SAUERKRAUT

A spectral great-great-grandmother and a secret sauerkraut recipe trigger an exploration of family, identity, and community.

Hans Dieter “HD” Schenk is a maker, creating everything from a goat obstacle course to a computer of his own design to enter into a tech contest at the county fair. HD navigates the world as a biracial, bicultural black German American who loves Wakanda and who can converse in polite, formal German. When, one day, he comes across an old sauerkraut pickling crock inhabited by the ghost of his great-great-grandmother, he and his family find themselves enlisted in Oma’s project to win the fair’s pickle prize with her famous sauerkraut. While Oma and the ghost-story vehicle are an ingenious storytelling device, the adults seem to accept the ghost almost too readily. However, they also do so without shaming or infantilizing HD, his little brother, or his friend. The book foregrounds race, culture, and identity, but they are not the entirety of the plot. Being black and German American is an ongoing negotiation for HD, but Jones presents this as a feature and not a bug; as HD says, “I’ve had a lot of practice explaining why I don’t look like my dad.” Nuanced conversations about aging, disability, language, sexual orientation, mental health, race, and culture are hidden in the nooks and crannies of every chapter. Davey’s spot illustrations enliven the proceedings.

A ghost story full of nuance and depth.