Strudel Stories - Hardcover

Rocklin, Joanne

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0385326025 ISBN 13: 9780385326025

Publisher: Delacorte Books for Young Readers, 1999

Synopsis

A lively and evocative novel full of sweet, sad, and funny moments in the history of a Jewish family.

Imagine a cozy kitchen in another time and place. A family is baking apple strudel together, and while they work, they tell each other stories of the past--the cherished stories of their family history. There is the boy who danced with ghosts, the greatest baseball moment ever, and the almost-a-disaster day. There are stories of braving war, of daring the difficulties of immigration, and of enjoying the simple pleasures of friendship and sports--stories of joy and sadness, mistakes and triumphs, courage and love.

This warm and intimate novel is an inspiring portrait of a truly memorable family.

About this title

About the Author

Joanne Rocklin, the author of over a dozen children's books, including The Very Best Hanukkah Gift, is a former psychologist and elementary school teacher.

From the Back Cover

"Rocklin makes her Jewish family come alive in these warm, humorous selections. . . . Sure to inspire families to share their own memories."--School Library Journal, Starred

"It's a tribute to Rocklin's storytelling that this light but nourishing title leaves readers wanting more."--The Bulletin, Recommended

"Tender. . . . Rocklin writes with flair and with heart."--Publishers Weekly

Reviews

Grade 3-5-Mixing memories of her own relatives' stories with a bit of history and imagination, Rocklin makes her Jewish family come alive in these warm, humorous selections. For seven generations, a family has baked apple strudel to comfort and nourish its members. From Great-great-great grandmother Sarah's kitchen in Odessa, to Bertie's kitchen in Brooklyn, and on to Grandpa Willy's kitchen overlooking the Pacific, the recipe has passed from one generation to the next. Over 100 years after the first super strudel, two young sisters turn to the family baking ritual to help them mourn for their beloved Grandpa Willy. Sprinkled amid the ingredients are the stories for, as Willy used to say, "Without stories the strudel will be a big fat flop." There are tales of timid Eli, who danced with ghosts and came back a changed boy, and cousin Leon, who had never even heard of the Brooklyn Dodgers, but caught a miracle at Ebbets Field. Rocklin includes two mouth-watering recipes for apple strudel along with a family tree and an excellent note that places the stories in historical context. As a read-aloud, this book is sure to inspire families to share their own memories and recipes. Strudel Stories is an excellent choice for oral history and intergenerational projects, as well as for immigration units, and pairs well with Kathryn Lasky's Dreams in the Golden Country (Scholastic, 1998), which also documents the Jewish immigrant experience.
Barbara Auerbach, Brooklyn Public Library, NY
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

In her tender collection of connected vignettes, Rocklin (For Your Eyes Only) identifies the secret ingredient for the strudel prized by generations of a Jewish family: the family stories that accompany the baking. The book begins in 1999, when Lori and Jessica's Grandpa Willy has just died. The sisters decide that one way to keep Willy's memory alive is to bake a strudel?and retell the tales he often shared with them. So as the apples get peeled, the narrative flashes back to the time of Willy's great-grandmother, Sarah, who lived in Russia and then came to America with her children in the early 1900s. Sarah tells how she helped outwit the angel of death when he came looking for her younger brother ("He was small and skinny, like a cucumber for pickling"), then recounts her brother's various exploits. Sarah's daughter and Willy carry on the tradition, adding stories of immigrant life in New York City and of WWII to the mix, and so on. Though readers may have some difficulty keeping track of who's who (a family tree at the end helps), they will readily dig into the colorful, sometimes dramatic anecdotes. Rocklin writes with flair and with heart?and for the truly inspired, she includes three generations of strudel recipes?Sarah's in Yiddish, Lori and Jessica's using frozen filo dough. A treat no matter how you slice it. Ages 8-12.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Grade 2-5-Beginning in the old country and ending in modern-day America, a cherished recipe is passed from one generation to the next, including the most important ingredient-the tales told by the cooks. The stories are sweetened with humor and sprinkled with unforgettable characters. (Jan.)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Gr. 4^-6. The frame for these short stories is several generations of one family baking strudel together. Although not exactly a kid grabber on its own, the premise is happily fleshed out with identifiable characters and solid storytelling that should touch young readers. The earliest vignette takes place in Odessa in 1894 as a mother tells her children how her brother almost died twice--and each time danced with the ghost of their dead father. In another tale, a relative recalls the family's struggle to come to America and how they were almost turned back. A later story is about a young Holocaust survivor, who tries to fit in with a new family and a new land. Despite a family tree at the book's conclusion, it is sometimes difficult to keep each generation straight. On the other hand, children who are lucky enough to have heard their own family's history will know that the point is not so much who did what but the closeness engendered by both the telling and the listening. Ilene Cooper

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

An Excerpt from Strudel Stories
"Stories now, Mama?" Isaac asks.
Sarah nods and picks up her mending.  Baby Bertha wakes up.  Hannah, listening to her mother's stories, holds the baby on her knee.  Isaac makes a tower on the floor with the walnut shells, listening too.
Sarah's stories enter the warm oven, smoothing the sugar.  As the strudel bakes, the stories tuck themselves between the apple slices.  Later, when Hannah and Isaac eat the strudel, it seems they can taste those stories.  Stories about Jonah, cheerfully stepping from the belly of a whale.  Stories about Moses, striding the floor of the Red Sea.
And stories that grow from a question.
"Did your mama bake strudel when you were a little girl?" Isaac asks.
"Ah," says Sarah, stirring cherry preserves into her tea, "when I was a little girl . . . "

Edition details

• Publisher: Delacorte Books for Young Readers
• Publication date: 1999
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0385326025
• ISBN 13: 9780385326025
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 144