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Library | Call Number | Status |
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Searching... R.H. Stafford Library (Woodbury) | J FICTION GOE | Searching... Unknown |
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Summary
Summary
Mysteries, mazes, and magic combine in this smart, funny summer-camp fantasy.
Dahlia Shulman loves magic, and Math Club, and Guitar Hero. She isn't so fond of nature walks, and Hebrew campfire songs, and mean girls her own age.
All of which makes a week at Jewish summer camp pretty much the worst idea ever.
But within minutes of arriving at camp, Dahlia realizes that it might not be as bad as she'd feared. First she sees two little girls walk right through the walls of her cabin. Then come the dreams - frighteningly detailed visions of a young man being pursued through 1930s New York City. How are the dreams and the girls related? Why is Dahlia the only one who can see any of them? And what's up with the overgrown, strangely shaped hedge maze that none of the campers are allowed to touch?
Dahlia's increasingly dangerous quest for answers will lead her right to the centre of the maze - but it will take all her courage, smarts, and sleight-of-hand skills to get her back out again.
Author Notes
ARI GOELMAN has published many science-fiction/fantasy short stories, and his academic work has been covered by the Brookings Institution and the New York Times . Originally from Pennsylvania, Ari currently lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, with his family and the rain. Visit him online at www.arigoelman.com.
Reviews (4)
Publisher's Weekly Review
Goelman infuses the familiar summer camp setting and its attendant ghost stories with elements of Jewish mysticism in this intriguing and layered first novel. Stubborn and whip-smart Dahlia Sherman, 13, longs to attend magic camp instead of Jewish sleepaway camp, but her parents are adamant that she give Camp Arava a chance. Once there, Dahlia's fondness for sleight-of-hand magic tricks is quickly trumped by her awareness that truly uncanny forces are at work around her. She encounters a mysterious caretaker and ghosts of small girls that only she can see, and she inexplicably begins to possess knowledge of Hebrew and of a clandestine mystical sect from the past. Dahlia's experiences at camp are both socially and psychologically transformative, as she forms significant friendships with those who help her unravel the camp's secrets. The complex magical elements, especially in chapters that flash back more than 70 years into the life of a talented rabbi, offer a captivating overview of Jewish intellectual history (with some artistic license) while Dahlia's story delivers authentic chills and a touch of romance. Ages 10-14. Agent: Lindsay Ribar, Sanford J. Greenburger Associates. (May) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Horn Book Review
Thirteen-year-old magic nerd Dahlia loathes her Jewish summer camp until she starts dreaming about a Jewish teen in 1940s New York City who seems to be connected to a pair of ghosts haunting the camp. Readers with an interest in Jewish mysticism will enjoy the book's paranormal elements and tweens will appreciate the realistic relationships among the campers. (c) Copyright 2013. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
Goelman's debut novel, part summer-camp tale, part ghost story and part murder mystery, is served with a sprinkling of math and a heavy dose of often-confusing Jewish orthodoxy. Thirteen-year-old math and magic geek Dahlia reluctantly agrees to three weeks at a Jewish summer camp. There, the ghosts of two little girls visit her, and she begins to dream of David Schank, a young yeshiva student in New York in the 1930s. Soon, she realizes his spirit has possessed her; he is an ibur who needs her help to complete a task he began when alive. The novel alternates between David's story, in which he first discovers and then fails to hide from the Illuminated Ones the 72nd name of God, and Dahlia's, as she attempts to figure out what the ghosts and the spirit want and why the creepy caretaker won't let any children into the camp's overgrown hedge maze. A substantial cast of characters, multiple plot twists in both narrative storylines, some subplots that go nowhere, a golem, gematria or Jewish numerology, the cabala and more make this novel a challenging read. It's certainly a refreshing change from the usual focus in middle-grade Jewish fiction on the Holocaust, immigrants and bar/bat mitzvahs, and the inclusion of a girl protagonist who loves math is also welcome. Despite its potential, though, it's likely that the book will have limited appeal. (Paranormal mystery. 12-15)]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
*Starred Review* Spunky, sarcastic Dahlia begins summer camp by watching two girls disappear through the wall of her cabin. Then she starts dreaming about David Schank, a 1940s Yeshiva student on the lam after discovering the very powerful seventy-second name of God. Meanwhile, Barry, the ancient groundskeeper, intently guards the hedge maze on camp property. At first, Dahlia denies any mystical goings-on, instead believing that her dreams are a fluke and the ghostly girls are just another magic trick. That is, until she starts reading an old book on kabbalah that ties it all together. Kabbalah? Oh yes, and it works. Jewish mysticism is heavy stuff, but Goelman (perhaps purposefully) speeds through a vague explanation from an inept counselor more interested in groovy spiritualism than mystical enlightenment and lets the magical elements of the tradition do the heavy lifting. Dahlia channels David's knowledge of the seventy-second name and the magical power of words to enter the maze, which contains a secret passage to a higher dimension. With the help of her friends, she uses her mystical powers to confront the Illuminated One, who selfishly seeks the name for himself. Debut author Goelman's story is full of exciting plot twists and well-rounded, engaging characters all amped up by thrilling, esoteric magic.--Hunter, Sarah Copyright 2010 Booklist
