Confessions of a Closet Catholic

Gr 4-7 -Justine Silver, 11, has decided to give up being Jewish for Lent. Of course, this is a secret she keeps from her family, along with her regular confessions to her stuffed teddy bear, "Father Ted," who also administers the sacrament when she can sneak upstairs with grape juice and a few matzos. Mac, Justine's best friend at her new school, is Catholic, with straight blonde hair and a large exuberant family that's more fun then hers. And Justine's strange fascination with this "perfect" life and religion has her doubting her own faith, which people in her own family observe in very different ways. She explains to Mac and her family, " -&being Jewish is all about suffering -&.People hate us, try to kill us, and don't want us to join their country club, while you guys get Christmas trees and Easter eggs." The exploration of faith is the central theme of this book, from Justine's illicit confessions in a Catholic church to the emotional shroud of her grandmother's death. Justine's world is deeply controlled by her guilt about her faithlessness, about how best to worship God, and her turmoil over pleasing her parents. But despite the seemingly profound context, the novel is injected with humor throughout and written with the voice of a contemporary adolescent. Readers can't help but laugh and cry with this winning protagonist." -Kimberly Monaghan, formerly at Vernon Area Public Library, IL" Copyright 2005 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

An "eleven-going-on-twelve-year-old Jewish girl" searches for her identity in this reassuring debut novel about finding one's personal peace-and-comfort zone. Justine, who narrates, has been getting mixed signals about who she's supposed to be all her life. Her father's parents survived the Holocaust and to this day, her grandmother Bubbe keeps kosher. Justine's maternal grandparents, on the other hand, want her to be "Jewish but not 'too Jewish, ' " and Justine calls her own parents " 'twice a year' Jews." Justine's best friend, meanwhile, is Catholic -the faith Justine has decided secretly to adopt. Making confession in her bedroom closet to "Father Ted" (her Teddy bear priest), memorizing prayers with rosary beads and pretending to take communion (matzo and grape juice) are some of her rituals. After Bubbe suffers a stroke and the family goes into crisis mode, nothing seems to make sense. Bubbe's support of her religious curiosity bolsters Justine. And when Bubbe dies, she's faced with still more searching. Littman gets at the heart of the tug-of-war that goes on between brain and soul as Justine's true personality and value system begin to emerge. The heroine comes across as a likeable kid who tries to make the most informed decisions she can about who she should be -and ultimately embraces who she has been all along. Young readers will find much to savor in the warm, angst-lite tone here, and will likely relate to the universal conflicts and emotional challenges that Littman explores. Ages 10-up. "(Feb.)" Copyright 2005 Publishers Weekly Used with permission.