Starred review from September 1, 2021
Gr 3-7-It's 1967 and the United States is roiling with social unrest. Ari, a young white Jewish girl, lives in a small town in Connecticut with her family. When her older sister falls in love with Raj, a young man who recently immigrated to the United States from India, Ari's parents are vehemently opposed to the union. Torn between her love for her sister and her desire to keep her family together, Ari must find her own voice and fight for what she believes is right. This enthralling historical fiction provides a view into a momentous time in U.S. history from an uncommon perspective. As one of the few Jewish students in her town, Ari feels isolated, and her classmates see her as slow because of her dysgraphia, a learning disability that affects her ability to write. But after her teacher encourages her to try writing poetry, she finds freedom, a new way of expressing herself, and a newfound ability to connect with those around her. The story centers on a tough conflict, and Hiranandani delivers an authentic depiction of reconciliation, with all its messiness and hurt feelings. Importantly, both families have misgivings about the marriage, but their love for their children forces them to confront and overcome their own prejudices. Characters discuss critical events of the period, such as the Vietnam War, the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., and Loving v. Virginia. Like many people, Ari and her parents initially see themselves as existing on the periphery of the critical events of their time, and it takes a personal crisis to jolt them out of this state of mind. VERDICT A splendid historical fiction tale of bravery and determination.-Laken Hottle, Providence Community Lib.
Copyright 2021 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
September 1, 2021
Grades 4-7 In 1967, Ariel (Ari) Goldberg is 11 years old and lives in Danbury, Connecticut, with her parents and her older sister, Leah, whom she admires above anything else. Leah wants to marry her boyfriend, Raj, a young man from India who is going to attend graduate school in New York City. When they are met with disapproval from both sets of parents, they elope. Ari is confused and unhappy at her parents' reaction--they say she can't talk about Leah anymore. She is also worried about the fate of her parents' bakery, and when they have to move, Ari, concerned her sister won't find out, plans a trip to New York to find Leah. Hiranandani's unusual choice to write Ari's narrative in the second person works; it's as if Ari has stepped back to observe herself as objectively as she can, and the point of view is at once personal and universal. In this moving novel about a turbulent time, Ari and her family discover that what is most important is not what you think you want.
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Starred review from September 27, 2021
It’s 1967, and pale, curly-haired Ariel Goldberg, 12, doesn’t think much about current events; the Vietnam War and the civil rights movement are occurring only in her periphery as she focuses on Wonder Woman comics over social justice and politics. At school, sixth grader Ari struggles. Her mother believes her dysgraphia is just laziness, and her classmates bully her. As one of the few Jewish families in Eastbrook, Conn., the bakery-owning Goldbergs face anti-Semitism, though Ari sometimes doesn’t recognize or have the words for it. But after her beloved older sister Leah, 18, elopes with rising graduate student Raj Jagwani, a naturalized citizen from India, in the wake of the landmarkLoving v. Virginia ruling, Ari is jolted into action. Confronting her own, her family’s, and her community’s ingrained prejudices, Ari ultimately finds courage in poetry and public speaking. Inspired by Newbery Honoree Hiranandani’s parents’ interracial marriage in 1968, the narrative, conveyed with deftness and insight in the second-person perspective, explores the benefits and costs of assimilation and the complexity of being both white and a religious minority in America then—and now. Ages 8–12.
November 1, 2021
Eleven-year-old Ariel Goldberg lives with her parents and older sister Leah, eighteen, in 1960s Connecticut, her family having left Brooklyn for more space and "better schools." Now they own Gertie's Bakery, named for the girls' grandmother, where after school Ari helps bake the challah and other items (among the rest of the bakery offerings) that recall their Jewish roots. Then "good girl" Leah shares some news: she has fallen in love with Raj, who is from India and a Hindu. The girls' parents' insistence on marriage inside the faith leads to painful estrangement, with Ari left dumbfounded by their reaction. At school she is struggling, too, both with her classwork and with antisemitic bullying. A supportive teacher, a loyal friend, and a newfound love of poetry help her cope; and she hatches a plan to find her sister in NYC, where Leah now lives with Raj. The text's second-person perspective brings readers directly into dialogue with Ari as she contemplates heavy issues of family, religion, racism, generational trauma, financial insecurity, and more. Pop-culture references and historical details (MLK's murder; Loving v. Virginia) that underscore the book's themes are naturally incorporated. After much tsuris (Ma's word), the story ends on a hopeful note, with the future of this family -- including its next generation -- bringing understanding and unity. An author's note is appended. Elissa Gershowitz
(Copyright 2021 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)
Starred review from August 1, 2021
It's 1967, and Ariel Goldberg's adored older sister, Leah, has fallen for Raj, an immigrant college student from Bombay. Their parents disapprove: To them, it's bad enough that Leah wants to marry someone of a different race, even worse that he isn't Jewish. After Leah elopes without even a letter to her sister, 11-year-old Ari is forced to reckon with a new understanding of her place within her family as the daughter who is now expected to take on the good-girl role. But that's not her only problem. Her parents dreamed of a better life, yet they can't afford to keep their beloved bakery running. Her mother sees Ari's struggle with dysgraphia as laziness, and as the only Jewish kid in sixth grade, she faces antisemitism that goes unrecognized by her teachers. Her strained relationship with her parents and their beliefs rings heartbreakingly true alongside her struggle to find her own voice through poetry. As she and her best friend set out in secret to find Leah and repair her broken family, Ari must decide what she believes is right in an increasingly tumultuous world. Hiranandani captures with great nuance the details of Ari's life. Sacrifices in the service of assimilation, the lies we tell the people we love most, and how we go about forgiving them are given specificity in Ari's matter-of-fact and observant second-person present point of view. A powerful blend of important themes and everyday triumphs and sorrows. (author's note) (Fiction. 8-12)
COPYRIGHT(2021) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
July 1, 2021
Eleven-year-old Ariel Goldberg lives with her parents and older sister Leah, eighteen, in 1960s Connecticut, her family having left Brooklyn for more space and "better schools." Now they own Gertie's Bakery, named for the girls' grandmother, where after school Ari helps bake the challah and other items (among the rest of the bakery offerings) that recall their Jewish roots. Then "good girl" Leah shares some news: she has fallen in love with Raj, who is from India and a Hindu. The girls' parents' insistence on marriage inside the faith leads to painful estrangement, with Ari left dumbfounded by their reaction. At school she is struggling, too, both with her classwork and with antisemitic bullying. A supportive teacher, a loyal friend, and a newfound love of poetry help her cope; and she hatches a plan to find her sister in NYC, where Leah now lives with Raj. The text's second-person perspective brings readers directly into dialogue with Ari as she contemplates heavy issues of family, religion, racism, generational trauma, financial insecurity, and more. Pop-culture references and historical details (MLK's murder; Loving v. Virginia) that underscore the book's themes are naturally incorporated. After much tsuris (Ma's word), the story ends on a hopeful note, with the future of this family -- including its next generation -- bringing understanding and unity. An author's note is appended.
(Copyright 2021 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)