A Ceiling Made of Eggshells

This sweeping historical novel illuminates the plight of a Jewish family in Spain during the late 15th century. Precocious narrator Loma is just seven when her facility with numbers endears her to her influential financier abuelo after his wife, her beloved abuela, dies in a plague outbreak. Her status as his favorite proves a mixed blessing and one of the narrative's essential tensions. Loma becomes increasingly indispensable to her grandfather as he travels across Spain collecting taxes for the country's monarchs. As she grows older, however, his requirements of her mean that she must postpone her desire to marry and have children. Infusing her title with historical details about costume, food, and customs, Newbery Honoree Levine (Ella Enchanted) deftly conveys the obstacles facing the Jewish community under King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella, among them the Inquisition, pressure to convert to Christianity, and eventually expulsion from Spain. Though the narrative unspools slowly, pacing builds considerably in the final chapters as 16-year-old Loma memorably navigates tumult and danger, bravely taking control of her destiny. Ages 8-12. Agent: Ginger Knowlton, Curtis Brown. (May)

Gr 5-8--Readers first meet Loma, a young Jewish girl living in late 15th-century Spain, when she is seven years old. Readers watch as she navigates life as the granddaughter of a powerful Jewish leader. As the title of Levine's new novel suggests, Spain in the late 1400s was a perilous place for Jewish people. This was the time of the Spanish Inquisition, during which the Jewish community was persecuted and ultimately exiled from Spain. Loma's grandfather is one of the wealthy Jewish figures who uses his connections, money, and skills to help Jewish people and tries to prevent forced conversions to Christianity. As her grandfather's traveling companion across Spain, Loma gets a firsthand look at the superstitions, ceremonies, and sacrifices that governed daily life during a cataclysmic and dangerous time. Loma witnesses, up close, King Ferdinand's and Queen Isabella's efforts to "defeat the infidel," meaning Spain's Muslim people. She also observes her grandfather's efforts to keep her people temporarily safe from harm. Although she loves and respects her grandfather, Loma is also devoted to her parents and siblings and looks forward to being married and starting her own family. She is loyal to her beloved grandmother's memory and is a loving aunt to the "littles," as she refers to her growing number of nieces and nephews. Levine skillfully juxtaposes the larger religious battles taking place in Spain with Loma's dreams for her future. VERDICT This story of adventure and bravery under unstable circumstances will appeal to mature readers who enjoy historical fiction and tales of courage.--Shelley Sommer, Inly School, Scituate, MA