Old Jewish novels! Please join me...

seeker

Thu, Dec 16 2021, 8:51 pm

Alef Shin, anyone? Seeing mention of Every Man a Slave reminded me of this because it's the same author but with a VERY different feel. I loved Alef Shin, it was so different and unexpected. It was a futuristic drama and I recently thought of it and realized that all the future dates are probably in the past now. Probably early 2000s? So it's sad that the book kind of wouldn't "work" anymore if I passed it to my kids (there was a lot of tie-in to technology and history that wouldn't work out if you just changed the dates to farther in the future)

seeker

Thu, Dec 16 2021, 9:04 pm

sallysaucer wrote:

I think I read every book in this thread except for 5 of them.

Anyone remember The Floating Minyan of pirate's cove? I loved that one!

What about the cheery him band? Or the series by Ben-uri - dark island, missing crown, mysterious cargo and hijacked?

OMG I remember the Mysterious Cargo series, I read it a few times at different points and distinctly remember the turning point at which I realized how bizarre it was for young kids to be engaging in these activities. I mean this is pretty common in books for that age, kids getting into things that they really really shouldn't, but this seemed to me especially far out.

seeker

Thu, Dec 16 2021, 9:09 pm

amother [ OP ] wrote:

Anyone remember the Pitspopany books?

The secret files of Lisa Weiss
And two more by Tehila Petersiel about special children: the Safe Place and Unjust Cause . Both incredible books.
The books were considered a bit out there compared with the typical Feldheim stuff, but Peterseil was such a funny writer.

Anyone read Lieutenant Birnbaum?

Safe Place and Unjust Cause deserve a much higher place in frum literature. As far as I know they were the only books in maybe 30 years to really go into the experience of kids with learning issues. It's been a while since I read them but from my recollection they were very realistic and so inspiring - more so because it showed how some understanding can make a real difference even without a magical happy ending. There were other factors too but I think Safe Place was a big player in my decision to work in a resource room.

amother

Foxglove

Thu, Dec 16 2021, 9:10 pm

seeker wrote:

Those books were masterpieces! I remember Alef shin being very controversial but it was so different and so so riveting!

Love this thread! I always try to convince my students to read “older books”, which they think is so outdated. But reading through this thread solidifies my belief that when there wasn’t as much available , what was available was real quality literature and apparently, as evident through this thread, quite memorable!!

seeker

Thu, Dec 16 2021, 9:13 pm

#BestBubby wrote:

And who can forget the Bakers Dozen and the BY Times.

Or is that to modern for this old-time list?

Sorry to date you but Bakers Dozen and BY Times definitely qualify as old LOL

I think they did a GREAT job of providing a kosher substitute for the Babysitter's Club. I'm assuming that was their direct goal. I'm using them for the same purpose now with my kids and it really fills that niche.

seeker

Thu, Dec 16 2021, 9:22 pm

And people used to talk about Jewish fiction as being subpar (they still do but with the range and variety now they have a lot less tooth). Sure, some was cheesy and/or overdone (we still get that). And the field has blossomed in many ways. But overall if the audience enjoys it and it fills a need for appropriate reading material, there's no reason for all the hate. It's not like secular literature is all such high quality. Lose the inferiority complexes.

amother

Thu, Dec 16 2021, 10:18 pm

seeker wrote:

I actually mentioned Aleph Shin a few pages back, along with another futuristic book, 2020 V7sion. I put both of these books together because they both had a vision of the days leading up to Moshiach. But they are obviously very different styles.

Aleph Shin had Moshiach arriving in 2004, I believe. 2020 Vision had him arriving in 2020.

I read Aleph Shin exactly 22 years ago. I remember because I was nursing my daughter and had lots and lots of time to read. For me it evokes many many pages of small print, and a fascinating- if somewhat violent- journey. Honestly, there were lots of things about that book that disturbed me. But it was very interesting and informative.
I also read the Prequel to it called 10 Lost.
About the 10 lost tribes.
Anyone read it?

amother

Thu, Dec 16 2021, 10:34 pm

seeker wrote:

I get a bit irked when I read what passes for writing today. They write like they talk, run on sentences, like stream of consciousness, with lots of "like" s sprinkled in,, slang words that you have to be a teenager to understand. Legit. And I want to say- grow up.

