Someone for Mr. Sussman

by Patricia Polacco

Hardcover, 2008

Status

Available

Call number

E POL

Publication

New York : Philomel Books, c2008.

Description

Although she is the best matchmaker in the neighborhood, Jerome's Bubbie has a hard time finding a match for the fussy Mr. Sussman.

Media reviews

School Library Journal
Gr 2-5 Jerome's stylish grandmother is a successful matchmaker with dozens of happy clients, the exception being Mr. Sussman. Jerome thinks that the man is too picky, but Bubbie is convinced that she can find him the perfect woman. "No pot is so crooked that there isn't a lid to fit it," she
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says. In fact, she decides that she's his match and makes drastic changes to prove it, to no avail. Finally, after giving up on trying to please Mr. Sussman, Bubbie ends up with exactly what she wanted all along. While the lengths to which she goes to win Mr. Sussman's affection are humorous, the story's theme may have little appeal to the elementary crowd. The narrative strikes the right note at the end with the message of staying true to oneself, but readers may lose interest getting there. Polacco's characteristic pencil and watercolor illustrations seem less polished than in her many other finely detailed and crafted offerings. Sprinkled throughout are Yiddish words and references to Jewish traditions.-Beth Cuddy, Seward Elementary School, Auburn, NY
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1 more
Publishers Weekly
Polacco's (The Keeping Quilt) exuberant style blasts through this predictable yet rewarding tale of a successful Jewish shadkhen (matchmaker) who has one client for whom she cannot find a match (readers will quickly guess why). Narrated by her red-haired and bespectacled adolescent grandson, the
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story chronicles "Bubbie's" attempts to turn herself into the seemingly impossible-to-please Mr. Sussman's dream wife: as he updates his requirements every week, she makes her home kosher, redecorates, becomes a workout queen, masters ballroom dancing and so on. The author brings in homey, Fiddler on the Roof syntax ("This person I'll find for you"), along with words like "oy" and "farklempt," illustrating the story in her signature style of comfortable c?aricatures and broad strokes. A good-natured spirit percolates throughout, and readers, like the supportive grandson, will root for persistent Bubbie. Ages 6-8. (Nov.) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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Library's rating

½

Library's review

Excellent writing (by a renowned author), great illustrations. The value in the story is that people will like you for who you are, and that it is pointless to try to change for them. A few unintended values slip in too, however, as in the quote "even a wife for the Firesteins' very large son, and
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that was a miracle!" and the accompanying illustration, reinforcing a cultural prejudice against large/overweight people. - Marla S.
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Barcode

1192

Language

User reviews

LibraryThing member AbigailAdams26
Jerome's grandmother was a well-known and very successful shadkhen - a traditional Jewish matchmaker - who almost always managed to find the perfect mate for her clients. Only mercurial Mr. Sussman, with his endless list of contradictory demands, presented a real challenge. First he wanted a woman
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who kept kosher, then a woman who baked, then a dancer - on and on it went. Would Jerome's bubbie ever succeed in finding someone for Mr. Sussman, or would he prove the exception to her oft-quoted maxim, that "No pot is so crooked that there isn't a lid to fit it"?

