Friday, March 13, 2020

Pickled Watermelon by Esty Schachter - OPTIONAL

Pickled Watermelon by Esty Schachter, 140 pages. Kar-Ben Publishing, 2018. $9. 9781512499902.

Language: G (0 'swears'); Mature content: G; Violence: G

BUYING ADVISORY: EL, MS - OPTIONAL

AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE

11yo  Molly is dreading spending a month of her summer traveling to Israel to see her mother's family. How can she have fun when its all going to be so different--culture, language, and people she doesn't know? But Molly quickly comes to understand that the bonds of family love--and a little work on everybody's part--can overcome a lot of differences.

This was a nice, clean book with an oft-explored premise about coming to know extended family. It reminded me somewhat of a young readers version of Darius the Great is Not Okay, though without the focus on depression. I think young, female readers will enjoy the novel but its nothing to get very excited about. I did like the look into 1980's Jewish life in Israel as it seems the world is a lot different today--but I don't know that I'd go recommending it just for that reason.

Reviewer: TC

No comments: