It’s a Whole Spiel: Love, Latkes, and Other Jewish Stories

In this anthology of 14 short stories by YA authors, the protagonists experience all the familiar exhilaration, embarrassment, and anxiety of late adolescence, with physical symptoms to match: they’re torn, they freeze up, they blush, and one character’s heart “crash[es] against her rib cage.” They are also Jewish, and what that means—in terms of family, upbringing, and beliefs—adds additional layers of questioning and rumination to their fledgling sense of themselves. Several characters are growing up in interfaith or highly secularized families; the narrator in Hannah Moskowitz’s “Neilah” (named for the closing service of Yom Kippur) yearns for her family’s Christmas tree even as her relationship with a more devout young woman deepens. The voices throughout feel confiding, empathic, with just the right amount of self-deprecating humor; in several stories, a playful, meta sensibility incorporates footnotes, texting, and Tumblr posts. And throughout, the underlying assurance is that the world is largely benign or benevolent—as the narrator of Alex London’s “Indoor Kids” says, “I’d had my bar mitzvah and come out of the closet the same year, and both went... fine.” Ages 12–up. [em](Sept.) [/em]