Good For the Jews by Debra Spark
Award-winning novelist Debra Spark's Good for the Jews centers around Ellen Hirschorn, a young Jewish woman living in Madison, Wisconsin. The book has everything needed in a good novel: mystery, suspense, romance, politics and humor, all based on the story of the Book of Esther. Ellen (Esther) is an orphan who lives with Mose (Mordechai), her much-older cousin and guardian. Their lives get tangled up in anti-Semitism when Mose, an unconventional high school teacher, gets into a confrontation with the new principal, Hyman (Haman), which is further complicated by Ellen's relationship with Alex (Achashverosh), the Superintendent of Schools who also happens to be her boss Valerie (Vashti)'s ex-husband. Although many creative liberties were taken as far as details staying true to the "original", Spark's update was well-written and reflects that the familiar story of good vs. evil still holds true today. Recommended for libraries with Jewish fiction collections.
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