[I received a free, electronic review copy of this book from Netgalley and Feiwel & Friends in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.]
Summary
Aviva and Holly have grown up knowing they were adopted. For Aviva, sometimes that makes her feel like she’s not really Jewish, like her grandmother. But with Bubbe’s encouragement, she agrees to perform a Hanukkah song at a holiday pageant at the Senior Center. Performing is like breathing to her!
Holly isn’t a performer like Aviva – her creativity is in her writing. It’s something she and her grandfather have in common. Her family is checking out the Senior Center for her grandfather who has had a few scary falls at home lately. But when Holly and Aviva come face to face at the center, it’s like looking into a mirror.
Could they be twins?!
Review
“I barely know you, but that expression on your face looks like trouble.”
Who doesn’t love a twin-swapping story? And this is a fun one! I enjoyed every bit of this. The two girls are great – separately and together. Their families are lovely, too.
There’s a fascinating piece of this story were Aviva wrestles with her identity as an adoptee in a Jewish family, wondering if she is “Jewish enough” while also realizing how much she doesn’t know about the Jewish faith, holidays, and traditions. Both girls get to explore this in the book while Aviva also gets to check out some pieces of Christmas while she lives with Holly’s family for a few days.
The swap is a lot of fun for the reader. And it opens up some other places where the girls get to think about identity and family and what they hope their discovery of each other can mean for the future.
This is exactly the right mix of holiday cozy and middle grade fun, and I highly recommend it. It would make for a great classroom read aloud around the holidays.
Rating: ♥♥♥♥♥*
*♥♥♥♥♥ = Outstanding!