Mitzvah Pizza

by Sarah Lynn Scheerger, Deborah Melmon (Illustrator)

Overview

Missy loves Saturdays with her dad. Every week they do something special together. Usually, Dad brings the funds and Missy brings the fun, but this week, it's Missy's turn to treat with her own allowance—until she and her dad stop for pizza, and Missy discovers a special way to do a mitzvah.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781541521711
Publisher:	Lerner Publishing Group
Publication date:	05/01/2019
Pages:	32
Product dimensions:	9.30(w) x 9.50(h) x 0.20(d)
Age Range:	7 - 8 Years

About the Author

Sarah Lynn Scheerger is a clinical social worker who works with "at-promise" youth, helping them figure out who they are and who they want to be. She started writing as a convenient excuse to avoid laundry, and admittedly has gotten a little carried away. She writes picture books as well as middle-grade and young adult novels. She lives in southern California with her husband and children. To learn more, check out her website at www.sarahlynnbooks.com.

Deborah Melmon has been a freelance illustrator in the San Francisco Bay area for over 30 years. Among her many picture books are Picnic at Camp Shalom, Speak Up, Tommy, One Good Deed, and Chicken Soup, Chicken, Soup. Deborah lives with a comical Airedale Terrier named Mack.

Editorial Reviews

"This book may bring a surge of business to the Philadelphia pizzeria that inspired it. The walls of the Pizza Corner are covered with sticky notes, and at first Missy can't figure out why. 'Each sticky note,' her father explains, 'represents a piece of pizza that somebody has already paid for, like a gift or a treat.' Missy's new friend Jane, a girl she met while waiting in line, needs help paying for her slice, for instance. Melmon's illustration of the line is one of the pleasures of the book. Every customer seems to have a full life story, and the picture uses almost every skin tone on the artist's palette. Ever since Hanukkah, Missy has been saving up her chore money for her day with Daddy, and if there's absolutely no suspense about how she's going to spend it, that's because many readers will be moved to go to the real-life pizza shop in Philadelphia and make a donation to the pizza fund. It's difficult not to be touched by the story, even when Scheerger's phrasing is slightly awkward. When Missy is thinking about what to do with her money, she says, 'my mouth is full, and so is my head.' Given the paucity of books about Jews of color, it's notable that Missy has East Asian features while her father presents white; Jane and her father both present white, and their need is treated with respect. Warm and affecting." —Kirkus Reviews

From the Publisher

2019-01-28

This book may bring a surge of business to the Philadelphia pizzeria that inspired it.

The walls of the Pizza Corner are covered with sticky notes, and at first Missy can't figure out why. "Each sticky note," her father explains, "represents a piece of pizza that somebody has already paid for, like a gift or a treat." Missy's new friend Jane, a girl she met while waiting in line, needs help paying for her slice, for instance. Melmon's illustration of the line is one of the pleasures of the book. Every customer seems to have a full life story, and the picture uses almost every skin tone on the artist's palette. Ever since Hanukkah, Missy has been saving up her chore money for her day with Daddy, and if there's absolutely no suspense about how she's going to spend it, that's because many readers will be moved to go to the real-life pizza shop in Philadelphia and make a donation to the pizza fund. It's difficult not to be touched by the story, even when Scheerger's phrasing is slightly awkward. When Missy is thinking about what to do with her money, she says, "my mouth is full, and so is my head." Given the paucity of books about Jews of color, it's notable that Missy has East Asian features while her father presents white; Jane and her father both present white, and their need is treated with respect.

Warm and affecting. (Picture book. 5-10)

Kirkus Reviews