CONFESSIONS OF A CLOSET CATHOLIC
by Sarah Darer Littman
Dutton Children's Books
ISBN: 0525473653
Ages 8-14
195 pages

When Justine Silver's best friend Mary Catherine McAllister (who likes to be called Mac) gives up chocolate for Lent, Justine (aka Jussy) decides that such a temptation isn't worth sacrificing. So instead she resolves to give up being Jewish!

Eleven-year-old Jussy wishes she had a family like Mac's that was warm and more involved in one another's lives. Unfortunately Jussy's somewhat strict mom only seems to care about having expensive things in the house and no messes. Jussy is the middle child, and she feels that whenever she brings up questions about her heritage, her family doesn't take her seriously. Her maternal grandparents, Grandma Lila and Grandpa Leo, think that the kosher traditions are outdated, while mom and dad take Jussy and her older sister Helena and little brother Jake to the synagogue just a few times a year. The only person who Jussy believes truly understands her is her parental grandmother, Bubbe, who she doesn't get to see too often since her family moved from New Rochelle, New York to Greenwich, Connecticut the previous summer.

So Jussy's bedroom closet becomes her confessional, where she asks for repentance for her sins from "Father Ted," a favorite teddy bear. She reveals all to Father Ted --- from her feelings of isolation for being the middle child in her family to dealing with her newly discovered feelings towards a cute boy.

But then Jussy is given some devastating news that affects her deeply --- Bubbe has suffered a stroke. Jussy is fearful that her religious exploration is to blame for her grandmother's stroke. Her mother, after accidentally discovering the confessional, thinks that Jussy is being selfish with her exploration especially since Bubbe is a concentration camp survivor (along with her late husband). However, when Bubbe comes to live with Jussy's family, Jussy discovers that she isn't responsible for what happened, and that she must continue to find her own spiritual identity.

Jussy's confessions are thought-provoking and at times quite humorous. Sarah Darer Littman's first novel is a great book for people of all faiths to read, enjoy, and learn from.

   --- Reviewed by Sarah Sawtelle (SdarksideG@aol.com)

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