Saturday, August 16, 2008

Memories of Babi


Siegal, Aranka. 2008. Memories of Babi.

A collection of nine short stories--loosely connected much in the same way as A Long Way From Chicago works--about a young girl spending time with her grandmother. Set in pre-World War II Ukraine (near the Ukraine/Hungary border really), the stories feature a Jewish family living side by side with their gentile neighbors in this small mountain community. The stories are fictional but based on the author's childhood memories of her time with her grandmother. The stories have little life lessons packed into them, but not in a preachy way.

I read this book about a month ago. So the details are sketchy when it comes to individual stories. But I do remember liking the book in a general way.

The author is Aranka Siegal who won a Newbery Honor for her autobiography Upon the Head of The Goat in 1982.

© Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

1 comment:

wisteria said...

I'll have to read this one now that school is starting on the 25th. I never read her first, but now I must look for it. Thanks Becky!