Drummers of Jericho [Hardcover]

Carolyn Meyer (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 15, 1995

Pazit Trujillo begins her freshman year at Jericho High School and quickly realizes that people in this small suburban town aren’t used to Jewish girls with strange names. Despite the whispers and stares, Pazit wants to fit in and is determined to join the school’s marching band. But when she learns they will be playing hymns and marching in the formation of a cross, she objects. Only one person in the town, drummer Billy Harper, stands up for her, and in the end both Billy and Pazit learn something about friendship and the importance of exercising one’s rights.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 6-10?To escape constant conflicts with her mother, Pazit Trujillo, 14, leaves their home in Denver to live with her father and stepfamily in the small, predominantly Christian town of Jericho. Being the only Jewish person at Jericho High School proves to be extremely difficult for Pazit. After joining the prize-winning marching band, ironically called the Demons, she discovers that its routines revolve around Christian themes, with hymns for music and a cross as its final formation. Following her convictions, she refuses to march in the cross, choosing instead to play her flute from the sidelines. When her father calls the ACLU, Jericho, like its Biblical namesake, becomes a battlefield?a legal battlefield?and Pazit becomes the target of malicious acts and anti-Semetic slurs. Her only friend is 15-year-old drummer Billy Harper, who finally summons the courage to stand with Pazit against his own community, and who himself becomes a target of the hostilities. Meyer's characterization of most of Jericho's Christians, while unflattering, portrays one town's narrow-minded thinking and intolerance of individual differences. Like Avi's Nothing But the Truth (Orchard, 1991), Drummers of Jericho demonstrates how easily an incident can escalate when it extends beyond school walls. With its timely, thoughtful treatment of complex issues, Meyer's story is certain to spark animated discussions.?Kelly Diller, Humboldt High School, IA
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Gr. 6^-9. High-schooler Pazit Trujillo is not getting along with her mother, so she leaves Denver and moves to the small town of Jericho, where her father and his new family live. Jericho is not used to Jews, and Pazit calls immediate attention to herself when she joins the marching band and objects to their formation of a cross. Her father then calls the ACLU, and all hell breaks loose. Pazit is subjected to taunts and threats, and only one boy, Billy Harper, defends her, at great cost to his own standing with his family and in the community. The book is very flawed: the worst problem is the cookie-cutter Christians, who are utterly stereotypical; the only adult who shows Pazit any sympathy is a school nurse, conveniently an African American. Then there are all the loose ends. How did Pazit's mother, an Orthodox Jew, happen to marry a Latino in the first place? And whom do the seemingly happy Professor Trujillo and his family find as friends in such a prejudiced town? Even Billy's support of Pazit is rather inexplicable. Yes, he finds her attractive; however, he barely knows her, yet risks everything for her. What the book does have going for it is its slant on religious freedom. Very few fiction books for young people look at the problem of Christian-Jewish relationships, which still produce an undercurrent of prejudice in American society. Next time though, it would be nice to see the subject treated with three-dimensional characters, not paper dolls. Ilene Cooper

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 12 and up
  
• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: Harcourt Children's Books; 1st edition (May 15, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0152004416
• ISBN-13: 978-0152004415
• Product Dimensions: 7.2 x 4.5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,202,644 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

My first book, MISS PATCH'S LEARN-TO-SEW BOOK, published more than forty years ago, was intended to teach young girls how to knot thread, make a neat stitch, and sew simple items. The main character of my next book, CLEOPATRA CONFESSES, coming in June 2011, is a far cry from the roundish, gray-haired lady with a needle in her hand and spectacles on her nose. Since the thrill of seeing that first book in print, I've written over fifty more books, non-fiction and novels (most recently, historical fiction). In the process I've learned more about writing and a lot about history, a subject that was not my favorite when I was a young student but has become my passion--a passion I love to share with readers.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars THis is a wounderful book:-), March 11, 2003

A Kid's Review

This review is from: Drummers of Jericho (Subrights) (Hardcover)

This is an ausome book. i think the way they treated Pezit was not fair. If they didnt have anything nice to say they shouldnt have said anything at all. I think Billy was a very nice boy for being Zeeties friend. well g2g c ya l8er
Toodles amanda

5.0 out of 5 stars Drummers of Jericho, March 6, 2003

A Kid's Review

This review is from: Drummers of Jericho (Hardcover)

When Pazit Trujillo moves to Jericho to live with her father everything seems all right, but when she decides to join the high school band things start to go wrong. At first she meets a boy named Billy who seems to be a good guy. When she starts high school he ignores her completely, and goes of to join his popular friends. Pazit suddenly notices she is the only Jew in the school and that all the other students are Christian.
Then when band practices start she has to play all Christian music and march in the shape of a cross! She imediately tells the band director that she can't do this and ends up on the sidelines playing her music.
When her father gets involved things go wrong and the ACLU get involved. The band director quickly has to change his plans, and after all their hard work students start to turn vicious. They start mocking Pazit, calling her names, and sending her threatening messages. Billy starts to think that maybe his friends are responsible and joins Pazit's side of the arguement. He starts speaking up for her at meetings and on T.V., and he also finds out that his friends aren't really good friends at all. Billy also finds out he kind of likes Pazit and Pazit finds she feels the same.

5.0 out of 5 stars My students loved it as did I., July 12, 2000

By 

Lu Ann Staheli "allstars" (Spanish Fork, UT United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Drummers of Jericho (Paperback)

Thanks, Carolyn Meyer, for telling us the real story behind this wonderful novel. I teach school in Utah and we all remember a similar situation a few years back with a Jewish student who has difficulty making her Mormon community understand why she didn't want to sing songs about Christ in December. I've used this book in literature partners with a great deal of success and I hope it has helped to bring down the barriers between religions in our small community.