I was surprised to find that, despite my usual fondness for Patricia Polacco's books, which often reduce me to sniffles, I just wasn't that impressed by Someone for Mr. Sussman. I didn't dislike it, per se, but it didn't really do anything for me either. It also seemed very much like a picture-book written for adults (well, some of them, anyway), and I had a hard time imagining that young readers would really warm up to it. In fact, I wavered between two and three stars with this one, only settling on three because of my over-all appreciation of the author's work. Ah well - with fifty-three (soon to be fifty-four) picture-books under her belt, I guess not every one can be a winner.
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LibraryThing member sriches
Jerome’s bubbie is a matchmaker—the greatest in the whole neighborhood. She even found a match for the Firesteins’ son, and that was a miracle! She’s found a match for everyone. Everyone except for Mr. Sussman—and herself, that is. But Mr. Sussman is impossible! “Too picky!” Jerome cautions
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Bubbie after each appointment. But Bubbie is determined to make this match, no matter what lengths she must go to. And in a satisfying and sweet conclusion, this comedy of errors proves Bubbie’s motto: No pot is so crooked that there isn’t a lid to fit it!
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LibraryThing member rebecca401
Will Bubbie (grandma) ever be able to find a match for Mr. Sussman? He is so picky, and he keeps coming up with new things he wants in a wife. Bubbie does all those things, will he ever notice?
LibraryThing member JNino
Jerome's grandma is a matchmaker, even though she is able to matchmake even the oddest couples she is unable to find someone to love Mr. Sussman. Jerome's grandma then devises a plan to find Mr. Sussman a good woman, she makes herself available to him. A really nice book to read for Valentine's
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Day, makes you realize that love is found at all ages.
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LibraryThing member kzrobin
This was a cute book about a woman who tries to set her friend up with the woman of his dreams. Throughout the whole book she tries to act like the person he is describing and he doesn’t even notice. Finally at the end they go on a date and enjoy each other’s company.
LibraryThing member haldemac
A story that illustrates there is a special person for each of us in this world.
LibraryThing member KristinDN
Someone for Mr. Sussman is a cute story about just being yourself is more beneficial in the long run than trying to be something your not. This story could be used as a moral lesson, it could be used in writer's workshop as an example for introductions, or even sequencing.
LibraryThing member Lukesilvera
This book would be a great book to introduce how other religiouns/culturs do things.
LibraryThing member DHouston
A very cute book. It shows that many times a person is perfect just the way they are. You should not change to please someone.
LibraryThing member cvarela
Patricia Polaco writes a story about a boy who has a grandmother that is a matchmaker. She finds people perfect for each other. She tries to help Mr. Sussman who is trying to find a wife with certain qualities. Mr. Sussman doesn't realized everything he has been looking for is right before his
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eyes. The characters in the store are Jewish. I think is a great book to introduce multiculturalism in the classroom and learn about other people's traditions.
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LibraryThing member Whisper1
We watch through a grandson's eyes as he observes his bubbie, who is a shadkhen (match maker) try as best as she can to find a match for Mr. Sussman.

As she meets with him to steer him in the right direction, it is obvious he likes him more than her other clients, and that he is very unware, and
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demanding.

This is a comical book wherein Polacco takes a lighter approach to life and allows the reader to laugh at the shenanigans of grandmother Zukin as she is quite obvious of her feelings, and of Mr. Sussman who becomes ever increasingly demanding in what he feels is his perfect match. As she changes to suit his needs, he runs further away from her.

In the end, after she turns him away, unable to win him, or be or find what he wants, he realizes what he wants is right there in front of him.
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LibraryThing member ejoy13
This is a realistic fiction book describing the life of a matchmaker who is in love with one of her clients. After trying to impress her client for a long time the matchmaker and her client live happily ever after.
LibraryThing member jwesley
Jerome's bubbie is the neighborhood's matchmaker. She's found the perfect match for everyone except for Mr. Sussman and herself. Mr. Sussman is a picky man, but bubbie is determined to match herself with him in this halitosis comedy by Patrcia Polacco. I would definitely use this book to introduce
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children to different cultures.
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LibraryThing member allieburks
Illustrations: pencils and markers. Mr. Sussman went to a matchmaker to find somebody to marry, but the matchmaker was having trouble finding someone to marry him. The matchmaker tried to impress Mr. Sussman every time he came for an appoinment, but Mr. Sussman wasn't noticing what the matchmaker
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was doing. In the end, Mr. Sussman came over to the matchmaker's house for tea and noticed just how beautiful she was. They ended up getting married and having the wedding of the year! This book fits into the realistic fiction genre because it is a story that could definitely happen. A lot of people have trouble finding the person they marry and they lose hope too soon when the person they are to be with is right in front of them. Genre: realistic fiction, Age appropriateness: Primary
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ISBN

9780399250750
Page: 0.2356 seconds