From Dust, a Flame

January 3, 2022
The day after turning 17, Hannah Kowalski wakes up in Jamaica Plain, Mass., with snake eyes, and the next day with wolflike fangs, too. Saying she knows a healer, her frequently peripatetic mother disappears, leaving Hannah and her older brother Gabe alone to cope with the changes. Hannah already feels like the odd one out in her family—their mother prefers theater kid Gabe, who is adopted, to biological child Hannah. But the siblings are close, and when they receive a death announcement for the grandmother they’ve never met, they travel to their mother’s hometown in the Hudson Valley. There, they find out how little they know about her, including that her family are observant Jews. The two join forces with Ari Leydon, a local teen to whom Hannah is attracted, to investigate family history and Jewish folklore, especially golems and demons. Podos (The Wise and the Wicked) shifts between Hannah’s first-person voice and a third-person narrative from the past, deftly blending Jewish fact and legend to create a tale of secrets, history, and daring with white-cued characters. The result is the rare read that may appeal equally to lovers of contemporary and fantasy novels. Ages 14–up. Agent: Eric Smith, P.S. Literary Agency.

December 1, 2021
Hannah Kowalski is a normal teenage girl...at least, until she wakes up on her 17th birthday with snake eyes. Hannah and her older brother, Gabe, have been moving around from state to state most of their lives; their mother never could manage to stay in the same place for long. When they land in Jamaica Plain, Hannah insists they stay so she can have some semblance of normality and a chance of academic success at Winthrop Academy, where she attends on scholarship. Unfortunately, when Hannah wakes up stricken by a centuries-old curse, a normal summer, let alone school year, is out of the question. When their mother disappears after disclosing that their family is actually Jewish, Hannah and Gabe take matters into their own hands. Together they journey to their mother's hometown of Fox Hollow, New York, and with the help of their new friend, Ari Leydon, whose family is connected to theirs, activate a golem to help them on their quest to break the curse and find their mother. Based on Jewish folklore, this contemporary fantasy is a thrilling story of family, supernatural monsters, fabled heroes, and first love. Told in chapters alternately focusing on the present day, narrated in the first person, and flashbacks told in the third person, the story will captivate readers and keep them turning pages until its satisfying conclusion. An enjoyable, suspenseful modern take on Jewish folklore. (family tree) (Fantasy. 14-18)

COPYRIGHT(2021) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

February 1, 2022

Gr 9 Up-When Hannah wakes up on her 17th birthday with the eyes of a snake, her eccentric mother, Mali, promises she can fix Hannah's ailment, and then leaves without a trace. When time passes with Mali nowhere to be found and Hannah developing new animal-like physical traits, Hannah and her brother, Gabe, receive notice that their Jewish grandmother, Jitka, whom they have never met, has died. They head to the small town of Fox Hollows to meet their mom's family for the first time, hoping for answers. The siblings befriend Ari, a cool, confident, queer, Jewish local in town, whose grandmother was a beloved spiritual healer, to help investigate the disappearance of their mom and Hannah's ever-changing body. They uncover a haunting history, one that proves we as people are bound by the actions of our ancestors. Podos's book bridges three generations of young women and the burdens they can't escape. Present-day Hannah's coming-of-age story is in the forefront, but there are flashbacks to 1939 and 1990, when her grandmother and mother were teens, that shed light on Hannah's current situation. The story of Jitka narrowly escaping the Holocaust and Mali's traumatic first love story are revealed in detail. Letters are interwoven into the story, helping to drive the plot forward. The novel is seeped in traditional Jewish folktales of magic, golems, and demons, and authentically ties in Jewish ritual and holidays. VERDICT This is the queer Jewish YA fantasy novel readers need, featuring complex characters to adore and family secrets they'll want to uncover.-Danielle Winter

Copyright 2022 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

March 1, 2022
Hannah doesn't think too deeply about why her peripatetic mother, Malka, has always moved their family from place to place. Now, having earned a scholarship to a prestigious high school, high-achieving Hannah thinks she's finally convinced Mom to settle down. Then she wakes up on her seventeenth birthday to eyes that have turned golden and snakelike. The next day it's fangs. And then Mom disappears. An anonymous letter draws Hannah (now with ram's horns) and her older brother to a small town in upstate New York in time to sit shiva for Jitka, the grandmother they never knew, and to meet the rest of their extended Jewish family. Hannah suspects that Mom is nearby; and in uncovering her family's past, she believes she can solve the mysteries surrounding her own bodily transformations. Her search leads her to Jewish mysticism and folklore -- and to the golem hidden in their barn. Interspersed chapters relate the tale of Malka's doomed teenage love affair and of Jitka's youth in Prague. Themes of family, love, identity (including LGBTQIA+ identities), betrayal, and redemption blend well with the author's meditations on religion, ancestry, dreams, storytelling, and the significance of names and naming. Hannah is an engaging protagonist, and her interactions with her family members and the supernatural beings she encounters guide this layered tale to a suspenseful and satisfying conclusion. Elissa Gershowitz

(Copyright 2022 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

January 1, 2022
Hannah doesn't think too deeply about why her peripatetic mother, Malka, has always moved their family from place to place. Now, having earned a scholarship to a prestigious high school, high-achieving Hannah thinks she's finally convinced Mom to settle down. Then she wakes up on her seventeenth birthday to eyes that have turned golden and snakelike. The next day it's fangs. And then Mom disappears. An anonymous letter draws Hannah (now with ram's horns) and her older brother to a small town in upstate New York in time to sit shiva for Jitka, the grandmother they never knew, and to meet the rest of their extended Jewish family. Hannah suspects that Mom is nearby; and in uncovering her family's past, she believes she can solve the mysteries surrounding her own bodily transformations. Her search leads her to Jewish mysticism and folklore -- and to the golem hidden in their barn. Interspersed chapters relate the tale of Malka's doomed teenage love affair and of Jitka's youth in Prague. Themes of family, love, identity (including LGBTQIA+ identities), betrayal, and redemption blend well with the author's meditations on religion, ancestry, dreams, storytelling, and the significance of names and naming. Hannah is an engaging protagonist, and her interactions with her family members and the supernatural beings she encounters guide this layered tale to a suspenseful and satisfying conclusion.

(Copyright 2022 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

February 1, 2022
Grades 9-12 After a rootless childhood during which Hannah and her older brother, Gabe, moved frequently, their mother, Malka, has promised that they'll stay in Boston until Hannah finishes high school. But Hannah's plans for normalcy are ruined when she wakes on her seventeenth birthday with snake eyes and a new monstrous feature developing each night after. Malka, unwilling to explain, leaves with promises to fix the curse with a "specialist's" help. Weeks pass, and when the siblings receive a funeral notice for a grandmother they've never heard of, they travel to New York, hoping to find Malka and discovering an extended Jewish family they never knew they had. Podos' contemporary fantasy is steeped in Jewish folklore, from golems to shedim, and centers on three generations of women torn between honoring their families and making their own choices. Hannah's suspenseful narrative is interspersed with crucial but slower-paced flashbacks from her mother and grandmother. While bisexual Hannah's blossoming feelings for a local girl will delight romance fans, her lovely, supportive relationship with Gabe is the story's true heart.

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