Book Talk: ‘The $150,000 Rugelach’ is a tasty novel for children
The recipe in “The $150,000 Rugelach,” a tasty middle-grade novel by Akron authors Allison and Wayne Marks, calls for cream cheese, butter, flour and chocolate. There’s another ingredient, too — the one that matters most.
Sixth graders Jack Fineman and Jillian Mermelstein are opposites in personality and baking style. Jack juggles spatulas while he listens to thrash metal, cooking by instinct. Jillian is reluctant to bake at all since her mother died.
Jillian’s mother owned a pastry shop in Seattle, but it had closed with mounting bills from her illness. Jillian and her father have come to live with quirky Grandma Rita, who’s been trying to restore her interest in baking.
Jack and Jillian attend Sieberling School in Ardmore, somewhere in Northeast Ohio (Wooster is mentioned). For their class party before winter break, Jack makes butterscotch basil brownies, confident that his treats will be the hit of the event until he sees his classmates raving about “that strange chocolate thingy” and spots the single remaining rugelach.
Ardmore is the home of the Farnsworth Baking Supply Co., an enterprise that would resemble Pillsbury if Pillsbury were run by a 19th-century robber baron. Farnsworth sponsors the annual Bakerstown Bonanza, akin to the Pillsbury Bake-Off, and winning it is Jack’s ultimate goal. When pompous tycoon Phineas Farnsworth III announces that this year’s contestants will be teams of young bakers from Ardmore, Jack is elated — until he learns who his partner is.
The book finds humor and sentiment as Jack and Jillian learn to work together. Their shared Jewish heritage is another aspect of this book’s charm.
“The $150,000 Rugelach” (240 pages, hardcover) costs $16.99 from Simon & Schuster. It is recommended for readers age 8-12. Allison and Wayne Marks also are the authors of “A Gefilte Fishy Tale” and “Og’s Ark” for readers 3-8. They earned degrees in English literature from the University of Cincinnati.
‘Ellis Island and Immigration for Kids’
The name of Ellis Island conjures up throngs of earnest immigrants, determined to find a new life in the land of opportunity. Who knows that a place called Castle Garden was the primary immigration site for 35 years before Ellis Island began receiving newcomers? This is only the starting point of “Ellis Island and Immigration for Kids: A History with 21 Activities” by Jean Daigneau.
The “for kids” of the title is limiting, as this large-format book is packed with an astonishing array of information that will benefit adults as well. Daigneau begins with the familiar experience of immigrants in the misery of steerage, arriving to an intrusive medical examination and discrimination. She then returns to the earliest Americans, those who crossed from Asia to North America on a land strait, and proceeds through history.
With sections on slavery, the Irish famine and Asians who came to work in mining and railroads, Daigneau proceeds to interment of people of Japanese descent during World War II and into the present day, with Dreamers and the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program.
Among the 21 activities, which really are geared for children, are interviewing family members, making a time capsule and writing a government official.
“Ellis Island and Immigration for Kids” (144 pages, softcover) costs $17.99 from Chicago Review Press. The publisher recommends it for readers age 9-12. Jean Daigneau lives in Kent. She also is the author of “Code Cracking for Kids.” Castle Garden is now named Castle Clinton, a U.S. National Monument named for former New York Gov. DeWitt Clinton.
Events
Loganberry Books (13015 Larchmere Blvd., Cleveland): Ariel T. Franklin signs her romance “The Heart Wants” and screens part of the film based on the book, 2 p.m. Sunday. At 10:30 a.m. Saturday, Echo Brown (“Black Girl Unlimited: The Remarkable Story of a Teenage Wizard,” presents “Beyond Reality: When Magic Meets Memoir” in a Literary Cleveland class. The cost is $40; register at litcleveland.org.
Cuyahoga County Public Library: Dutch author Marieke Nijkamp, who writes fiction and graphic novels for young adults, talks about “At the End of Everything,” about teenagers who are trapped in a detention center when a plague erupts outside, in a Zoom event from 1 to 2 p.m. Tuesday. From 7 to 8 p.m. Wednesday, Fiona Davis discusses her historical mystery “The Magnolia Palace,” about a woman who works at the Frick mansion in New York City, and Jillian Cantor discusses “Beautiful Little Fools,” a resetting of “The Great Gatsby. From 2 to 2:45 p.m. Saturday, children’s author and yoga instructor Michelle Zivkov gives a presentation based on her book “Mindful Wonders: A Book About Mindfulness Using the Wonders of Nature.” Register at cuyahogalibrary.org.
Cleveland Heights-University Heights Public Library: In observation of Edgar Allan Poe’s birthday, two-time Bram Stoker Award winner Lucy A. Snyder of Columbus (“Chimeric Machines” and “Soft Apocalypses”) reads from her work in a Zoom event, 6 to 7 p.m. Wednesday. Register at heightslibrary.org.
Dover Public Library (525 N. Walnut St.): Dover native and University of Akron alumnus Jeff Beitzel talks about his debut novella “Sideman,” based on his life in the Columbus music scene in the 1980s, 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. Thursday. Register at 330-343-6123 or doverlibrary.org.
Email information about books of local interest, and event notices at least two weeks in advance to BeaconBookTalk@gmail.com and bjnews@thebeaconjournal.com. Barbara McIntyre tweets at @BarbaraMcI.
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: ‘The $150,000 Rugelach’ is a tasty novel for children
