The Horn Book Guide

INTERMEDIATE FICTION

Chaikin, Miriam

Alexandra's Scroll: The Story of the First Hanukkah

115 pp. | Holt | October, 2002 | Trade ISBN 0-8050-6384-6 $$18.95

(2) 4-6 Illustrated by Stephen Fieser. The story of Hanukkah is folded into the story of narrator Alexandra and her coming of age as a young Jew in Judea circa 165 B.C.E. Alexandra's mother encourages her writing talent and convinces Alexandra that the times in which they live must be recorded. Chaikin tells many stories at once; Fieser follows the strands with vibrant art that captures the generalities of wartime oppression and the particularities of child friendship.

Reviewer: Susan P. Bloom | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2002