 13 • 2015

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