Final Project: Jewish American Literature

Jessica Halas
Final Project Book Reviews: Focus- Jewish American Literature

The three books I chose to represent literature of a traditionally underrepresented group are quality examples of Jewish American literature for children to young adults. Each author has chosen to tell an adapted version of a personal memory, all of which tell a unique story that is easily relatable, as well as enjoyable. Each book appropriately incorporates Jewish vernacular which not only enriches the story, but allows the audience to expand their knowledge base. However, the quest to find these books was not easy- it took a great deal of searching before stumbling upon such a rich group of texts. All of these texts encourage their readers to become apart of the Jewish culture by detailing one of a kind experiences. Jewish culture is extensive, with traditions and unity that deserves to be shared with all readers. I would recommend Patricia Polacco's The Keeping Quilt, Anna Olswanger's Shlemiel Crooks, and Elsa Okon Rael's Rivka's First Thanksgiving to be apart of any classroom, for any range of diverse readers.


Patrica Polacco’s The Keeping Quilt

Polacco, Patricia. The Keeping Quilt (Aladdin Picture Books). New York: Aladdin, 2001.

The Keeping Quilt is a touching narrative based on a first hand account of Patrica Polacco's own life experiences and one very special family heirloom. The story traces members of Polacco's family tree- following their journey from Russia to New York City, and later to Michigan. The story gives special mention to Jewish traditions, such as praying on the Sabbath, getting married under a huppa, and eating special foods like challah and kulich. The entire plot also manages to tie in a single quilt that has traveled between generations. Brown and black backgrounds allow the vivid colors of the quilt to really stand out in the entirety of the text. The ending of the book shows a heart-warming integration of American culture to Jewish past times. This book promotes readers to remember special family traditions, and do their best to incorporate them in everyday life; which easily relates to all cultures.

Anna Olswanger’s Shlemiel Crooks

Olswanger, Anna. Shlemiel Crooks. Montgomery: Junebug Books, 2005.

Shlemiel Crooks uses a comedic approach to introduce and explain Jewish history. Olswanger skillfully tells the story of Passover reaching all the way back to Israelites and Pharaoh, all through a creative storyline which proves to be entertaining for all ages. The shop owner of the story is a lose impersonation of Olswanger's own grandfather, using tidbits of information she discovered about him through newspaper articles. Large, close-up pictures help the reader to better visualize and become apart of the exciting storyline. The book skillfully tells a history lesson inside a delightful tale about the power and unity of a community against a couple of bad guys.


Elsa Okon Rael's Rivka's First Thanksgiving

Rael, Elsa. Rivka's First Thanksgiving. New York: Margaret K McElderry Books, 2001.

Rivka's First Thanksgiving is the story of one Jewish girls quest to introduce Thanksgiving to her family. After learning about the history of Thanksgiving in school, Rivka hopes to practice it within her own home but must ask the Rabbi for permission first. In order to explain the importance of Thanksgiving, Rivka compares the idea of the Pilgrims thankfulness to the Indians to those of Jewish decent being thankful to safe in America. Soft images of characters and their emotions line the pages of the book and help to tell Rivka's story. The book incorporates many Jewish phrases and words, and even provides a dictionary in the back that explains definitions and origins of those words. Rael bases the idea of this book on a personal memory of her own Jewish family's first Thanksgiving.


Critical Review:


Rahn, Suzanne. "Like a Star Through Flying Snow": Jewish Characters, Visible and Invisible. "The Lion and the Unicorn 27 (2003): 303-23.

Within this article Rahn discusses the evolution of Jewish-American literature. She begins by recalling the idea of Jewish characters in mainstream texts dating back to the 1900's. During the early periods of literature, if characters were featured in a text they were not labeled as Jewish, otherwise Jewish characters were non-existent all together. Rahn goes on to pinpoint specific characters and texts throughout nearly each decade and the correlating societal ideals and conditions of that time period. Rahn also gives concrete text examples to show exactly when certain Jewish concepts and milestones were achieved; for example, Rahn notes that in 1966 Issac Bashevis Singer's Zlateh the Goat and Other Stories was the Newbery Award's first Jewish Honor Book. The timeline ends near present day, and offers the hope of a vivid future for Jewish literature- hope that many authors worked very hard to achieve. The article happily ends noting, "today, Jewish characters are no longer exceptional-- or invisible."