This exciting retelling of the Hanukkah story should appeal to both Jewish and non-Jewish children.
Devorah and her younger brother, Benjamin, anxiously await their Hanukkah presents.
They are disappointed when their grandparents give them only a very old, misshapen dreidel to share, but Mom knows that this dreidel has magical properties that once helped her reach a true understanding of Hanukkah. The children’s first spin lands on Shin, meaning they have lost something. They have also somehow landed (with the dreidel) in ancient Modi’in, where Jews are in conflict with the Syrian king. The children find that they are speaking and understanding Hebrew and quickly become caught up in the fight between the Maccabees and the Syrian army. After the next spin, Nun, meaning neither gain nor loss, two years have passed and the battles continue. Hey, or halfway, leads to “a great miracle happened here”: one night’s oil burning for eight nights. Finally they spin Gimmel, or everything, and at last return home with a better understanding of their holiday traditions. These modern children are not only witnesses; they use historical information to guide the Maccabees’ leaders and to participate bravely in the events—to the extent that the author seems to imply that these ancients might not have been able to succeed without them. Castro’s black-and-white cartoon illustrations provide readers with visual context, depicting both historical and modern characters with pale skin.
This exciting retelling of the Hanukkah story should appeal to both Jewish and non-Jewish children. (Historical fiction/fantasy. 8-10)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-5415-4672-1
Page Count: 88
Publisher: Kar-Ben
Review Posted Online: June 9, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2019
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BOOK REVIEW
The tongue-in-cheek tale goes on, with enticing hints of adventures and revelations to come.
In a third episode set in the (supposedly) witch-ridden Italian town, curious Maria Beppina makes a startling discovery when she stops running from the scary “Clopper.”
Interwoven with events from previous tales, Maria Beppina’s act of courage comes after her cousin Primo hands her the gold ring he has found in a fish. What she subsequently turns to face is not a fearsome monster but a friendly if eccentric old lady who wears one wooden clog and lives with a trio of odd companions. Being something of an outsider, as she and her widowed father have moved to the village from Naples, the usually resolutely honest white girl later concocts for the other children a terrifying yarn featuring a cackling witch and a cooking pot. Her guilt is sharp but short-lived, and by the end she’s going back to revisit her new friend(s). Though as usual Marciano appends a “Witchonary” and a history of the real town, he’s been cagey throughout about whether there are actual witches and demons at work—until now, at least (though he could still be having us on). Blackall supplies a map and festoons the compact-format tale with lively scenes of apple-cheeked children in dress that evokes the 1820s small-town setting.
The tongue-in-cheek tale goes on, with enticing hints of adventures and revelations to come. (Fantasy. 8-10)Pub Date: Sept. 6, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-451-47182-6
Page Count: 144
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: June 21, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2016
A family with diverse magical powers gains a surprise ally in this sequel to Welcome to Normal (2013).
Though Soderberg continues to play the Quirks’ plight as a sitcom, readers are less likely to chuckle than wince at their behavior. Forced to move 26 times for fear of exposure in the nearly 10 years since twins Molly and Penelope were born, the family’s efforts to settle quietly in Normal are complicated both by an obsessively snoopy neighbor, Mrs. DeVille, and by their own strong tendency to abuse their powers. Five-year-old bad boy Finn, for instance, takes advantage of his selective invisibility to play annoying pranks and to steal from Mrs. DeVille, while scatterbrained mother Bree keeps her job as a waitress by controlling customers’ minds. Fortunately and as before, the supposedly ungifted Molly works her own brand of magic: She cleverly reins Finn in, keeps her neurotic sister (whose every mental image becomes real, willy-nilly) distracted and even convinces a TV news crew that there is nothing more notable about the Quirks than their backyard circus. And, rather than being the villain she seems, Mrs. DeVille turns out to be the sort who (literally) winks at the Quirks’…quirks. More episodic catastrophes without lasting consequences, in a tale that shares a premise with, but bears only a superficial resemblance to, Ingrid Law’s brilliant Savvy (2008). (illustrations not seen) (Light fantasy. 8-10)
Pub Date: Feb. 4, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-59990-790-1
Page Count: 225
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Review Posted Online: Nov. 1, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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