  | Full Text Reviews: Booklist - 02/15/2015 Julian, first introduced in Twerp (2013), is now in seventh grade and doesn’t quite know what he is doing. He goes to Hebrew school, preparing for his bar mitzvah, but when his friend Quentin develops a tumor, Julian has big questions his rabbi cannot answer. Another friend, Beverly, annoys him constantly by challenging him to race her—and he can’t decide if he is insulted or flattered by the attention. When the principal accuses him of defacing school property, Julian refuses the punishment—writing an essay on citizenship—because he is innocent. Throw in some 1970s Yankees and a Jewish neighborhood near an historic Quaker home in the Bronx, and you have a period piece with themes of friendship, faith, and loss that transcend time. Based on the author’s childhood, the setting is vividly imagined, and difficult questions about life and death are explored, offering no easy answers. Fans of Twerp will delight in this new tale of friendship with a touch of baseball. - Copyright 2015 Booklist. School Library Journal - 02/01/2015 Gr 5–8—Julian Twerski and the gang from Twerp (Random, 2013) are now in seventh grade, and it seems like they're dealing with an even bigger set of challenges than last year. When Julian is accused of vandalizing a painting at school, he gets locked into a battle with his new principal that he surely can't win. He begins to develop new feelings for his friend Beverly, to the dismay of Howie, her longtime admirer and Julian's friend. Most upsetting of all, Quentin has cancer. Julian, with the help of his friends, finds himself navigating the year before his bar mitzvah in search of what it means to grow up and be a good citizen. Goldblatt takes advantage of Julian's newfound love of writing, adding an honest and forthright tone to the boy's journal entries. A wide variety of readers will relate to Julian's questions about fairness, faith, and friendship. VERDICT An excellent companion to Twerp, this novel also stands alone.—Amanda Augsburger, Moline Public Library, IL - Copyright 2015 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission. Loading...
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