Cursing Columbus

January 1, 2010
Gr 5-8-In this sequel to "Double Crossing" (Cinco Puntos, 2005), brothers Lemmel and Shloyme, little sister Hannah, and Mama finally join Raizel and their father in America. Raizel, given the name Rose at school, must help them acclimate to their early-20th-century Lower East Side environment. She guides her brothers through their first days of school and her mother in the realities of a less religiously observant Jewish lifestyle. This first year of the family's reunion is difficult. Papa loses his job, and Lemmel's unrecognized learning disability hampers his bar mitzvah preparation. He becomes rebellious, skips school, and runs away to a life of crime on the streets. And Mama, in her Old World ways, refuses to acknowledge her daughter's dream to become a teacher. She expects her to drop out of school at 14, work in a factory, find a hardworking husband, and raise a family. Raizel's effort to juggle work, school, and a budding romance is deftly juxtaposed with Lemmel's precarious low-life existence. His ultimate arrest and trial shame the family, yet his truthful confession, sense of ethical behavior, and redemption bring them all together in an effort to right several wrongs and begin anew. Told in the alternating voices of Raizel and Lemmel, the story offers a realistic and poignant picture of a bygone time."Rita Soltan, Youth Services Consultant, West Bloomfield, MI"

Copyright 2010 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

October 15, 2009
Grades 7-10 Not everything in America is wonderful and not everything from the Old Country should be discarded. Told through the alternating narratives of two Jewish immigrant teens, Raizel, 14, and her brother Lemmel, 13, this gripping novel, set in Mahattans Lower East Side in 1908, goes beyond sentimentality about the promised land of America to show a heartbreaking, sometimes brutal, daily struggle. Lemmel cannot read, but he is too ashamed to let his parents know his secret, and he runs away from home, barely surviving on the streets. Raizels dream is to become a teacher, but Mama needs Raizel at home (What is so important about school for a girl anyway?). At school, Raizel wins a prize for an essay honoring Columbus, and Tal never explores the prejudice it contains against native Indians. What works so well here are the vividly detailed descriptions of Yiddish culture; the opportunities in the new country; and the troubles and the riches left behind. A great title to prompt discussion about discrimination against new immigrants, now and then, as well as the valuable diversity newcomers bring.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2009, American Library Association.)