Once More with Chutzpah
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- $15.99
Publisher Description
A moving YA debut about a girl who grapples with questions of her Jewish identity, mental health struggles, and sexuality while on a temple exchange trip through Israel.
When high school senior Tally and her twin brother Max head off on an exchange trip to Israel over their winter break, Tally thinks it will be a good distraction for Max; he might be trying to hide it, but she knows he's still struggling in the wake of a car crash that injured him and killed the driver. Maybe this will help him get back on track and apply to college the way he and Tally always planned.
But as the group travels across the country, Tally realizes her plan might not be working, and that her brother might not be the only one with a lot on his mind. When a new relationship gets complicated in the face of her own anxiety-about her future, her sexual and romantic identity, and her place within the Jewish diaspora-Tally must grapple not only with the past, but also with what life will be like when they get back home.
Debut author Haley Neil offers a relatable and deeply felt story about identity on the cusp of adulthood.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
White twins Tally and Max shared everything, until, in their senior year, Max was in a car accident that left the driver dead. Since then, he's been depressed and distant, and Tally's been busy worrying about him—as well as denying that she's facing any trouble of her own, despite her sudden inability to write song lyrics. But she hopes that the interfaith siblings' youth trip to Israel with their temple will reconnect them and cheer Max. As the group, which includes minor Ethiopian American and Black characters, sets off, Tally tries to fix Max up; the cute, funny tour leader opens her eyes to her own demisexuality; and she's forced to confront the fact that the accident affected her, too. Debut author Neil addresses Israel's "complicated" history sans a Palestinian point of view; better handled is the exploration of how Tally's compartmentalization and anxiety let her hide her feelings not only from others but from herself. Ages 12–up.
