My Name is Aviva

by Lesléa Newman, Ag Jatkowska (Illustrator)

Overview

"My name is Aviva, not Amoeba!" shouts Aviva at her teasing classmates. Aviva is determined to change her name until she discovers where her name comes from and why her parents chose that special name for her.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781467726566
Publisher:	Lerner Publishing Group
Publication date:	08/01/2015
Series:	Lerner Life Cycle Series
Pages:	32
Product dimensions:	8.70(w) x 10.80(h) x 0.20(d)
Lexile:	AD580L (what's this?)
Age Range:	3 - 7 Years

About the Author

Leslea Newman has created 80 books for readers of all ages. Her awards include two National Jewish Book Awards, the Massachusetts Book Award, and the Sydney Taylor Body-of-Work Award. She lives in Holyoke, Massachusetts.

Ag Jatkowska was born in Gdansk, Poland. She graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Gdansk with an MA in Graphic Design and Illustration. She lives in Bath, England.

Read an Excerpt

My Name is Aviva

---

By Lesléa Newman, Ag Jatkowska

Kar-Ben Publishing

Copyright © 2015 Lesléa Newman
All rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4677-2654-2

---

CHAPTER 1

My name is Aviva, but the other kids never call me that.

"Bye, Amoeba!" Danny yells, as he runs past me in the schoolyard to meet his dad.

"My name is Aviva, not Amoeba!" I shout, but Danny just runs on.

Then Josette, who is French, skips by. "Au revoir, Viva La France!" she calls.

"My name is not Viva La France! My name is Aviva," I scream, but Josette is already gone.

I climb the monkey bars and hang upside down ignoring everybody.

Finally Mommy and Lulu arrive. "Ready to go, Aviva?" Mommy asks.

I don't answer.

"Aviva?" Mommy taps my shoulder, and Lulu sniffs my knee.

I don't move.

"Aviva, let's go."

"My name isn't Aviva," I tell Mommy. "My name is Emily."

"Emily? I'm sorry. I thought you were my daughter. Come, Lulu, let's go find Aviva." Mommy turns away.

"Wait, Mommy." I jump off the swing. "I am your daughter. But I've changed my name to Emily."

"Well then let's go, Emily," Mommy says.

"Mommy," I say as we crunch through autumn leaves. "Can I ask you something?"

"You just did," Mommy answers. She always says that.

"Can I ask you something else?"

"You just did," Mommy says again.

"Mommy, this is serious!" I kick a pile of leaves and send them flying. "Mommy, why did you and Daddy name me Aviva?"

Before Mommy answers, the big clock on Main Street chimes three times. "Is it three o'clock already?" she asks. "We have to hurry if we're going to make chicken soup for supper."

The minute we get home, Mommy fills a big pot with water and hands me some carrots to wash. "Do you know who taught me to make soup, Emily?"

(Continues...)

---

Excerpted from My Name is Aviva by Lesléa Newman, Ag Jatkowska. Copyright © 2015 Lesléa Newman. Excerpted by permission of Kar-Ben Publishing.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

---

Editorial Reviews

"Newman's gentle, empathetic story warmly addresses the difficulties faced by kids saddled with unusual names." — Booklist Online

From the Publisher

2015-06-29
The mean kids at Aviva's school are cleverer than the mean kids in most neighborhoods. When students at Aviva's school want to make fun of her name, they call her "Amoeba" and "Viva La France." This requires a certain level of sophistication. (A really cruel kid might have called her "Bieber," but then the book would be instantly out of date.) Aviva is ready to change her name to Emily until her parents tell her why they chose that particular name. Even the youngest Jewish readers will probably guess the secret the moment Aviva's parents start talking about her great-grandmother Ada, an immigrant from Russia who "studied the English newspaper every night to learn her ABC's" and sewed stitches "as fine as spider webs." Stories about Ada run throughout the book—arguably, at least one story too many. The parents are reminded of a story every time they do something she did: sew on a button or pick up a book. The device is contrived and repetitive, but the stories are often moving and do lead finally to the information that Ada's Hebrew name was Aviva. And Jatkowska's illustrations are charming. They look like patchwork dolls, pieced together from items found around the house. This book could have used a little trimming, but it's clever enough to make kids curious about their own given names. (Picture book. 5-8)

Kirkus Reviews