May/June 2009

Publish-A-Kid

Every year, Moment asks kids ages nine to 13 to write reviews of their favorite books. Our winners this year are Chaya Sara Oppenheim, Melissa DeLuca and Caleb Esrig. Click here to read the finalists.

Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret
by Judy Blume
Margaret Simon has lived in New York for her whole life. Her friends and grandmother live in the city. Then Margaret’s parents announce they’re moving to a suburban town in New Jersey. It’s good-bye apartment buildings, hello private homes.

In Farbrook, New Jersey, Margaret befriends Nancy, Gretchen and Janie. Together, they ponder religion, growing up, their social lives and Philip Leroy, the best-looking boy in the grade. The foursome all have different views about these matters, which they discuss in their club, the Pre-Teen Sensations.

Margaret has a Jewish father and a Christian mother. She hasn’t been raised in any one religion. This poses a problem. Margaret is the only kid who doesn’t belong to the Y or JCC. Although she doesn’t have a religion, per se, she does have a relationship with God. She confides in God, telling Him her personal thoughts and feelings, occasionally asking for a favor.
Like Margaret, I also have a Catholic parent, a Jewish parent, a close relationship with my Jewish grandmother and questions for God, to whom I speak daily. Having parents with different religions makes life interesting. Sometimes the menorah and Christmas tree have to be lit on the same day. I’ve learned that some people have trouble believing a person raised with two faiths can still have a close relationship with God.

This novel shows what the average girl goes through: her hopes, dreams, fears, laughter and tears. Many books in this genre are like this one, except that Blume has created a character who is unselfish enough to take time to speak to God.

One important lesson that everyone can learn from this book is that God will always accept you for who you are and will be there to guide you; however, you must look within yourself to find true happiness.
—Melissa DeLuca,
Age: 13, Grade: 8, Bronx, NY

Number the Stars
by Lois Lowry
Annemarie Johansen and her best friend Ellen Rosen, who is Jewish, lead similar but very different lives. They both grow up in Copenhagen, Denmark, both love their king, go to the same school and aren’t treated differently—until the war.

Gradually, changes begin to occur. German soldiers are posted at every corner and every dark-haired person is questioned. Annemarie’s younger sister, Kirsti, must now wear shoes of fish skin because leather is too scarce and costly. There aren’t any more pink-frosted cupcakes to enjoy, just potatoes.

As life becomes more dangerous for the Jews, the Rosens go into hiding. Ellen decides to stay at Annemarie’s house, and it is there that she experiences a dreadful episode. Soldiers come in and find two blondes (Annemarie and Kirsti) and Ellen, who has dark hair. Annemarie’s father tells the soldiers Ellen is his daughter. The soldiers leave the house reluctantly, only slightly convinced.

The danger of being found out increases, so the family plans an escape. Eventually they manage to board a ship to Sweden—a safe place for Jews. The Rosens hide in the hold of the ship until they are free from the Germans’ clutch. Annemarie keeps the necklace with the Star of David that Ellen has worn her whole life, and they promise to reunite after the war.

This story shows true friendship from the heart. Through the hardest times, it is kindness and the generosity of friendship that shine though the clouds.
—Chaya Sara Oppenheim,
Age: 10, Grade: 5, Monsey, NY

The Pushcart War
by Jean Merrill
Crash! Splinters of a pushcart are flying everywhere. A man by the name of Morris the Florist who was pushing a pushcart is now moaning while lying headfirst in a pickle barrel, and a giant truck is looming nearby with a driver by the name of Mack Snickering. You are in New York City, the date is March 15, 1986, and you just witnessed the start of the pushcart war, a war of trucks versus pushcarts for New York’s streets.

New York City is having a big traffic problem, and the citizens are blaming the trucks. The trucks aren’t going to go down without a fight, and want to shift the blame to the pushcarts. They start running over the pushcarts, claiming that they are in the way of traffic.

But the pushcarts aren’t going to go down without a fight, either, so they make a plan: Peashooters are armed with dried peas with pins right down the middle to shoot at truck tires. The children of the city join in, and soon the trucks are completely overwhelmed with flat tires. That’s when the story becomes a little upsetting: the government leans strongly to the truckers’ side and bans peas. Finally after four long months, the pushcart war ends, and the pushcarts and the trucks come together in harmony.

The Pushcart War is an excellent fast-paced, funny, page-turning, historical fiction story and is one of the best books I have read.
—Caleb Esrig
Age: 10, Grade: 5, New Rochelle, NY