By Rabbi Rachel Esserman 

While I love a good, complex, many-paged literary novel, there are joys to be found in other types of writing. I prefer not to read too many books from the same genre in a row; it’s more fun to switch around and experience a variety of subject matters and plots. This works well when looking for books to review in The Reporter: it leads me to discover books about which I might not otherwise have known. That’s particularly true of middle grade and chapter books with Jewish themes because I don’t have children or grandchildren. However, these books can be great, whether they tackle complex problems and emotions as do two of the books in this review, or are just delightful novels about families. All four of these works come highly recommended. 

“D. J. Rosenblum Becomes the G.O.A.T.”

It’s difficult to believe that the powerful, moving “D. J. Rosenblum Becomes the G.O.A.T.” (Levine Querido) is Abby White’s first novel. The work opens with a trigger warning and information from the author for those considering suicide. While that gives away part of the plot, it doesn’t distract from a novel that adults can also appreciate. 
The abbreviation G.O.A.T. stands for the greatest of all time: that’s how D. J. feels about her older cousin, Rachel. Even though they don’t live near each other, they keep in close touch via social media and text messages. D. J. so greatly admires her cousin that she is crushed when Rachel dies. After Rachel’s death, D. J. and her mother move to help Rachel’s mother, father and younger brother cope with what occurred.
However, D. J. refuses to believe that her cousin died by suicide. Since none of the students in her new school know that D. J. and Rachel were cousins, D. J. joins the school newspaper pretending she is interested in writing an article about what really happened. She believes her research will uncover who killed Rachel. But her obsession grows, even when the evidence points in a different direction. She is so focused on what she thinks happened that she alienates her closest friend from her previous school and the friends she’s made in her new school. Plus, she is also studying for her postponed bat mitzvah and she finds her Torah portion – which speaks of Aaron not being allowed to publicly mourn the death of his sons – disturbing and offensive. 
The pages of “D. J. Rosenblum Becomes the G.O.A.T.” flew by as the suspense turns from what happened to Rachel to the problems that D.J. is facing. It will be clear to adult readers that she needs help long before it occurs to her family. However, that’s part of what makes the book so powerful: D. J. knows the problems her extended family faces and sees her role as not adding to their distress. One of the book’s best scenes takes place during the Yom Kippur Yizkor service. Those pages are among the most moving that I’ve ever read about people dealing with grief.
Parents may want to read “D. J. Rosenblum Becomes the G.O.A.T.” with their tweens and discuss what happened to D. J. and Rachel, focusing on letting their children know that they don’t need to be perfect and that almost everyone needs outside help sometimes during their life. However, you don’t need to have children to appreciate this absorbing and emotionally touching work. It comes highly recommended for adult readers. 

“Trouble Finds Evie Lefkowitz”

Diana Harmon manages to combine humorous and serious situations in “Trouble Finds Evie Lefkowitz” (P. J. Library). Evie is still considered the cantor’s daughter, even though her father died two years before. She’s lucky to have a loving mother and two really good friends, Rachel and Spencer. However, her life soon becomes complicated on a variety of fronts. First, it’s bad enough that her mom has a temporary position at her middle school, but now the new assistant principal has asked her on a date, and her mother seems very interested. Evie and her mom had bonded over the very bad dates that her mother had had, but this one seems different – a potential threat to their bond.
Another potential disaster occurs when her mother volunteers her to tutor Joey Ceraco with whom she was friends in kindergarten. Since they were sent to different grade schools, Evie has not spoken with him. The worst part is that he’s good friends with troublemaker and bully Tommy Halliday, who regularly picks on Spenser, but tutoring Joey might help her mother get a permanent position. Then the five students begin to bond over a project that could get them all in trouble. The results of their actions teach Evie some important lessons.
Those lessons will be obvious to adult readers of “Trouble Finds Evie Lefkowitz,” but those in middle school should be challenged by the novel’s thought-provoking ideas about how people are judged and pigeon-holed. This would be an excellent work for tween discussion groups or classes of middle grade students. Parents might also find it worth talking to their children about how to apply what they’ve learned to their own lives. 

“Miriam’s Magical Creature Files” 

I found the two books in “Miriam’s Magical Creature Files” series – “The Truth About the Tooth Fairy” and “The Discovery of Dragons” – written by Leah Cypress and illustrated by Sarah Lynne Reul (Amulet Books) absolutely delightful. These chapter books are aimed at those in grade school, but adults could have great fun either reading the works out loud to children or having children read the books to them.
Miriam is a joy: curious, funny, exasperating and determined. The juxtaposition of the drawings to the story – which inform each other – are extremely well done, although Miriam would complain that I’m using “fancy words” like her big brother Ilan. Her old sister Ariella is constantly on her phone, except for Shabbat. The fact that the family is Orthodox is integrated into the story matter-of-factly, as are Jewish concepts. All are explained in simple, clear ways.
The plots of both works are based on Miriam’s desire to learn the truth about whether mystical creatures exist. She plans to ambush the tooth fairy to prove it is really one of her parents, but first faces the question of whether the tooth fairy will visit on Shabbat. If not, does that mean the tooth fairy is Jewish, too, or would she just not want to give Miriam money on a day she’s not allowed to touch it? The solution to the problem is cute and fun. 
The search for dragons occurs during a class trip to the zoo. Ariella tells Miriam that she saw one during her class trip there. However, Miriam’s search is complicated by the fact that her father is one of the chaperones. She alternately loves or hates having him there depending on whether he agrees to let her do whatever she needs to find the dragon. The solution to whether dragons exist is also handled nicely. 
Those who enjoy their time with Miriam as much as I did will be thrilled to know that the next book in the series, “The Mystery of the Mermaid,” will be published in April 2026.