Customer Reviews

Candles in My Window

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is a great book esp. if you are Jewish. I recomend it to anyone who wants a simple to read but page turning book. It is a story about a girl that is determined to learn about her religion and in that determination she opens her religion to her whole family. It is a great book, I know tons of people who love it.

This is a wonderful books for both adults and children/young adults. I so enjoyed the powerful story of family, tradition and love. I recommend this book to anyone and everyone.

Thank you!

Libby's family has just moved to Los Angeles, and she is having a very hard time adjusting to her new home. Her father is always working, her mother is busy with her writing, her older sister is doing whatever it takes to be popular, and her younger sister is being cared for by a maid. Lending a helping hand to another girl, Rebecca, at the neighborhood ice cream shop leads quickly to a friendship with significant effect on Libby's family. Libby's relationship with Rebecca, who is Orthodox, leads Libby to begin exploring Jewish observance, to the dismay of her parents. Only after long-buried secrets are revealed does Libby's family seem to be moving toward acceptance of her desire to move toward keeping kosher and observing Shabbat. This revision of a 20-year-old novel still captures the pain of a girl who feels adrift and her joy at having the opportunity to explore the Judaism her parents suppressed for so many years. Rebecca's family shows her the warmth lacking in her own home and models the mitzvah of hachnassat orchim (welcoming guests) for Libby and the reader. Their patient answers to her many questions may help readers understand more about Judaism along with Libby. Includes a glossary of Hebrew and Yiddish terms. Grades 5 - 8. Marci Bloch

I just read the newer (2010) edition of this book, which is slightly revised, and I truly enjoyed it. It was a fun read, similar in style to a Lisa Yee (_Millicent Min, Girl Genius_). It had a realistic, flawed central character, Libby. She deals with realistic problems, and the resolutions are not simplistic. For example, although this is a book by a religious publisher, the resolution to Libby's problems isn't "become Orthodox". Instead, she needs to work on the relationships she has with her parents and improve communication with them. While she chooses connect with G-d and her heritage to support her in this, her path is not portrayed in an all-or-nothing way. It is Torah-authentic without being preachy or "my way or the highway" in tone. The only way this book could have been improved is if Rebecca's family had been a little less idealized.