Golemcrafters by Emi Watanabe Cohen ~ a Review

by MK French

Faye stays quiet, avoiding schoolwork, peers who mock her biracial heritage, and her competitive family. Her brother Shiloh understands her, and they share a private made-up language that is Japanese written in Hebrew letters. When their grandfather teaches them golem crafting, it's something Faye is good at. Will it help her feel whole or heal the rifts within her family?

Amazon affiliate links are used on this site. A free book was provided for an honest review.

November 2024; Levine Querido; 978-1646142699
audio, ebook, print (264 pages); children's fiction

Faye is in sixth grade and Shiloh is in eighth, and their mixed heritage led to problems. The paternal half is Jewish, and the maternal half is Japanese Catholic, but it's their mother who had urged them to learn Judaism and Hebrew, over their father's objections. This sends their grandfather to them for a visit when they don't understand his gift of clay for Shiloh's bar mitzvah, and he tries to catch them up on their heritage and golem crafting. The siblings slip into realistic dreams of another time and place, where people who speak the language they made up as children are harassed, bullied, and beaten. Learning about those dreams means learning about the history of the Jewish people and her ancestors in particular.

Those with mixed heritage often feel caught between worlds. Some would feel that they aren't "enough" of one background or other, or can't understand the full nuance of a particular culture. Faye and Shiloh are still bullied at school, with outright antisemitic aggressions slipping under the radar of school administrators, and even the Asian students don't want to claim them. We see the history of antisemitism in fairy tales assumed to be harmless by most adults, and how much generational trauma it caused. Golemcrafters "call the past forward to protect us in the present," meaning it's remembering and honoring heritage and tradition. Things change over the centuries, from language or ritual or songs. Remembering them gives the children strength, and Faye in particular, because it's a connection to the past and feeling that they're not alone. Life is a miracle, and "just living" is still an incredible gift.

Buy Golemcrafters at Amazon

Born and raised in New York City, M.K. French started writing stories when very young, dreaming of different worlds and places to visit. She always had an interest in folklore, fairy tales, and the macabre, which has definitely influenced her work. She currently lives in the Midwest with her husband, three young children, and a golden retriever.

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