52 | MARCH 25 • 2021 

TRAUMA & MEMORY
NOON-1 PM, MARCH 25
“Thinking from Somali 
Diasporic Contexts” is pre-
sented by the U-M Frankel 
Center for Judaic Studies via 
Zoom. This workshop focuses 
on how geographies continue 
to limit our thinking. Advance 
registration required: https://
tinyurl.com/eyh7xady.

FIRESIDE CHAT
8 PM, MARCH 25
Join The Well’s Rabbi Jeff and 
the Big Ten Network’s lead 
studio host Dave Revsine for 
a fireside chat about all things 
college sports (in and out of 
a pandemic), sports broad-
casting and Jewish identity. 
Visit meetyouatthewell.org/
calendar/2021/3/25/a-march-
madness-fireside-chat-with-
dave-revsine-of-btn. 

BIM BOM BABY
10-10:30 AM, MARCH 26 
Temple Shir Shalom will 
host this Zoom celebration 
of Shabbat. The program is 
geared to babies and chil-
dren up to age 6. Free. Info: 
Julie at julie@shirshalom.org 
or 248-406-4255. 

MUSIC SCENE 
7:30 PM, MARCH 26
The Kerrytown Concert 
House in Ann Arbor, 415 N. 
4th Ave., will present the 
Daley-Smith-Robinson Trio. 
For ticket info: 
kerrytownconcerthouse.com 
or 734-769-2999.

SOULFUL YOGA 
11 AM, MARCH 27
Join Adat Shalom Synagogue 
Rabbi Aaron Bergman 
and yoga instructor Mindy 
Eisenberg for Soulful Yoga, 
connecting body and soul 
as we apply the wisdom of 
Torah. No yoga experience is 
necessary. Free. To receive 
the Zoom link, email jgross@
adatshalom.org or visit 
adatshalom.org/calendar.

WANDERING JEWS
4:30-6:30 PM, MARCH 30
The Sterling Institute for 
Jewish Studies and Modern 
Israel in East Lansing pres-
ents a webinar panel discus-
sion followed by a book dis-
cussion of Wandering Jews: 
Global Jewish Migration. Info: 
jsp.msu.edu.

Compiled by Sy Manello/Editorial 

Assistant. Send items at least 14 days 

in advance to 

calendar@thejewishnews.com.

MARCH 26
Daley-Smith-Robinson Trio

ON THE GO
PEOPLE | PLACES | EVENTS

UPCOMING MOVIES 
FROM JEWISH AUTHORS
You may recall Wonder,
a 2017 film that starred 
Owen Wilson and Julia 
Roberts as the support-
ive parents of Augie, a 
10-year-old boy whose 
face is disfigured by a rare 
medical condition. It got 
great reviews and made 
mucho gelt (cost $20 mil-
lion and grossed $305 
million). 
Wonder was based on 
a novel of the same name 
by R.J. Palacio, 57, the 
daughter of Colombian 
immigrant parents. In 
the book, the boy has 
a Jewish father and 
a non-Jewish mother. 
Religion isn’t mentioned 
in the film. This cinematic 
“de-Jewing,” as a friend 

calls it, of original written 
source material, is incredi-
bly common.
This same friend told 
me that a graphic novel 
by Palacio, White Bird: A 
Wonder Story, is now film-
ing in Europe. As my friend 
pointed out, this time they 
can’t “de-Jew” the film. In 
a collection of short sto-
ries, Palacio expanded on 
the characters in Wonder 
and introduced Sara, 
Augie’s French Jewish 
paternal grandma. In White 
Bird, we learn that when 

Sara was a girl, she was 
hidden during the Nazi 
occupation.
The film co-stars Gillian 
Anderson (Margaret 
Thatcher in The Crown) as 
a Christian woman who 
hides Sara. Helen Mirren 
plays the much-older Sara. 
The screenplay is by Mark 
Bomback, 49, a top writer 
of many hit films.
In a 2019 Kveller inter-
view, Palacio (first name 
Raquel), described how 
she was close to her late 
Jewish mother-in-law (who 
lost a lot of family in the 
Holocaust). She added 
that the novel was written 
to function as an introduc-
tion to the Holocaust for 
younger readers.
“Greenlighted” for 
film production is Are 
You There God? It’s Me, 
Margaret. It’s based 
on a mega-selling 1970 
young adult novel by Judy 

Blume, 83. It’s about an 
adolescent girl who fre-
quently talks to God, even 
though she is being raised 
in no faith by her Jewish 
father and Christian moth-
er. This is the first time 
Blume has consented to 
have a film made from a 
book of hers (she says she 
“trusts the team” behind 
this film). Kathy Bates will 
play Sylvia, Margaret’s 
beloved Jewish grand-
ma. Sylvia gently tries to 
get Margaret to embrace 
Judaism. 

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