A much-needed, thoughtful updating of Bible stories about women that functions as both storytelling experience and classic...
Two award-winning children’s-book authors team up for a more modern, feminist take on stories of girls and women in the Hebrew Bible.
In biblical times, wells were the centers of social life for teenage girls—where future husbands and thirsty animals might appear and news and gossip are traded. Via 14 stories that range from Eve, the first woman and mother, to Esther, who becomes savior and queen of her people, readers learn about these and other complicated subjects including marriage, motherhood, infertility, widowhood, and inheritance as well as female roles and experiences as judge, prophet, and leader. Each chapter offers a story overview identifying female heroism, as well as annotated sidebars anticipating readers’ questions, followed by an “Imagine” segment in the character’s voice by Goldin and a poem by Yolen. The authors demystify the concept of midrash—noncanonical exploration of or commentary on a story or text—empowering readers to consider their own searching examinations of the subjects presented. Most of the commentary is from Jewish sources, but some include commonalities with other faiths, particularly Christianity and Islam. While the presentation is a little staid, this book is solid, well-researched, well-organized, and especially appropriate for young people preparing for or celebrating coming-of-age rituals.
A much-needed, thoughtful updating of Bible stories about women that functions as both storytelling experience and classic reference tome. (Religion. 10-14)Pub Date: Jan. 16, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-58089-374-9
Page Count: 112
Publisher: Charlesbridge
Review Posted Online: Nov. 12, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2017
A rewarding story, low-key despite its frank heroics.
Astronaut and physician Hilmers’ life has been one of great variety, color and faith—and even a few missteps.
It is breathtaking to read of what Hilmers has achieved since he left the small town in Iowa where he was born. From college, he becomes a naval flight officer in the Marines, goes on to gain a Ph.D. in electrical engineering, joins the corps of space shuttle astronauts, becomes a doctor and academic, then partakes in fieldwork around the globe, tending the poor and in need. Houston spools this out in Hilmers’ first-person voice in matter-of-fact fashion and with a generous helping of humility. The humility comes in part from his religiosity, which he doesn’t overplay—except, perhaps, in the last few pages—but comes in sincere-sounding, deep-running bursts: “God knew exactly what was best for me and my life. He worked it out for his purpose and glory….” But don’t sell Hilmers short when it comes to personal drive and reflectiveness; he was brought up with an ethic of hard work and curiosity, with the desire to do things well, “but not at the expense of someone else. I was competitive, yes, but only to take away the clouds of doubt in my heart and see how far I could push myself.” And it is plenty far—his energy level is exhausting to witness—despite a few sojourns down wayward paths (“I was a sinner in need of salvation”); it now finds him tangling with the spoils of suffering every day, making a difference.
A rewarding story, low-key despite its frank heroics. (Nonfiction. 10-14)Pub Date: April 1, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-310-73613-4
Page Count: 144
Publisher: Zonderkidz
Review Posted Online: April 14, 2013
Significant historical acts and events are here put into unique perspective by a participant.
A posthumous Holocaust memoir from the youngest person on Oskar Schindler’s list.
Completed before his death in January 2013, Leyson’s narrative opens with glowing but not falsely idyllic childhood memories of growing up surrounded by friends and relatives in the Polish village of Narewka and then the less intimate but still, to him, marvelous city of Kraków. The Nazi occupation brought waves of persecution and forced removals to first a ghetto and then a labor camp—but since his father, a machinist, worked at the enamelware factory that Schindler opportunistically bought, 14-year-old “Leib” (who was so short he had to stand on the titular box to work), his mother and two of his four older siblings were eventually brought into the fold. Along with harrowing but not lurid accounts of extreme privation and casual brutality, the author recalls encounters with the quietly kind and heroic Schindler on the way to the war’s end, years spent at a displaced-persons facility in Germany and, at last, emigration to the United States. Leyson tacks just a quick sketch of his adult life and career onto the end and closes by explaining how he came to break his long silence about his experiences. Family photos (and a picture of the famous list with the author’s name highlighted) add further personal touches to this vivid, dramatic account.
Significant historical acts and events are here put into unique perspective by a participant. (Memoir. 11-14)Pub Date: Aug. 27, 2013
ISBN: 978-1-4424-9781-8
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Atheneum
Review Posted Online: July 6, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2013
© Copyright 2024 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
bookshelf
