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It's a Whole Spiel: Love, Latkes, and Other Jewish Stories by Katherine Locke, Laura Silverman
leoexists's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
laura_cs's review against another edition
5.0
This is a wonderful short-story collection about Jewish identity and faith in the modern world. In this collection, you have stories with main characters who are devout, those who are non-practicing, those who want to discover more about their faith, those who want to discover a world outside of their tight-knit faith communities, all who either know or seek to discover what being Jewish means to them. All of the authors have contributed breathtakingly beautiful stories with compelling characters, remarkable adventures, and--in many cases--a great deal of humor.
"It's a Whole Spiel" is a fantastic addition to any collection, and an amazing read for all ages, faiths, and identities.
"It's a Whole Spiel" is a fantastic addition to any collection, and an amazing read for all ages, faiths, and identities.
nonspeederreader's review against another edition
4.0
I didn't love or necessarily really like every story, but it was an unexpected surprise. Normally I don't read short stories and really enjoyed this collection.
emc425's review against another edition
4.0
Overall, I found this book to be really wonderful.
It's a collection of short stories, each about a different character, mostly in their teens/early twenties, each of them learning something new about themselves or life in general. I thought it was incredibly representative, both in that there was a major religion featured that wasn't Christianity, and in that many characters were queer, or neurodivergent.
While some stories definitely resonated with me more than others, I really enjoyed reading about characters that have life experiences that differ greatly from my own. I had a good time reading this book and I learned a lot about Jewish culture as well.
It's a collection of short stories, each about a different character, mostly in their teens/early twenties, each of them learning something new about themselves or life in general. I thought it was incredibly representative, both in that there was a major religion featured that wasn't Christianity, and in that many characters were queer, or neurodivergent.
While some stories definitely resonated with me more than others, I really enjoyed reading about characters that have life experiences that differ greatly from my own. I had a good time reading this book and I learned a lot about Jewish culture as well.
rachelbookdragon's review against another edition
3.0
3.5 Stars. Though I rated each story as I read them, overall I wanted to love this book and I really only loved a few of the stories. Others were jumbled and disjointed and didn’t resonate with me. There were some really great love stories with lots of different representation, and some great stories of personal growth. David Levithan’s story was the only 5 star read of the short stories and it was magic. As a Jewish girl, I really wanted to love this collection and offer it to others as a means of learning more about various lived experiences as a Jew in this world, and while some of the stories did that, with their questions of what it means to be Jewish, visit Israel, and understand their identity in different communities with a variety of relationships with their religion, other stories did not resonate at all. I still would recommend some of these stories for people looking to better understand the Jewish identity within the diaspora, but I’m a bit sad I didn’t like this book more.
notinjersey's review against another edition
4.0
This book is about all kind of Jewish teens and young adults. There is all types of representation of Jewish kids in different places in their Judaism, Jewish kids finding their place in the world, and Jewish kids developing all types of relationships. One of the stories even included a character named Dara! I loved a lot of the stories in this book. Some were slower than others. My favorite was the one about a religious girl who has to find her place in college. She doesn’t want to stand out because she is Jewish, but she finds that being Jewish is just ingrained in who she is. I did have a bit of an issue with some of the editing in this book. For one, in the introduction, Mayim Bialik writes that one of the stories takes place at space camp. It doesn’t, it takes place at a regular camp where a boy is interested more in space than in sports. And in one of the stories about Israel, the locations the group visits don’t make sense – you wouldn’t go from the south to the north and back to the south in one day. Yes, I am nitpicky. There are individual descriptions of the stories in many of the Amazon reviews, but I will say again that I loved the diversity and representation in the stories in this book.
sybrasays's review against another edition
4.0
I picked this up from the library without knowing much about it- I just liked what small description I could gather from the cover. It's a series of essays, fiction I think, about young adult Jewish experiences. Some stories captivated me and I would love to read again. Some were hard to follow. As a whole book, it was great, I would just skip a chapter or two if/when I re-read it.
rachelmariereads's review against another edition
4.0
This is the kind of book that I wish I had when I was younger. Full of own-voices Jewish representation, these stories run the gambit from hilarious to serious, young teens to young adults, Orthodox to Jewish only by heritage. There is truly a story in here for every Jewish person to identify with, and I think it would also be a great educational read for those who want to learn a little more about Jewish life.
I loved how many different perspectives on Judaism we got in this anthology. Something that resonated throughout all of the stories was *how* Jewish someone felt they were, either too Jewish, or not Jewish enough. At times in my life I’ve certainly felt that I was not Jewish enough, but this opened my eyes to people on the other side of that line. When surrounded by Conservative or Orthodox Jews, I’ve often felt inferior, and been so blinded by my own insecurities and lack of knowledge that I never really considered how they might feel too Jewish around me. There were stories in here that explored both perspectives, and I found it incredible eye-opening.
I also loved the other kinds of representation that were featured in here. We got to see LGBTQ+ Jewish couples, and Jewish teens exploring their sexuality. Those stories were especially heartwarming, and I really appreciated that they didn’t focus on discrimination or bigotry, but were just joyful explorations of young people in love. I also really appreciated that there was a story that centered around a Mexican Jewish boy on a gap-year trip before college. Jewish characters are often incredibly white, and I think it’s really important to remember that there are sects of is Jewish people spread out across the globe. I love the way his story melded Jewish and Mexican culture.
There were so many stories in here that felt relatable for me. Stories of Jews on Birthright, and at summer camp, and on high holy days. This meant the world to me, and I truly believe that there is a story for everyone in here. I so appreciated what this book had to say, and I highly recommend it! ✡️
TW: mental health, near death experience, eating disorder
I loved how many different perspectives on Judaism we got in this anthology. Something that resonated throughout all of the stories was *how* Jewish someone felt they were, either too Jewish, or not Jewish enough. At times in my life I’ve certainly felt that I was not Jewish enough, but this opened my eyes to people on the other side of that line. When surrounded by Conservative or Orthodox Jews, I’ve often felt inferior, and been so blinded by my own insecurities and lack of knowledge that I never really considered how they might feel too Jewish around me. There were stories in here that explored both perspectives, and I found it incredible eye-opening.
I also loved the other kinds of representation that were featured in here. We got to see LGBTQ+ Jewish couples, and Jewish teens exploring their sexuality. Those stories were especially heartwarming, and I really appreciated that they didn’t focus on discrimination or bigotry, but were just joyful explorations of young people in love. I also really appreciated that there was a story that centered around a Mexican Jewish boy on a gap-year trip before college. Jewish characters are often incredibly white, and I think it’s really important to remember that there are sects of is Jewish people spread out across the globe. I love the way his story melded Jewish and Mexican culture.
There were so many stories in here that felt relatable for me. Stories of Jews on Birthright, and at summer camp, and on high holy days. This meant the world to me, and I truly believe that there is a story for everyone in here. I so appreciated what this book had to say, and I highly recommend it! ✡️
TW: mental health, near death experience, eating disorder