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Lena Rosen is eleven years old, and her life is pretty typical. From babysitting her little sister to spending time with friends to sticking up for the class outcast to sneaking off to buy candy from the corner store, she is just like all of the other kids on her block. Except for one thing—she’s Jewish.
Lena’s family is the only one on all of Moose Street that isn’t Catholic or Protestant. “You’re the ones who killed Christ,” her classmates tell her. Lena knows that they’re wrong, but she can’t help feeling different.
Anne Mazer’s captivating novel of youth, difference, and acceptance is a must-read.
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Creators
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Publisher
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Release date
April 14, 2015 -
Formats
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OverDrive Read
- ISBN: 9781453293867
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EPUB ebook
- ISBN: 9781453293867
- File size: 542 KB
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Languages
- English
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Reviews
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August 31, 1992
This sometimes eccentric story of a Jewish girl among her Catholic and Protestant neighbors overdoses on black humor and other typically adult commodities. Back in the days when a candy bar cost a nickel, Lena immerses herself in the life of Moose Street, playing with the twins Mary Catherine and Catherine Mary, worrying that a nun she passes might know she's Jewish, fending off accusations that her ancestors killed Christ,stet comma and fearing the morbid spinsters next door (when Lena's mother has her bring them soup, she is, in Lena's opinion, ``sending her oldest daughter into a deadly trap''). Mazer's taste for the absurd doesn't suit her themes: Lena's anxieties about her religious identity are too quirkily presented to earn the reader's sympathies (Barbara Barrie's Lone Star provides a more affecting treatment). An elliptical narrative, a reluctance to resolve the characters' conflicts and inexplicable shifts between past and present tense all suggest a mannered taste unlikely to engross the intended audience. Ages 9-12.
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