Status
Available
Call number
Genres
Collection
Publication
Knopf Books for Young Readers (2019), 320 pages
Description
"From stories of confronting their relationships with Judaism to rom-coms with a side of bagels and lox, It's a Whole Spiel features one story after another that says yes, we are Jewish, but we are also queer, and disabled, and creative, and political, and adventurous, and anything we want to be"--
Awards
International Book Awards (Finalist — Humor — 2017)
Best Fiction for Young Adults (Selection — 2020)
Language
Lexile
850L
User reviews
LibraryThing member sweetiegherkin
In this anthology, 14 different authors offer up 14 stories of young people who are Jewish. Otherwise, the stories have no connection. In some, the protagonists worry about fitting in because they fear they are not Jewish enough; in others, they worry about fitting in because they fear they are
Basically, this book is a mixed bag in terms of what it is offers. That is not meant to be negative, although I know that phrase often connotes that. Rather, there's not a throughline or a central thematic point. I have a hard time figuring out who exactly I would recommend this book to as it covers a lot of ground, yet also feels like it is for a very specific audience -- teens who like short stories, who prefer romantic themes, and are likely Jewish themselves. Since I'm not any of those three, I think this book just didn't appeal to me that much. However, it was certainly well written on the whole and offers diverse perspectives, which is great for public libraries in particular.
Show More
'too' Jewish. Many have a romantic element in terms of having a crush on or dating someone, but they aren't all romance stories per se. Some are more concerned about friendship and fitting in. There are some LGBT characters in certain stories, and one story has a Mexican national as the protagonist, both of which are good for having additional perspectives seen. Most of the characters are high schoolers but some are just entering or in college. The stories are primarily realistic fiction but two have ghosts and one appears to be nonfiction/memoir in nature.Basically, this book is a mixed bag in terms of what it is offers. That is not meant to be negative, although I know that phrase often connotes that. Rather, there's not a throughline or a central thematic point. I have a hard time figuring out who exactly I would recommend this book to as it covers a lot of ground, yet also feels like it is for a very specific audience -- teens who like short stories, who prefer romantic themes, and are likely Jewish themselves. Since I'm not any of those three, I think this book just didn't appeal to me that much. However, it was certainly well written on the whole and offers diverse perspectives, which is great for public libraries in particular.
Show Less
LibraryThing member yonitdm
Great collection of stories each with their own voice. I loved how each was different than my experience and yet highly relatable.
ISBN
0525646167 / 9780525646167