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Original Essays | September 23, 2009

Jonathan Lethem: IMG Stops: On Those Things My New Novel Forgot to Be About, Maybe

0 comments By Jonathan Lethem

For me, there's a weird, unfathomable gulf — I almost wrote gulp — between the completion of a novel and its publication. Some days this duration feels interminable, as though the book has... Continue »
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The Entertainer and the Dybbuk

by Sid Fleischman

The Entertainer and the Dybbuk Cover

Synopses & Reviews

Publisher Comments:

One night The Great Freddie, a young ventriloquist, is possessed by a dybbuk.

A what?

A Jewish spirit. A scrappy demon who glows as if spray-painted by moonlight.

The dybbuk is revealed to be the ghost of a twelve-year-old boy named Avrom Amos, a victim of the Nazis during World War II. In a plucky scheme to seek revenge, he commandeers The Great Freddie's stage act and entraps the entertainer in the postwar ashes of Germany. Behind the footlights, the dybbuk lights up the terrible fate of a million and a half Jewish children, including Avrom himself.

What tricks does the dybbuk have up his ghostly sleeve? Prepare to be astonished. . . .

Synopsis:

The Newbery Medal-winning author of "The Whipping Boy" tells a moving and distinguished story set in post-World War II Europe about an American soldier possessed by the spirit of a dybbuk, who sets out to find the Nazi officer who murdered his family.
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About the Author

As an award-winning young novelist, Sid Fleischman stated publicly that the only way he would write nonfiction was with a gun to his head. It turned out to be a squirt gun, for The Trouble Begins at 8: A Life of Mark Twain in the Wild, Wild West is the third extraordinary true tale that has escaped his pen. It follows close behind the best-selling Escape! The Story of The Great Houdini and his autobiography, The Abracadabra Kid: A Writer's Life.

Fleischman's books have been made into films, performed as plays, and translated into nineteen languages. The author was awarded the Newbery Medal for The Whipping Boy. His most recent novel is The Entertainer and the Dybbuk. Sid Fleischman lives in Santa Monica, California.

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What Our Readers Are Saying

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Average customer rating based on 3 comments:
dare2tri2001, July 12, 2008 (view all comments by dare2tri2001)
I read this book for a Master's class on Multi-Cultural Children's Lit. I was astounded. Over the decades I've read Night, The Hiding Place, and seen a variety of museums, movies, and newsreels on the Holocaust. But this book is an amazing mix of the horror of the Holocaust with a 12-year-old victim who becomes the hero. It does include the "possession" of a 3rd-rate ventriquilist, but at no time do you feel an "evil" anywhere in the book except in the actions and plans of the Nazis. This book is satisfying for adults and children alike. It's easy to separate the true from the adventurous fiction - and is sprinkled with humor from a "dummy" with a knife like an "icepick". He throws a drowning Nazi a rope - a Christian thing to do, The Great Freddie says. A Jewish thing, too - quips the Dybbuk - I threw him both ends.

Love this book. Amazing. Taught in conjuction with other Holocaust books, would help children feel the power they can have - even in the face of evil - even in the face of death.

I thank Mr. Fleischman for having the backbone to write this and intend to recommend it to everyone I know - kid or adult.

Michael & Matt's Mom
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Cathy from Olympia, Washington, December 5, 2007 (view all comments by Cathy from Olympia, Washington)
Mediocre ventriloquist "The Great Freddie" finds himself possessed by dybbuk Avrom Amos who was killed as a child by the Nazis. Freddie and Avrom become an odd but effective team, managing to work together to save Freddie's career while spreading Avrom's and other Jewish children's story of persecution and death. While this unique story is written as a children's book and would be a good introduction to the holocaust, the short tale is sophisticated enough to appeal to adults as well. I found the ending particularly satisfying!
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amber.pasternak, November 1, 2007 (view all comments by amber.pasternak)
Feeling burnt out on children's Holocaust literature, I decided to write my thesis on the portrayal of Judaism in YA fiction. I was determined not to read any Holocaust or WWII centered books until I finished my thesis. But last week I picked up Fleischman's book and read it cover to cover during my lunch. It is so atypical of what's out there. (I even learned some new things.) Fleischman's approach is such that the reader does not feel overwhelmed. Tragedy and comedy are expertly woven together.
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Product Details

ISBN:
9780061344459
Author:
Fleischman, Sid
Publisher:
Greenwillow Books
Author:
by Sid Fleischman
Subject:
People & Places - Europe
Subject:
Religious - Jewish
Subject:
Historical - Holocaust
Subject:
Jews
Subject:
Holocaust, jewish (1939-1945)
Subject:
Jewish fiction.
Subject:
Spirit possession
Publication Date:
September 2007
Binding:
Hardcover
Grade Level:
Children/juvenile
Language:
English
Pages:
180
Dimensions:
6.31x5.89x.75 in. .48 lbs.
Age Level:
09-14
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