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.

CELEBRITY NEWS
ARTS&LIFE

NATE BLOOM COLUMNIST

WIKIPEDIA

Judy
Blume

JTA

R.J.
Palacio

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