Golemcrafters
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
Emi Watanabe Cohen’s sophomore novel travels from the most awkward surface tensions to the beautiful depths of Jewish culture and lore for a tale of magical and emotional discovery.
Faye has a tough time concentrating in School. It’s easier to be silent and fade into the woodwork than take on the challenges of kids at school who mock her biracial heritage, and her competitive family at home, none of whom are good listeners. Except possibly for her brother Shiloh, who tries to speak extra so she doesn’t have to. (Maybe a bit too much extra?)They have a private made up language that they call “Effalese” which is Japanese (from one side of the family) written in Hebrew letters (from the other side of the family.) And a thousand inside jokes.
But the family dynamic is shattered when their uncle and cousin from the Jewish side arrive unannounced to say that it’s time the children learn the secret family magic: Golem Crafting. And it seems Faye DOES have a gift for it, even more so than Shiloh. But will it truly be the thing that makes Faye feel whole? And will it heal the bitter rifts in the family?
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
An unanticipated bar mitzvah gift—"a box of uncured clay" for 11-year-old Faye's older brother Shiloh—results in a visit from the siblings' estranged paternal grandfather in this ethereal fantasy novel by Watanabe Cohen (The Lost Ryu). To combat rising antisemitism, including the bullying Shiloh has been experiencing, their grandfather wants them to learn golemcrafting: creating humanoid figures from clay that are "brought to life with the Hebrew alphabet." Their father disagrees, but their Catholic mother, a second-generation Japanese American, believes this will help them learn more about their Jewish heritage. Faye feels secretly triumphant when she demonstrates a gift for golemcrafting over academically inclined Shiloh. But when, in a shared dream, the siblings are transported to a fantasy realm where Japanese Jewish people are being hunted, Faye's pride turns to rage. Suddenly saddled with incredible power, Faye's rage evolves into fear she struggles to overcome alone. Watanabe Cohen explores centuries of antisemitism through the eyes of two characters experiencing it in the present to show the import of personal resilience and reliance on family in the face of adversity. Ages 8–12.
