Recommended Reader Group: Middle and high school. Discussion of heavy topics that may be a bit much for younger kids.
Synopsis: Faye Meisel is a Jewish-Japanese girl whose only real friend is her older brother, Shiloh. Shiloh has just turned thirteen and had his bar mitzvah when he gets a gift in the mail from his Jewish grandfather: a lump of clay. Grandpa, or Zeyde, Judah wants to induct his grandchildren into the family tradition of making golems, and despite their dad's initial protests, the two end up spending Pesach with Zeyde to get a jump start on their education. They learn the lore of golems, their family history, and discover a new world in their dreams that they hope to save with their newfound skills. But things don't go exactly to plan.
Personal Thoughts (Contains Spoilers):
I picked this up expecting a more typical children's adventure story. I thought Faye and Shiloh'd learn to make golems and use them to fight off some antisemites that were threatening their synagogue or something like that. What I got instead was a personal look at a Jewish family's history and all its traumas, and Faye having an internal crisis about Jews' role in history. Her breakdown towards the end- being afraid of always being hunted, always being killed, always being hated and blamed for nothing she actually did- resonated so strongly with what I have heard from real-life Jews that I nearly started crying. It almost feels like a bait and switch, when you realize that the Other World that Faye and Shiloh were exploring in their dreams is actually their ancestral memories bleeding through. While the book doesn't end in the kind of triumphal victory over hate you may have hoped for, Faye's personal triumph over her fear and her resolve to live for her family is an incredibly empowering and simple message.
I also really like Emi Cohen's writing style. She did incredibly well at making Faye a believable modern middle-schooler. Her nerdiness, wit, and capacity for self-reflection make her really compelling to read, which is great for such an internally-focused book. One of my favorite bits in the story was the look at Jewish history we got to see through the Not-Ghosts of her ancestors cropping up and interacting with each other.
Overall, a solid book that should get more attention. I would recommend this to kids who want more Jewish protagonists, or kids that feel disconnected from their heritage, whatever it may be.
