#26: The Mystics of Mile End

The Mystics of Mile End by Sigal Samuel was a free advanced copy that I grabbed off of the library table.  It was about a boy named Lev who is growing up in the Mile End neighborhood in Canada.  He goes to both regular school and is being taught about his Jewish religion from his neighbor.  Throughout the book, Lev and his sister Samara struggle with telling their father that being Jewish is very important to them.  The father, David, started doubting his religion shortly before his wife died.

There are several interesting characters in the book.  I really liked how the story was told first from Lev, then Sam, then David, and then a summary of everything.  Even though I didn't understand some of the Hebrew text with the Tree of Knowledge, I still thought it was a very interesting and heartwarming story about the Mile End neighborhood.