Dreidels on the Brain

At last a great American Hanukkah story! This very funny, very touching novel of growing up Jewish has the makings of a holiday classic.

One lousy miracle. Is that too much to ask?

Evidently so for Joel, as he tries to survive Hannukah, 1971 in the suburbs of the suburbs of Los Angeles (or, as he calls it, “The Land of Shriveled Dreams”). That’s no small task when you’re a “seriously funny-looking” twelve-year-old magician who dreams of being his own superhero: Normalman. And Joel’s a long wa...