July 18, 2023 by Blackstone Publishing
Copy provided by Young Adult Books Central
Joseph was born in California, but is now getting ready to enter the 8th grade in Texas in 1978. His parents fled Iran when things became difficult; his cousin Shahla's parents were both killed in a car bombing. Joseph is good friends with neighbors Mateo and Roberto Ybarra, but often comes under attack by neighborhood bullies because he wears a kippah in accordance with his Jewish culture. He has a very close relationship with Miss Eleanor (or LaLa), a grandmotherly older lady who gives piano lessons. He gets groceries for her, helps around the house, and keeps her company, and in exchange, she gives him piano lessons. When he finally retaliates against the hoodlums who are bedeviling him by punching one of them at the store, the police are called. He isn't in trouble with the law, but his father punishes him for his act of violence by beating him, in true 1970s parental fashion. When approached by the football coach to play, Joseph seizes the opportunity, and is soon a talented player. He has a tentative relationship with a girl he thinks is cute, Vonda, but the two recognize that their relationship has no future because of the differences in their religions (she's Baptist) and the objections of their parents. Joseph has his Bar Mitzvah, his father takes flying lessons, and life goes on, but when the Shah of Iran comes to the US for cancer treatments, his mother is upset. Things get worse when the Iranian Hostage Crisis takes place and people in the small Texas town start to turn against the family. When the police question Joseph about a local drug distribution problem, will his knowledge get him in trouble, or put his family in a better position?
I haven't seen anything about the plight of Iranian Americans in the US during this horrible time in the 1970s, with the exception of Dumas' It Ain't So Awful, Falafel, and since Joseph's family was also Jewish, this was quite interesting. The father talks frequently about sending Joseph and his mother to live in Israel for safety. The Jewish diaspora was wide spread, and I forget about that until books like this or Behar's Letters from Cuba remind me.
Copy provided by Young Adult Books Central
Joseph was born in California, but is now getting ready to enter the 8th grade in Texas in 1978. His parents fled Iran when things became difficult; his cousin Shahla's parents were both killed in a car bombing. Joseph is good friends with neighbors Mateo and Roberto Ybarra, but often comes under attack by neighborhood bullies because he wears a kippah in accordance with his Jewish culture. He has a very close relationship with Miss Eleanor (or LaLa), a grandmotherly older lady who gives piano lessons. He gets groceries for her, helps around the house, and keeps her company, and in exchange, she gives him piano lessons. When he finally retaliates against the hoodlums who are bedeviling him by punching one of them at the store, the police are called. He isn't in trouble with the law, but his father punishes him for his act of violence by beating him, in true 1970s parental fashion. When approached by the football coach to play, Joseph seizes the opportunity, and is soon a talented player. He has a tentative relationship with a girl he thinks is cute, Vonda, but the two recognize that their relationship has no future because of the differences in their religions (she's Baptist) and the objections of their parents. Joseph has his Bar Mitzvah, his father takes flying lessons, and life goes on, but when the Shah of Iran comes to the US for cancer treatments, his mother is upset. Things get worse when the Iranian Hostage Crisis takes place and people in the small Texas town start to turn against the family. When the police question Joseph about a local drug distribution problem, will his knowledge get him in trouble, or put his family in a better position?
I haven't seen anything about the plight of Iranian Americans in the US during this horrible time in the 1970s, with the exception of Dumas' It Ain't So Awful, Falafel, and since Joseph's family was also Jewish, this was quite interesting. The father talks frequently about sending Joseph and his mother to live in Israel for safety. The Jewish diaspora was wide spread, and I forget about that until books like this or Behar's Letters from Cuba remind me.
Joseph's experiences are framed in a standard school year, and his relationships with family and friends, his testing of romantic waters, his football and basketball careers, and his experiences with bullied and racism are all framed on that timeline. The chapters have the names of hats, and the format is more anecdotal. The lyrical and introspective quality of the prose made this seem more like a books for adults looking back with nostalgia at past days. The content is middle grade appropriate, although there are several instances where racial and gender slurs common in the 1970s by now forbidden are used.
Readers who want a deeper look into one middle grade characters life experiences that are informed by his Jewish culture and faith will find this an interesting read to pair with Freedman's My Basmati Bat Mitzvah, Garcia's I Wanna Be Your Shoebox, Nockowitz' The Prince of Steel Pier, and ben Izzy's Dreidel's on the Brain.
I was thinking of It Ain't So Awful, Falafel while reading your review, so I loved that you mentioned it. That's the only other book I can think of reading about that time period and topic. This definitely sounds like something worth checking out. Thanks for the in-depth review!
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