THE LENGTH OF A STRING by Elissa Brent Weissman, for Marvelous Middle Grade Monday

The characters in this story were like real people for me. An interesting and absorbing read!

Description from the publisher:

Imani knows exactly what she wants as her big bat mitzvah gift: to find her birth parents. She loves her family and her Jewish community in Baltimore, but she has always wondered where she came from, especially since she’s black and almost everyone she knows is white. Then her mom’s grandmother–Imani’s great-grandma Anna–passes away, and Imani discovers an old journal among her books. It’s Anna’s diary from 1941, the year she was twelve and fled Nazi-occupied Luxembourg alone, sent by her parents to seek refuge in Brooklyn, New York. 

Anna’s diary records her journey to America and her new life with an adoptive family of her own. And as Imani reads the diary, she begins to see her family, and her place in it, in a whole new way.

The Length of a String, written by Elissa Brent Weissman was published by Dial Books for Young Readers in 2018.

Why you want to read this book… 

I felt so close to the characters of Imani and Anna that I felt sad, disappointed and excited right along with them as I read the story. I’ve always thought that researching your own family is a wonderful way to learn about history, and this novel showed me it’s true. I enjoyed the realistic way the author showed relationships between characters, especially Imani and her mom. I haven’t come across many contemporary stories about girls with a Jewish upbringing, so that was also interesting.

Opening:

Dear Belle,

All my life I’ve shared with you. Before we were born, we shared Mama’s belly, splitting the resources so equally that we weighed the exact same amount at birth.

If you’re a writer… 

This is an excellent mentor text if you’re trying to weave together stories from two different time periods, or if you want to include a series of letters in your novel. I also really enjoyed the writing style and careful use of details. Technology is integrated into the story with limits and as a research tool.

I ran my hand over the old paper until my eyes stopped on a familiar word. A name: Anna. It was at the bottom of the page on the right, the way you’d sign a letter or a diary. My fingers jumped back as though the ink were hot.

If you’re a teacher…

This would be an interesting read aloud to kick off a family history project or to encourage discussion about war, the Holocaust, identity and family. Thinking about real life events from the perspective of how it affects families made this work of fiction seem quite real. There are details about the Jewish faith, as the main character is preparing for her bat mitzvah.

“Can you imagine that? Being your age and going to a new country all by yourself?”

I got a sudden pang of nervousness, like a pinprick in my side. I could tell Mom knew something about Grandma Anna’s family, and I didn’t want to know what it was. Not yet.


Check out more great middle grade reads on Marvelous Middle Grade Monday, hosted by writer & book blogger, Greg Pattridge.