A MITZVAH IS SOMETHING SPECIAL

Lisa's Grandma Esther is sunny and plump and loves to cook; her other grandmother, Dorrie, is divorced and modern and plays the flute. Eisenberg switches back and forth between them in little visits that make clear that Lisa loves them both, and vice versa. Early on Grandma Esther tells Lisa about a neighbor who long ago did her a mitzvah (""like a good deed, only much more""); Lisa discusses the word with Dorrie; and at the end, one night when her parents are out, Lisa invites them both to sleep over--""Such a big mitzvah,"" declare both grandmothers as they enjoy each other's food and music, ""that we'll remember it forever."" Eisenberg doesn't make of the mitzvah idea anything more than an arbitrary device for tying together a couple of very broad and unindividualized character sketches--though Susan Jeschke's pencil drawings have a lot more personality.