From Dust, a Flame by Rebecca Podos
2021; Johns Hopkins University Press; Volume: 75; Issue: 5 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1353/bcc.2022.0034
ISSN1558-6766
Autores Tópico(s)Sociopolitical Dynamics in Russia
ResumoReviewed by: From Dust, a Flame by Rebecca Podos Natalie Berglind Podos, Rebecca From Dust, a Flame. Balzer + Bray, 2022 [416p] Trade ed. ISBN 9780062699060 $17.99 E-book ed. ISBN 9780062699077 $8.99 Reviewed from digital galleys R* Gr. 8-12 On Hannah's seventeenth birthday, she wakes up with snake eyes; surprisingly, her mother seems to know what is happening and says she'll handle it—and promptly leaves. Six weeks pass and they hear nothing from her. When Hannah and adopted older brother Gabe get a notice that their maternal grandmother—who they didn't know existed—has recently passed, they go to a small town called Fox Hollow in upstate New York to meet unknown family. Hannah has only recently discovered that her mother's side is Jewish, and as she sits shiva with the family she learns about Jewish customs and culture that were never passed down to her. With a different animalistic feature appearing each day, however, Hannah has a lot to figure out and the answers may be within her own family history. Jewish mythology is deftly woven into the story, as Hannah, her brother, a grandmother-bequeathed golem, and new love interest Ari face off against the sheyd (demon), who Hannah's mother has been running from her whole adulthood. Flashbacks to her grandmother's experience with the Holocaust and her own mother's experience as a fiercely independent girl growing up in a traditional Jewish household help Hannah situate her identity within her family's history. Hannah's budding romance with confident, openly gay Ari, the daughter of her mother's childhood best friend, is organically grown and sweet as Hannah accepts that she's not straight. A sweeping story of faith and the power of family, this book has broad multi-genre appeal to any reader that appreciates good writing and an intricate storyline. [End Page 162] Copyright © 2021 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois
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