"Aunts, uncles, cousins,
grandparents, neighbors
and family friends ... they
all come, their arms filled
with platters of food and
bakery boxes. I watch them
from my bedroom window."
Jenny's mother has died. Her dad is as inconsolable as Jenny is; still, he follows all the Jewish rituals dictated by their loss. That means there are a lot of people constantly in attendance with food, comfort, and wanting to support she and her dad. Jenny wants to be alone.
What she really wants is her mother.
"I reach for the blanket she knit for me
and wrap it around my shoulders like a cape.
I thought I'd feel superhero strong
in it. Instead I feel tired under its weight."
Reminders surround her and memories fill her heart. When she hears a laugh that sounds just like her mother, she opens her bedroom door to see Aunt Sarah motioning for her to come downstairs. She looks and sounds a lot like Jenny's mother. Her aunt folds Jenny into her arms, and tells her stories about their childhood.
Her cousin Jack asks her to play; she begins to appreciate all who have come to express sympathy at such a sad time. A hand squeeze from her friend, and a hot pizza from her neighbor sends her in a search for her father to let him know she no longer minds having company. She finds him alone in her bedroom, wrapped in her blanket. After a quiet time together, she convinces him to come with her - 'it's not the time to be alone'.
The comforting text and the warm images will help young readers begin to understand what shiva means in Jewish families. There is a clear sense that Jenny and her dad are mourning their loss in the darkness at the start of the story; more light enters as the story unfolds and allows some small feelings of solace through the heartwarming actions of others.
A note from the author explains the ritual of sitting shiva, a seven-day period of mourning for the death of a family member observed in Jewish homes.
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