Laurel Snyder's Latest!!

      

         Zipporah Chava McConnell, a.k.a. Zippy, isn’t exactly sure what it means to be Jewish. Their family isn’t the traditional Jewish family, which is why Zippy is so surprised when her mom tells her she needs to start getting ready for her bat mitzvah. Besides knowing a few Hebrew words and attending synagogue on the major holidays, her family rarely does much more, and sometimes not even that much!

       7^th grade was already starting out strange without throwing this into the monkey wrench! Bea, her best friend since kindergarten, now wants to hang out with the giggling girls’ group that walks to school each day and attend the school dances. Zippy just isn’t interested nor ready for any of that. . .

       Oh, and did I mention that in addition to all these problems, Zippy is a witch? Maybe a Jewish witch? After bat mitzvah lessons one day she wanders out to her favorite spell casting spot, armed with a small piece of paper with Hebrew letters on it. As Zippy tries to pronounce the unfamiliar letter sounds, she hears a scream, then another! Emerging from the azalea bush is a girl, but not just any girl, this girl has wings! Has Zippy summoned her with the Hebrew word?

       Award winning author Laurel Snyder has brought us a timely story in this world of anti-Semitism. At the beginning of the book there is a letter from Laurel, explaining how this story is inspired by her own personal experiences with being Jewish. Through her main character, Zippy, she explains Jewish words, customs and holidays, perhaps helping lots of people who read this book understand Judaism a bit more. Robbie Medwed, a middle school teacher at a Jewish Day School in Atlanta provides us with an excellent Educator’s Guide. Click HERE for the link.

    Kids will relate to Zippy and understand how she sometimes feels uncomfortable and alone. Snyder has given us a mash-up of realistic fiction and fantasy and it works just magnificently! 

    Win your own copy of The Witch of Woodland by leaving a comment below.

The Greatest Kid in the World by John David Anderson

     What does it take to be the greatest kid in the world? Volunteering at the retirement community and playing three sports, like Kyo? Or maybe by making 200 sack lunches to hand out to the homeless with a youth group twice a month, like Aadya? As Zeke Stahl reads the bios of the four other contestants, he wonders how in the world his name is included with these over zealous do-gooders. They sound just like the suck-ups at his Indiana middle school. But that is what has happened in the new book The Greatest Kid in the World, from the bestselling author of Posted and Ms. Bixby’s Last Day, John David Anderson. Once again Anderson gives us a story both hysterically funny and touchingly poignant.

      At the start of summer Zeke receives a letter announcing that he is one of five contestants in the online contest for “Greatest Kid in the World”. There is no mention of how he was selected but there is a prize of $10,000.00 and a trip to Hawaii! Was this real or just someone punking him? As it turns out, it is indeed true and a cameraman would be arriving the next day to film him and his family for the next week.            

       Although Zeke knows there must be some mistake – after all, he describes himself as one who likes to “push the boundaries” and teachers and friends would, perhaps, use less flattering language. But boy, their family could definitely use the money. The summer was already sweltering with their air conditioner broken with no money to fix it and banned from the community pool due to a prank Zeke pulled the previous summer. So he decides that he must do everything he can to try to win for his family but what can he possibly do to compete with the others? Follow along during this crazy week of hijinx and hopefulness and meet Zeke’s dad through the post cards he keeps rereading at night.  

        Anderson is such a wonderful storyteller and this is a great read for the start of summer.Click HERE for a teacher's guide which includes discussion questions, classroom activities and an exclusive author letter. I would recommend it for the first read aloud in September as well.Win your own copy by leaving a comment below. 

        Kids will really relate and cheer for Zeke!