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IN THE LAND OF HAPPY TEARS

Name: IN THE LAND OF HAPPY TEARS
Author: David Stromberg
ISBN: 978-1-5247-2033-9

YIDDISH TALES FOR MODERN TIMES

edited by David Stromberg ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 18, 2018

Yiddishkeit that is entertaining, meaningful, and very much still relevant.

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Eighteen tales, never before translated from Yiddish, present the ordinary and the miraculous from an Eastern European Jewish world long gone.

Squirrel families, human families, the moon, kings, witches, and sorcerers all inhabit these tales set in small towns, palaces, and natural places through all four seasons. Divided into sections thematically—Bravery, Rebellion, Justice, and Wonder—the stories vary in mood but never in the message of the importance of living with a “good and beautiful heart.” Squirrels grow up, little boys leave home to go to school, a greedy paper kite learns a valuable lesson, and the prophet Elijah rewards a good deed. The evil eye makes an appearance, and the moon longs for a friend. Chants of anti-war demonstrations to come uncannily appear when a little boy convinces a ruler to stop fighting, “that too much blood had been spilled—and that there could finally be an end to war.” The stories, seamlessly translated by a sizable team, are all a few pages in length and lend themselves to reading aloud and discussion. Readers both young and old will enjoy the introduction, which traces the Yiddish language and reveals that Shrek by William Steig, a favorite children’s story, translates as “Terrible.”

Yiddishkeit that is entertaining, meaningful, and very much still relevant. (introduction, glossary of untranslatable words, about the authors, about the translators) (Short stories. 9-12)

Pub Date: Sept. 18, 2018

ISBN: 978-1-5247-2033-9

Page Count: 192

Publisher: Delacorte

Review Posted Online: June 24, 2018

Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2018

Categories:

CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES | CHILDREN'S RELIGIOUS FICTION

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TUCK EVERLASTING

by Natalie Babbitt ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 1, 1975

However the compelling fitness of theme and event and the apt but unexpected imagery (the opening sentences compare the...

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At a time when death has become an acceptable, even voguish subject in children's fiction, Natalie Babbitt comes through with a stylistic gem about living forever.

Protected Winnie, the ten-year-old heroine, is not immortal, but when she comes upon young Jesse Tuck drinking from a secret spring in her parents' woods, she finds herself involved with a family who, having innocently drunk the same water some 87 years earlier, haven't aged a moment since. Though the mood is delicate, there is no lack of action, with the Tucks (previously suspected of witchcraft) now pursued for kidnapping Winnie; Mae Tuck, the middle aged mother, striking and killing a stranger who is onto their secret and would sell the water; and Winnie taking Mae's place in prison so that the Tucks can get away before she is hanged from the neck until....? Though Babbitt makes the family a sad one, most of their reasons for discontent are circumstantial and there isn't a great deal of wisdom to be gleaned from their fate or Winnie's decision not to share it.

However the compelling fitness of theme and event and the apt but unexpected imagery (the opening sentences compare the first week in August when this takes place to "the highest seat of a Ferris wheel when it pauses in its turning") help to justify the extravagant early assertion that had the secret about to be revealed been known at the time of the action, the very earth "would have trembled on its axis like a beetle on a pin." (Fantasy. 9-11)

Pub Date: Nov. 1, 1975

ISBN: 0312369816

Page Count: 164

Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux

Review Posted Online: April 13, 2012

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 1975

Categories:

CHILDREN'S SCIENCE FICTION & FANTASY | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES

- BOOK REVIEW
THE MOON OVER HIGH STREET
by Natalie Babbitt

- BOOK REVIEW
JACK PLANK TELLS TALES
by Natalie Babbitt

- BOOK REVIEW
PEACOCK
by Valerie Worth & illustrated by Natalie Babbitt

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CLUES TO THE UNIVERSE

by Christina Li ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 12, 2021

Charming, poignant, and thoughtfully woven.

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An aspiring scientist and a budding artist become friends and help each other with dream projects.

Unfolding in mid-1980s Sacramento, California, this story stars 12-year-olds Rosalind and Benjamin as first-person narrators in alternating chapters. Ro’s father, a fellow space buff, was killed by a drunk driver; the rocket they were working on together lies unfinished in her closet. As for Benji, not only has his best friend, Amir, moved away, but the comic book holding the clue for locating his dad is also missing. Along with their profound personal losses, the protagonists share a fixation with the universe’s intriguing potential: Ro decides to complete the rocket and hopes to launch mementos of her father into outer space while Benji’s conviction that aliens and UFOs are real compels his imagination and creativity as an artist. An accident in science class triggers a chain of events forcing Benji and Ro, who is new to the school, to interact and unintentionally learn each other’s secrets. They resolve to find Benji’s dad—a famous comic-book artist—and partner to finish Ro’s rocket for the science fair. Together, they overcome technical, scheduling, and geographical challenges. Readers will be drawn in by amusing and fantastical elements in the comic book theme, high emotional stakes that arouse sympathy, and well-drawn character development as the protagonists navigate life lessons around grief, patience, self-advocacy, and standing up for others. Ro is biracial (Chinese/White); Benji is White.

Charming, poignant, and thoughtfully woven. (Fiction. 9-12)