This is a sweet and emotional story
I felt that the story was very superficial and needed more depth
The cover is misleading and made me think that it was a magical read

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for giving me a free copy of this advanced copy of the book to read and review.

It's the year 2000 and 11 year old Cobber has just started the 6th grade. He is still sad about his mother's death 6 years ago. He wants to be closer to his father but his father is always working. Cobber and his dad both spend time looking out for Cobber's 100 year old great grandfather Papa-Ben who lives in nearby Senior Housing. Cobber loves magic and wants to be a magician but is too shy to perform in front of anyone. Cobber also isn't sure of his identity or culture. His family is Jewish but they aren't pressuring him to make his bar-mitzvah and he isn't sure if he wants to. Basically, Cobber is having a rough time of life emotionally and feeling disconnected from his family.

I feel like I learned a lot about bar mitzvah's in this book. The author really delved into the purpose of the ceremony, what goes on, and whether you need to have one to be truly Jewish.

Cobber is firmly against having a bar mitzvah, but when his best friend decides to start classes in preparation he feels alone and left out. Cobber is also worried about disappointing his great grandfather, who's health is declining as he approaches 100 years old. I felt bad for Cobber, his dad worked the majority of the time, his best friend was busy with classes, and his PapaBen is starting to forget things and needs more care. That's a lot for an eleven year old to go through.

I was happy to see Cobber's family come together and for him to realize that there's no right way to practice Judaism. He gained confidence in himself and I was proud when he performed at the talent show. I did think the story could have included Cobber and his dad having a conversation about how lonely he felt. They made up but I thought some tough conversations were left out. I also thought there was an overload of information about bar mitzvahs, especially for a middle grade book.

The cover of this is misleading to me. I thought the focus would be on magic, maybe even real magic. Instead, magic tricks are more in the background and religion is at the forefront. I'd appreciate a different cover that reflected more of the plot.

I voluntarily read and reviewed this book. Thank you to Green Bean Books and NetGalley for the copy.

I am sad to say I DNF'ed this book. Maybe I have read too many middle-grade books that deal with the death of a mother lately. Or maybe the setting is too contemporary for my liking. Either way, this book didn't work for me. I couldn't connect to the characters and ultimately just didn't care. I can see how this would be a valuable read for tweens though, especially because it handles mourning from a Jewish perspective. It just wasn't for me.

The story of Cobber, a young boy still learning to cope after the death of his mother years before.
It's an emotional story about Cobber finding his way in the world and developing his relationship with his father.

Calling Cobber by Sheri Sinykin, 2020

Recommended for grades 4-8; realistic fiction, historical fiction

This middle-grade novel set in the recent past (the year 2000, to be exact) is a coming-of-age story about a preteen boy as he struggles with his Jewish identity (or lack thereof) and the reality that his beloved great grandfather might not live much longer. Jacob, usually known as Cobber, is also struggling with the death of his mother six years ago and the impact it has left on his father. In many ways, the themes of mortality and religious identity tie together. Cobber considers himself Jewish by heritage only; he doesn’t really like talk of God and heaven, and he resents any suggestions that he should be going to Hebrew school or getting ready for his bar mitzvah.

In the first chapter, Cobber finds out that his friend Boolkie has given into familiar pressure and agreed to the whole Hebrew-school-and-bar-mitzvah thing. Boolkie’s older brother Eli is about to have his own bar mitzvah, and their parents are so proud that Boolkie just can’t refuse. Although the boys had agreed that they would never go through with it, Boolkie would like Cobber to join him. And Cobber knows that Papa-Ben, his great grandfather, would want him to do his bar mitzvah. So he decides that he just can’t let Papa-Ben know that Boolkie is going to Hebrew school.

Meanwhile, Papa-Ben is suddenly starting to show signs of memory problems. Maybe it’s not surprising, since he’s just shy of a hundred years old, but he’s always been so healthy and independent that Cobber is taken by surprise. Things come to a head one night when Papa-Ben accidentally takes far too many pills and ends up in the hospital. After that, his apartment management doesn’t want to let him move back in, so Dad is considering sending Papa-Ben to a nursing home. Cobber manages to persuade him to let Papa-Ben move into their own home. This sets into motion a series of events that gradually brings Cobber to show a greater interest in his Jewish culture and even the Jewish faith.

Significant side plots include a magic trick act in a school talent show, a few incidents with an ouija board, a school assignment about family history, and a girl from Cobber’s class who clearly has a crush on him. By the end of the book, Cobber has a crush on her, too. While the book explores some meaningful concepts, and there are hints that these side plots are meant to connect to the main themes and ideas of the book, they’re not very well fleshed out. In particular, since the magic act and the ouija board are included in the cover art, I expected them to play a more significant role in the plot. 

Overall, this is an interesting book that is worth a read if you’re specifically looking for Jewish-American realistic fiction or a tactful, sensitive portrayal of old age for a middle-grade reader who might have loved ones who are experiencing similar things. But I wouldn’t highly recommend purchasing this book unless you’re specifically looking for one or the other of those niche topics. Of course, with that being said, there isn’t a whole lot of good, mainstream Jewish-American middle-grade fiction. This book might be a welcome addition to library collections for that reason alone, especially because it has a fairly extensive glossary at the end which mostly consists of Hebrew words that have to do with Jewish holidays or religious traditions, the names of traditional Jewish foods, and Yiddish words and expressions.

It's the year 2000 and 11 year old Cobber has just started the 6th grade. He is still sad about his mother's death 6 years ago. He wants to be closer to his father but his father is always working. Cobber and his dad both spend time looking out for Cobber's 100 year old great grandfather Papa-Ben who lives in nearby Senior Housing. Cobber loves magic and wants to be a magician but is too shy to perform in front of anyone. Cobber also isn't sure of his identity or culture. His family is Jewish but they aren't pressuring him to make his bar-mitzvah and he isn't sure if he wants to. Basically, Cobber is having a rough time of life emotionally and feeling disconnected from his family.

This was a sweet and emotional story about a boy trying to figure out who he is and also trying to figure out how to make his family feel like a family again. I enjoyed it but didn't feel fully drawn into the story.

A great read for the children and the pace of the story is wonderful as are the characters. I think this will be an emotional but exciting read for younger readers.