I put my fingers up to my throat and touched the pointy Star of David, my grandmother’s necklace, a delicate chain made up of countless tiny links. If I wear this, will people think I am Jewish?
Is that what I want to be?
Seventh-grader Caroline Weeks has a Jewish mom and a non-Jewish dad. When Caroline’s nana dies around the same time that Caroline’s best friend, Rachel, is having her bat mitzvah, Caroline starts to become more interested in her Jewish identity.
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Jewish and interfaith readers will find much to relate to and recognize here, while others will gain an inside perspective on the feeling of belonging to a minority group.
This quick read will be a hit with preteens contemplating their own identities.
Caroline’s situation will be familiar to many readers, and they’ll warm to her growth and self-discovery.
This book is highly recommended to interfaith families and children who are confronting questions of religious identity and difference, as a starting point for conversations about choices and how families can love and respect one another regardless of faith traditions. While exploring issues that every teen faces, author Nora Raleigh Baskin has written a truly sensitive and enlightening novel that will undoubtedly affect her readers in both a positive and empowering way.
In The Truth About My Bat Mitzvah, readers will find complex issues illuminated. And while there are no easy answers this is simply a great story.
Caroline learns to honor her Judaism as a major part of her life and decides that being a Jewish young woman makes her a bat mitzvah. By reaching the age of accepting mitzvot and devoting her time to learn about Judaism, Caroline is automatically a bat mitzvah. On this pursuit of answers, some things are simple.
A lovely coming of age story, almost a modern Are You There God, It’s Me Margaret by Judy Blume, this work helps a young teen determine who she is, while also demonstrating how to deal with the loss of a beloved grandparent.