As a teacher I used to get very upset to see shorthand on tests (chumash tests!) , and often I wasn't sure what they were trying to say. But if this is what passes for writing in frum literature, I'm not surprised that they don't know better.

Casual writing, like speaking, has become totally normal.

Eitan Kobre has written about this in his column in Mishpacha. This is a pet peeve of his

realsilver

Thu, Dec 16 2021, 10:40 pm

Why has no one mentioned sun inside rain?! Or did I miss it? Its my favorite book of all time. And ive read basically every book in this thread.

A big problem with todays novels is that many of them are translated from hebrew and are not written well enough for me to pass the first page.

amother

Thu, Dec 16 2021, 10:49 pm

realsilver wrote:

Lol. It was mentioned. I think at least twice.
Eta. I remember when that book came out everyone was Raving about it, saying it was theor favorite book..IT is a rather recent book, relatively speaking.
The author wrote another book a few years ago, but it wasn't as well received.

amother

Babyblue

Thu, Dec 16 2021, 10:49 pm

amother [ OP ] wrote:

It's printed together with Aleph Shin in the version I have (had?). It's even more violent than Aleph Shin.

I actually emailed the author back when Aleph Shin first came out. I was unhappy about how he portrayed Chabad, and he was surprised - apparently his Chabad friends were amused Smile

I do have to say that Bennett (when he first came onto the political scene) really reminded me a lot of Benari, the fictional prime minister in Aleph Shin. I was surprised that nobody else noticed it. (Bennett used to talk a lot about achdus.)

amother

Babyblue

Thu, Dec 16 2021, 10:50 pm

realsilver wrote:

Sun Inside Rain is amazing, well at least the first 2/3 of the book. The last part seemed to be very rushed. But I did love the happy ending.

amother

Babyblue

Thu, Dec 16 2021, 10:53 pm

seeker wrote:

YES! I loved Safe Place. (I never read Unjust Cause, but I'm totally going to try to get my hands on a copy.) Tehila Peterseil did an incredible job. I consider it as revolutionary as The Outsiders (S.E. Hinton) in getting you to understand and appreciate a drastically different way of thinking.

amother

Thu, Dec 16 2021, 11:01 pm

amother [ Babyblue ] wrote:

I also have a very soft place in my heart for both Unjust Cause and the Safe Place. It really gives you a window into the mind of a child with dyslexia or learning challenges.

I recently gave away about 500 books to a local library, but I kept those two.
Sad that Tehila Petersiel only wrote 3 books. (The third one was the Secret files of Lisa Weiss)

PinkFridge

Fri, Dec 17 2021, 7:01 am

seeker wrote:

I was reminded of Mr. Bass and the Mushroom Planet. The kids didn't even ask, hello, Ma, the neighbor wants to take me on an interplanetary adventure, can I go?

kalsee

Sun, Dec 19 2021, 2:55 am

amother [ Babyblue ] wrote:

Yes, very violent. But fascinating and a really fresh book, very creative. I enjoyed it a lot. I wonder if I should reread it

amother

Bronze

Sun, Dec 19 2021, 3:47 am

Love this thread, so many books I'd forgotten about!

This wasn't a novel, but does anyone remember the stories for kids in the Yated? Every few weeks there would be a story about 2 boys who'd go off to save the world in a roller coaster? I think they were written by libby lazewnik. I remember turning straight to that page every week to read them.

Some other books I'm not sure if they were mentioned yet, I can call you ima, family for a while, the yellow star, the face at the window, and there was a series of mysteries, I think one was called the golden bridge? Based in San Francisco? I have very hazy memories of those.

Someone upthread mentioned the accused - was that the one that started off with a family, 4 kids who found their mother dead in the kitchen one day and they were all sent to live with different families? I remember reading that when I was very young and I've never seen that book since. For years I've wondered if I hadn't actually dreamed that story

amother

Babyblue

Sun, Dec 19 2021, 7:42 am

amother [ Bronze ] wrote:

That’s the Rivkah Gross Academy books by Sukey Stavsky Gross. Passport to Russia, the Golden Gate, and a bunch of others. The Golden Gate had the hidden diamond and all the “orientals” which I guess was PC in those days for Asian-Americans.