This book was particularly interesting to me because it seems to mirror some of my own life. My father is extremely Christian, while my mother has faith in god but does not attend church with the rest of my family. Just last year I learned that my grandfather was Jewish. Just as Caroline felt, I felt as though I was missing out on a large part of my heritage.
As the reader looks from the outside into Caroline’s search to find if she should appease her father or take to her new found religion. Near the end of the story Caroline commits to her Jewish heritage by getting her school photo taken with her star of david necklace, that was her grandmother’s. This was her way of claiming her mother and her religion as her own. When she said she was Jewish out loud she found herself having something in common with her crush Ryan. The very end of the story is Caroline at her best friend Rachel’s Bat Mitzvah, where the girls realize Caroline doesn’t need the party to make her Jewish, she just has to turn 12 and be her mother’s daughter, which she ALREADY IS!
This positive discovery story is a great cultural example of anyone’s introduction to or travel through Judaism. The book discusses Judaism with much compassion and accuracy. I would say that this book would be of better literary quality than our “discovery of Judaism” book, “The Confessions of a Closet Catholic.” I feel that this book is a stronger story to introduce adolescents and adults to Judaism.
Citation:Baskin, Nora R. The Truth About My Bat Mitzvah. New York: Simon and Schuster Books, 2008.
As the reader looks from the outside into Caroline’s search to find if she should appease her father or take to her new found religion. Near the end of the story Caroline commits to her Jewish heritage by getting her school photo taken with her star of david necklace, that was her grandmother’s. This was her way of claiming her mother and her religion as her own. When she said she was Jewish out loud she found herself having something in common with her crush Ryan. The very end of the story is Caroline at her best friend Rachel’s Bat Mitzvah, where the girls realize Caroline doesn’t need the party to make her Jewish, she just has to turn 12 and be her mother’s daughter, which she ALREADY IS!
This positive discovery story is a great cultural example of anyone’s introduction to or travel through Judaism. The book discusses Judaism with much compassion and accuracy. I would say that this book would be of better literary quality than our “discovery of Judaism” book, “The Confessions of a Closet Catholic.” I feel that this book is a stronger story to introduce adolescents and adults to Judaism.
Citation:Baskin, Nora R. The Truth About My Bat Mitzvah. New York: Simon and Schuster Books, 2008.
~Written by Howlett A
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