Copyright Date:
2022
Edition Date:
2022
Release Date:
09/06/22
Illustrator:
Phillips, Benjamin,
Pages:
1 volume (unpaged)
ISBN:
1-8006-6022-7
ISBN 13:
978-1-8006-6022-9
Dewey:
Fic
Dimensions:
25 cm
Language:
English
Reviews:
School Library Journal Starred Review
(Tue Nov 01 00:00:00 CDT 2022)
Gr 6 Up —Rosa, known to her grandson Benji as Bubbe, and the boy make their rounds throughout New York City to pick up groceries for dinner, from gefilte fish and brisket to challah and babka. As they both traverse the city by foot, subway, and ride app, there are references to kosher food, the Holocaust, and past gender norms. New York is depicted with a diverse population. Rosa's home and the city at large are colored in tans, grays, and dreary blues. Every so often she will experience a vision from her memory rendered in brighter colors, regardless of whether the experience was good or bad. A gentle subplot revolves around a guy who never stopped carrying a torch for Rosa. Her squabbles with strangers or Benji range from humorous to inappropriate, but people tend to extend grace and not take her remarks personally. This is a book with a lot to say about how we hold on to the past, express gratitude for the present, and support people with experiences beyond our own. Some of its most important observations take place in wordless moments for readers to notice and interpret on their own. Back matter includes a glossary of Yiddish terms used in the book. VERDICT Taking a walk with Rosa and Benji just might change how readers see the world and everyone's place in it. Highly recommended for graphic novel collections.—Thomas Maluck
Winner: Moira Gemmill Illustrator of the Year Award 2024 Winner: V&A Illustration for Children Award 2024 Shortlisted for the Yoto Carnegie Medal for Illustration 2023 Longlisted for the UKLA Book Awards 2023 A beautifully illustrated and presented intergenerational graphic novel that follows 11-year-old Benji and his elderly grandmother, Bubbe Rosa, as they traverse Brooklyn and Manhattan, gathering the ingredients for a Friday night dinner. Bubbe's relationship with the city is complex & nothing is quite as she remembered it and she feels alienated and angry at the world around her. Benji, on the other hand, looks at the world, and his grandmother, with clear-eyed acceptance. As they wander the city, we catch glimpses of Bubbe's childhood in Germany, her young adulthood in 1950s Brooklyn, and her relationships; first with a baker called Gershon, and later with successful Joe, Benji's grandfather. Gradually we piece together snippets of Bubbe's life, gaining an insight to some of the things that have formed her cantankerous personality. The journey culminates on the Lower East Side in a moving reunion between Rosa and Gershon, her first love. As the sun sets, Benji and his Bubbe walk home over the Williamsburg Bridge to make dinner. This is a powerful, affecting and deceptively simple story of Jewish identity, of generational divides, of the surmountability of difference and of a restless city and its inhabitants.
Common Core
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