A great read about finding oneself. ( )

It was cheesy--really cheesy--but I really like the subject matter. I love the idea of a book for kids and young teens that addresses religion, especially questioning, wanting to learn more about other faiths, and differing from your family. I think it was handled really well.

Interesting take on a young girls road to religious self discovery. The pacing is good. It has a great message and the characters are very well developed and the tone while dealing with difficult issues, is light and friendly. A good book for anyone going through a religious questioning be it old or young. ( )

What starts as an interesting premise soon becomes a bit of an overly didactic mess. It's a series of teachings about a dying grandmother, Judaism, and why not to feed chocolate to a dog, and it does it in a voice which is sometimes probable and sometimes that of an adult trying (and failing) very hard to sound like an 11-year-old. Recommended for a very young reader, beacuse I think anyone more advanced will be annoyed at having lessons shoved at them. ( )

Personal response:
A young Jewish girl's new friend is Catholic, and she fantasizes becoming that faith. Her family is distressed when they find out, but a priest and a rabbi listen to her confusion about religion. Her grandmother is a halocost survivor, and she understands the girl's questioning her faith. The grandmother dies, the girl finds a comfortable place to explore her spirituality, and the family becomes more tolerant of her. This book is funny in how the girls tries to covertly practice Catholicism, sad when the grandmother weakens and then dies, yet is encouraging in that the girl has spunk and goes after answers.(Having been raised Catholic, found book quite amusing, main character adorable.)

Cirriculum/programming connections:

A good book for a unit or discussion of religions of the world. Also good for humor.