A Dreidel in Time: A New Spin on an Old Tale

Devorah and her brother Benjamin are eagerly anticipating their Hanukkah gift haul. Instead, Bubbe gives them an odd and very old dreidel (“Devorah’s disappointment kept her from thanking her grandparents as she knew she should”), which the kids begrudgingly spin—then suddenly find themselves transported back to the time of the Maccabees, when Hanukkah “hasn’t become a holiday yet.” They realize they have considerable reserves of ingenuity and courage, and use their advance knowledge of history to help the Maccabees save the day. Berneger and Castro’s time-traveling chapter book is Hebrew school earnest, with much declaiming on the part of the ancient Jews (“It seems, Judah, that our strange friends have done us a great service”). The only flash of humor is when Benjamin shouts “Hey, you stupid jerks!” to Antiochus’s soldiers while perched atop an elephant. Ages 8–12. (Sept.)