Starred review from April 14, 2014
Devorah is a Hasidic Jew, and her life is full of loving family, constant ritual, and avoiding outsiders. Jaxon is a smart, funny black teenager who has yet to see much success with girls. Both live in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, but it takes a stuck elevator during a hurricane for the two to share their first words. Despite Devorah’s trepidation, sparks fly. Intense first love unfolds fast and furious between this unlikely pair, and Devorah is terrified they’ll be found out, shaming her family and ruining her future within her community. Readers will fall for these two lovestruck teenagers as easily as they fall for each other. Devorah’s chapters are rich in detail about Hasidic Jewish life, both the pain its rigid rules bring her and the love it inspires in her. Jaxon’s big heart and romantic nature make him the perfect match for Devorah, who craves personal freedom and a chance to chart her own future. LaMarche’s (Five Summers) characters are authentic and fully realized, and the dire consequences that threaten this clandestine romance make the novel read like a thriller. Ages 12–up.
May 1, 2014
Sparks-both romantic and cultural-fly when Hasidic Devorah and Jaxon, the son of West Indian immigrants, meet on a hospital elevator stuck between floors during a hurricane.This chance flirtation fans a tiny flame of doubt into a wildfire. Devorah knows she doesn't want to live out her parents' vision of the future: a highly circumscribed yet loving life of faith and family in Crown Heights, Brooklyn. Devorah begins lying to her parents and sneaking around their rules to spend more time with Jaxon, falling for him hard and thinking that a relationship with him would help her avoid entering an early, arranged marriage and inevitable motherhood. But her suspicious, holier-than-thou brother-in-law, Jacob, seems intent on catching Devorah in the wrong. Meanwhile, Jaxon thrills to the romance of their shared secret, laboring over a heartfelt mix CD and devising detailed plans for a date that won't break the rules of sabbath. The novel is by no means perfect: Jacob's villainy is positively cliched, and the number of factual missteps throughout (by tradition, Devorah would not have been named for a living grandmother and would never call that grandmother a shiksa, for example) render the narrative troubling and unreliable. The story is most successful in the scenes between the protagonists and their respective families, which readers will note are more similar than they are different.A highly readable though flawed twist on the classic star-crossed lovers plot. (Fiction. 12-16)
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June 1, 2014
Gr 9 Up-Jaxon and Devorah inhabit different worlds despite living in the same Brooklyn neighborhood, but a fateful combination of a birth, a storm, and an empty stomach trap them together in a hospital elevator. For Devorah, who isn't allowed to talk to boys-and forget about non-Jewish black boys-this is a stressful test of her obedience to her faith, family, and Hasidic community. She doesn't want to be a rebel, but she doesn't want to be rude to the friendly (and very cute) boy who is trying everything to get them out of the elevator. From Jaxon's point of view, fate has given him the opportunity to talk to a beautiful girl who would normally terrify him. As it often goes in these stories, Devorah and Jaxon are opposites destined to be star-crossed in love, but the voices and characters are fresh and interesting enough to keep readers engaged until the end. LaMarche alternates between the two perspectives, prefacing each chapter with a date and time stamp, underlining how time expands and contracts in odd ways when one is in love. Their time together is forbidden and precious, making each moment simultaneously infinite and too short. This is an effective romance with light touches of humor and serious drama. Fans of Rainbow Rowell's Eleanor & Park (St. Martin's Pr., 2013) may ultimately prefer that novel, which is more skillfully crafted, but they will enjoy this story of surprising love.-Joy Piedmont, LREI, New York City
Copyright 2014 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
July 1, 2014
Grades 9-12 In this contemporary version of West Side Story, the role of Maria is played by 16-year-old Devorah, a member of the Lubavitcher community, while this Tony is Jaxon, whose family is West Caribbean. Both are serious students, close to their families, and good kids. There's no reason for them to meetDevorah rarely ventures outside the confines of her ultra-Orthodox community. Then, her sister goes into labor on the night of a hurricane, and Devorah is at the hospital with her. After a power loss stalls an elevator, Devorah finds herself alone with Jaxon, a female-male proximity strictly forbidden by her religion. But fate has other ideas, and that encounter leads them to a furtive relationship that awakens feelings in Devorah not just of romance but also of freedom. Told in the teens' alternating voices, the book offers even more perspectives as friends, family, and counselors learn about the situation (in Devorah's world, to their horror). The actions taken don't always feel organic to the characters, but readers will be fascinated by this peek into a different world, as they empathize with the couple's emotions and feel buoyed by the hopeful ending.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)
January 1, 2015
Devorah and Jaxon meet in an elevator and come away with that love-at-first-sight feeling. It's complicated; Devorah is a Hasidic Jew, Jaxon is black. Devorah, whether agonizing over her love life or sharing informative details about Hasidic daily life and religious philosophy, is believable and engaging. Her struggle between tradition and modernity, filial duty and personal fulfillment, is complex and realistic.
(Copyright 2015 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)
July 1, 2014
How's this for a meet cute? New York teens Devorah and Jaxon get stuck in a hospital elevator during a hurricane. Though their encounter is a fairly brief one, it's also intense, and both come away with that love-at-first-sight feeling. Here's where things get complicated. Devorah is a Hasidic Jew, and a frum one at that ("basically the Yiddish equivalent of 'hopeless goody two-shoes'"). Jaxon is black. They live in present-day Crown Heights; and although, as Jaxon says, "the neighborhood has become so gentrified that I'm more likely to get hit by an artisanal gluten-free scone than a bullet, let's be real," tensions can still run high, especially within Devorah's ultra-conservative family. Even though Devorah's menacing brother-in-law, a member of the Shomrim (Orthodox neighborhood watch), is on to them, she still can't resist accidentally-on-purpose bumping into Jax at his work and accepting the cell phone he sneaks (in a grand romantic gesture) into her yard. The story is told from the teens' alternating perspectives. While Jax is a little too good to be true, Devorah, whether agonizing over her love life or sharing informative details about Hasidic daily life and religious philosophy, is believable and engaging. Her struggle between tradition and modernity, filial duty and personal fulfillment, is complicated and realistic; just because she doesn't want an arranged marriage doesn't mean she's ready to turn her back on her family and her culture. This leads to a conclusion that, while bittersweet, is still hopeful. elissa gershowitz
(Copyright 2014 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)