Love You a Latke by Amanda Elliot
Abby and Seth seem to be the only Jews living in their small town in Vermont. While Abby finds Seth’s cheerfulness annoying—especially as she is anything but cheerful—she agrees to pretend to be his Nice Jewish Girlfriend when he goes for Chanukah in exchange for helping her find vendors to put on a Chanukah festival in their town that she was roped into organizing. She’s hoping it will drive business to her struggling coffeeshop.
One of the things I really liked about Abby is that she is not a very observant Jew. Sometimes when I read about Jews or participate in a Jewish event locally, it can make me feel like I’m not Jewish enough, and it can even make me temporarily want to be more observant, even though most of the year I’m pretty comfortable with just how reform I am. It’s not a very comfortable feeling, and I loved how much I could relate to Abby. She does begin to connect more to her roots while she is in NYC with Seth, so some of that relatability decreased for me, but it was nice that it was there to start with.
I also enjoyed getting to know Seth’s parents and friends, including his ex-girlfriend. And as with the best romances out there, Abby and Seth grew from the time they spent together. I gave the book 4 stars and recommend it, especially for people who like fake dating and grumpy-sunshine tropes.
Sky Full of Elephants by Cebo Campbell
Imagine that one day every White person in the U.S. walks into the nearest body of water and drowns. That’s the premise that starts this speculative fiction novel. Most of the book takes place a year after “the event,” as those in the book refer to it. The focus is on Charlie, who spent nearly 20 years in prison until other Black people broke prisoners out after the event, and Sidney, the biracial daughter he meets for the first time towards the beginning of the book. They travel to Alabama at Sidney’s behest and discover how one specific Black community is trying to create a harmonious future.
It took me a little while to get into the book. While I think this was partly related to the mood I was in when I first started reading the book, I also never fully felt connected to or invested in the characters. I’m not entirely sure why, though Sidney in particular was naive in a way that wasn’t fully believable; she actually says the line “Aren’t drugs bad?” at one point (although admittedly that’s a particularly egregious example; she doesn’t sound quite that young through the rest of the book). The novel picked up for me when we started to learn about the goings-on in Alabama, and that was primarily what kept me interested for the remainder of the book.
This is definitely a book that will make you think. It doesn’t just question what would happen if only BIPOC people [though the focus is mostly on Black people] were left in America but also how far a community can or should go to heal. Campbell seems to be envisioning, or perhaps fantasizing about, one very specific outcome of an event like this. There are probably numerous other outcomes that could be imagined.
While this wasn’t a book that I particularly connected to emotionally, the concept was intriguing, and I recommend it. I gave it 3.75 stars.