|
Julia's Kitchen | 
 enlarge | Author: Brenda A. Ferber
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR)
Category: Book
List Price: $16.00
Buy New: $6.91
You Save: $9.09 (57%)
New (34) Used (20) Collectible (1) from $4.87
Avg. Customer Rating:  6 reviews
Sales Rank: 329738
Media: Hardcover
Edition: 1st
Reading Level: Ages 9-12
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 160
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.6
Dimensions (in): 8.9 x 6 x 0.7
ISBN: 0374399328
EAN: 9780374399320
ASIN: 0374399328
Publication Date: March 21, 2006
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: Ships immediately! Perfect and New! Has a publisher remainder mark. First Edition. 2006 Hardcover.
|
| Similar Items:
|
| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
Cara Segal is a born worrier. She figures her worrying works like
a whisper in God’s ear – if Cara’s concerned about car crashes,
kidnappings, or murders, she lets God know, and he always
spares her. But Cara never thought to worry about a fire. And
one night while she’s sleeping at a friend’s house, her house
catches fire, and her mother and younger sister are both killed.
Throughout shiva, the initial Jewish mourning period, Cara
can’t help wondering about God’s role in the tragedy. And what
is her father’s role in her life now? He walks around like a ghost
and refuses to talk about the fire. Cara longs for her family and
her home, where sweet smells filled the house as Cara’s mom
filled orders for her catering business, Julia’s Kitchen. Then one
day a call comes in for a cookie order, and Cara gets a wild idea.
Maybe by bringing back Julia’s Kitchen, she can find a way to
reconnect with everything she’s lost.
Complete with a glossary of Hebrew and Yiddish terms and a
recipe for chocolate chip cookies, this debut novel is a joyous
tribute to the resiliency of the human spirit.
|
| Customer Reviews: Read 1 more reviews...
The 2007 Sydney Taylor Book Award Winner for Older Readers January 28, 2007
When Cara Segal looses her mother and younger sister in a house fire, she questions her belief in God, struggles with her relationship with her father, and tries to find ways to hold onto her memories of her family before the fire. With the support of her best friend, her grandparents, and the school social worker, Cara finds fulfillment in continuing her mother's baking business and donating the profits to the local firefighters. She also finds meaning in hanging mezuzot on the doors of her new apartment and realizes that "God works his magic by giving us the strength to handle just about anything that comes our way. And for what we can't handle alone, he gives us friends and family." (p. 148) Like Confessions of a Closet Catholic by Sarah Darer Littman (2005), Birdland by Tracy Mack (2003), and Understanding Buddy by Marc Kornblatt (2001), Julia's Kitchen tackles the difficult issue of death of a loved one and explores how Jewish identity and spirituality helps the character to cope. First-time author Brenda Ferber, winner of the 2004 Sydney Taylor Manuscript Award, authentically captures the voice of a contemporary 11-year-old and despite the tragic premise manages to keep the book up-beat, refreshing, and inspiring.
Julia's Kitchen Review December 16, 2006
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Just to let you know I am actually 14 I just don't want to put in my email address. I picked up this book at the library one day just looking at the cover thinking it would be a book about a girl that enjoys baking, but when I brougnt it home I couldn't put it down read it all in one night. It is a sad story and i was almost in tears at some parts, but I receieved a very strong theme from this story: Appreciate what you have and try to move on when you lose something important to you. I defnitely recommend that anyone who loves to read will love this book.
You HAVE to read this book! October 6, 2006
Julia's Kitchen is an amazing book! It is written for middle grade readers but is just as appealing to adults. Don't let the heavy subject matter fool you. This book is beautifully written and full of hope (although I have to admit- I cried my eyes out!). I'm telling you- you won't be able to put it down! I can't recommend it more.
 JULIA'S KITCHEN October 3, 2006
Eleven-year-old Cara Segal has a vivid imagination and is always fearful the worst will happen to her family. Just to be safe, she has an ongoing relationship with G-d where she "regularly floats prayers up" to make sure her family is always protected. When she sleeps over her friend Marlee's house, an electrical short in the toaster starts a house fire, which takes the lives of her mom and younger sister Jane. Beside herself with grief, Cara sleepwalks through the week of shiva (Jewish mourning) and the comforting words of Rabbi Newlin as she feels she has been abandoned by G-d. Cara finds strength in her beloved Bubbe and Zayde, her mother's parents, who give her the emotional support that her father is unable to provide, and finds solace in continuing with her family scrapbook. However, the pivotal event is when Cara receives a phone order for her mother's catering business; her mom's cookie recipes are one of the items that escaped the fire and Cara decides, in secret, to revive "Julia's Kitchen". By carrying out the work of her mom, Cara feels a special connection to her and she begins to inwardly heal; she reaffirms her belief in G-d and her Jewish faith as she comes to understand things more clearly. When her father catches her baking, Cara's new self-assurance helps her to stand up to him and to finally discuss the details of the fire. This is a sensitive story and deals with a difficult subject matter in an honest and empathetic way. Winner of the 2004 Sydney Taylor Manuscript Award, this combines aspects of Jewish tradition and details of family life to poignantly address bereavement in a powerful and hopeful manner. A short glossary of the Hebrew terminology used and the cookie recipe that Cara adapts from her mom are included at the end of the book. Ages 9-13.
A story to touch and change you June 17, 2006
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I have read JULIA'S KITCHEN a number of times, and each time I am moved, heartbroken and healed by this story. It is the carefully and beautifully written story of Cara, who
must rely to a great extent on her own internal resources when a sudden and unpredictable tragedy strikes her family. JULIA'S KITCHEN will take readers into the depths of Cara's feelings - sadness, anger, confusion, and hope - and offer a rich story of her confusion about her faith, her tenuous relationship with her grieving father, and her questions about how to hold
on to the memories of her mother and sister and still move forward in life.
It is a powerful reading experience for the child who wants to be touched and changed by a story, but it is also an opportunity for children, together, to discuss the multitude of issues dealt with in the course of the book - the unpredictability of the world, the unevenness of adults who do not always have children's best interests at heart, the importance of good friendship, the sometimes-confusing nature of faith, and the beauty and importance of inner resilience and hope. JULIA'S KITCHEN should not be mistaken for a book
"about grief". It is a story about the unfortunate, but real, ways children's lives can be shaken - and the exquisite resiliency of the human spirit.
|
|
|
Powered by Associate-O-Matic
| |
