The Dubious Pranks of Shaindy Goodman

by Mari Lowe

Overview

Shaindy, a lonely twelve-year-old Orthodox Jewish girl, jumps at the opportunity to join in on a harmless prank with her classmate and neighbor Gayil, but as the pranks escalate, Shaindy realizes they are targeted at specific girls and fears she will be the next victim if she cannot find a way to stop them.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781420514858
Publisher:	Gale, A Cengage Group
Publication date:	08/14/2024
Edition description:	Large Print
Pages:	262
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x (d)
Age Range:	8 - 12 Years

About the Author

Mari Lowe has too little free time and spends it all on writing and escape rooms. As the daughter of a rabbi and a middle school teacher at an Orthodox Jewish school, she looks forward to sharing little glimpses into her community with her books. She lives in New York with her family, menagerie of pets, and robotic vacuum. Her debut middle grade novel, Aviva vs. the Dybbuk, received critical praise and was named a Sydney Taylor Book Award winner.

Author Residence: Queens, NY

Editorial Reviews

Kirkus Top 10 Middle Grade Novels for Fall '23

“A nuanced exploration of the intricacies of friendship…Engrossing and deeply relatable.” – Kirkus

“An enormously rewarding meditation on friendship, fairness, and forgiveness.” – Booklist

[STAR] “[An] introspective novel full of perceptive emotional observations.” – Horn Book (starred)

“This thoughtful middle grade novel explores the complexity of middle school friendships, bullying, and what it means to make amends and have a fresh start.” – Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books

[STAR] “[An] introspective novel full of perceptive emotional observations.” – Horn Book (starred)

“With care­ful pre­ci­sion, Mari Lowe explores the com­plex nature of pre­teen social inter­ac­tions, as well as their emo­tion­al­ly dan­ger­ous consequences.” – Jewish Book Council

“Pitch-perfect… The struggle between trying to fit in and keeping true to yourself will resonate with all tweens.” – School Library Journal

[STAR] “An outsider aching for inclusion becomes the perpetrator of escalating stunts before her inevitable undoing in Mari Lowe's absorbing and principled middle-grade triumph The Dubious Pranks of Shaindy Goodman.” – Shelf Awareness (starred)

From the Publisher

2023-07-25
Shaindy and Gayil are neighbors and classmates, but they have never been friends.

It’s the beginning of sixth grade, and Shaindy and Gayil attend an Orthodox Jewish girls’ school that prizes both education and kindness. Awkward, chubby Shaindy feels invisible, while smart, popular Gayil is considered the perfect student. Their community is celebrating the High Holidays, with their particular emphasis on repentance (teshuva) and atonement. Ironically, Gayil chooses to begin a series of “harmless” pranks at this time, and she enlists Shaindy as her partner-in-crime. Shaindy craves a friend so much that she eagerly participates, but Gayil’s schemes soon escalate from putting slime on a good friend’s hairbrush to unleashing bees in the classroom (despite the potential danger to an allergic student) to faking another girl’s handwriting to get her in trouble with the teacher. Shaindy’s conscience starts to bother her until it finally all comes to a head and Gayil reveals the secret behind her unusual behavior. This is a nuanced exploration of the intricacies of friendship, and the fully realized setting, a close-knit development for Orthodox Jews, offers a very specific picture of Shaindy’s home and school life. Transliterated Hebrew words will be familiar to some (there is no glossary), but the universal themes of desiring friendship and popularity will resonate with many. Characters are cued as Jewish and white.

Engrossing and deeply relatable. (Fiction. 9-12)

Kirkus Reviews