Dreidels on the Brain
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- USD 6.99
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- USD 6.99
Descripción editorial
At last a great American Hanukkah story! This very funny, very touching novel of growing up Jewish has the makings of a holiday classic.
One lousy miracle. Is that too much to ask?
Evidently so for Joel, as he tries to survive Hannukah, 1971 in the suburbs of the suburbs of Los Angeles (or, as he calls it, “The Land of Shriveled Dreams”). That’s no small task when you’re a “seriously funny-looking” twelve-year-old magician who dreams of being his own superhero: Normalman. And Joel’s a long way from that as the only Jew at Bixby School, where his attempts to make himself disappear fail spectacularly. Home is no better, with a family that’s not just mortifyingly embarrassing but flat-out broke.
That’s why Joel’s betting everything on these eight nights, to see whether it’s worth believing in God or miracles or anything at all. Armed with his favorite jokes, some choice Yiddish words, and a suitcase full of magic tricks, he’s scrambling to come to terms with the world he lives in—from hospitals to Houdini to the Holocaust—before the last of the candles burns out.
No wonder his head is spinning: He’s got dreidels on the brain. And little does he know that what’s actually about to happen to him and his family this Hanukkah will be worse than he’d feared . . . And better than he could have imagined.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
It's 1971, and 12-year-old Joel, seeking a Hanukkah miracle, begins a conversation with God that spans the eight-day holiday. A number of things weigh heavily on Joel: being the only Jewish family at his California private school, his father's poor health, the family's money struggles, and Joel's crush on Amy, an old friend who helps out with the magic shows he performs. Things get more complicated when Joel's father falls into a coma, and Joel and his family are asked to teach his school about Hanukkah, something Joel dreads. Joel tries to find meaning amid the chaos, and a seemingly random interaction on a bus proves to be the miracle he was seeking. In a story loosely inspired by his upbringing, ben Izzy (The Beggar King and the Secret of Happiness) shares warm, humorous musings on and explanations of Jewish culture ("Nobody can agree on the rules, which is how you know it's a Jewish game," he says of spinning the dreidel), though these can sometimes overshadow the scant plot. A meandering but moving coming-of-age journey. Ages 10 up.
