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Gr 5-7 Pluto the dog knocks down the family's Christmas tree (known as a Hanukkah bush in the Goodman household) and the question of religion makes a sudden and unwelcome appearance. Dad is Jewish; Mom is Episcopalian; and the three kids, Ellen, Sam, and Maxie, have been brought up pretty much with no religion. When Dad suggests they celebrate Hanukkah this year, things become very tense, a situation exacerbated by the two grandmothers, who cordia...Log In or Sign Up to Read More

At twelve, Sam Goodman is feeling his "middleness"—as the middle child, as a pubescent boy just entering the dating scene, and, especially, as a member of an interfaith household (his father is Jewish, his mother Christian). When the dog knocks over the "Hanukkah bush," a.k.a. the Christmas tree, the usual calm of Sam's family is disturbed; the seemingly minor occurrence challenges Sam's parents to rethink how they fee...Log In or Sign Up to Read More