Speed of Light

I had this book for a long time before I read it, mostly because my initial reaction to the cover was, "Oh no, not another book about the Holocaust." Not that the Holocaust isn't important, but is that the ONLY Jewish topic that kids read about these days? When I finally did open the book, I found out that it's not about the Holocaust per se, although that does play a part in the plot. It's about a young Jewish girl growing up in a small Southern town in the 1950s, back when segregation was a fact of life, and those Jews who joined with blacks in the struggle for equal rights were targeted by hater-mongers.The title, "Speed of Light," refers to Einstein's theory of relativity. Eleven-year-old Audrey Stern is fascinated by astronomy, and reads how time moves slower when things travel at greater speeds. She ponders this idea literally, while looking up at the stars, and symbolically, by observing how time seems to "slow down" or "speed up" according to the events that are happening in her life. As the book opens, those events are centering around her father's support of a black man's application to be on the town's police force. Things get ugly fast. Someone throws a rock through the window of Audrey's father's factory, anti-Jewish insults are hurled, threats are made, a swastika is painted on the synagogue... All this causes Audrey's Aunt Pesel, who is an Auschwitz survivor, to have flashbacks about the horrors of the Holocaust. Pesel fears that the same thing which happened to the Jews in Europe is beginning to happen in America. She is so totally embittered by her Holocaust experience, that she cannot see any hope of a better future. Audrey, in turn, resents Pesel's constant negativity, which permeates the whole house. This is one of the most realistic parts of the book. Pesel is not some sweetly-smiling pious martyr, not is Audrey a Pollyanna. Their feelings toward each other are real. To say more would be a spoiler. On the whole, the book is well-written, but I must point out one glaring blooper: Audrey's little brother is feeding his pet Monarch caterpillars bread crumbs. NOT! In real life, they only eat fresh milkweed leaves. On bread crumbs they would soon starve, and never become the beautiful butterflies that emerge at the end of the book...

A gorgeously written tale of an 11-year-old girl coming to grips with hometown Southern racism and the shadow of the Holocaust. Audrey is full of defiance and mischief, and her haunted Tante is unforgettable. Parallels between the oppression of blacks and Jews are skillfully drawn, in a way that makes history live. The black characters, and Audrey's unswervingly liberal father, are sometimes too good to be true, but that's a small flaw in a novel that moved this adult to tears more than once, and is perfectly pitched for preteens, especially girls. This book won an award from the Association of Jewish Libraries, and richly deserved it.

"EVERYTHING reminds me of Auschwitz," says Pesel 'Tante' Minkowitz, a 24-year-old Holocaust survivor living with American relatives in the 1950s South. So when a rock crashes through the picture window of her brother-in-law's business, it's only natural that the gloomy Tante predicts another Kristallnacht. And, as told by Sybil Rosen in SPEED OF LIGHT, she's not far wrong. The Civil Rights Movement is dawning. Eleven-year-old Audrey Ina Stern, living with Tante in Blue Gap, Virginia, is hearing vague reports of a bus boycott in Montgomery, Alabama (led by some Reverend named King). Meanwhile, Audrey's father, Nat Stern, is spearheading the struggle to integrate the local police department. And many of Blue Gap's citizens are not happy. After all, how does this Jew DARE to tell THEM how things ought to be? From these elements, Rosen weaves a tale of fear, courage, perserverence, and power, culminating in a climax set during a 4th of July parade. Along the way, she artfully makes connections between the Holocaust and Segregation, even managing to sprinkle in a little Einstein. SPEED OF LIGHT follows the time-honored tradition of showing significant events through a child's eyes (as in TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD). In this way, the reader discovers the depth of hatred and prejudice right along with Audrey. In doing so, Rosen is able to show just how Audrey comes to grips with not only the injustice of Segregation, but the history of the Holocaust (and the moody aunt who embodies it) as well. That the book ends happily is not a strike against it; rather, it is a song of hope. The characters are well sketched. Audrey has the spunk and intelligence you might expect in a book of this sort. Her father is reluctantly heroic. The Cardwells (the African-American family at the center of the controversy) are figures of dignity and worth, schooled in nonviolence. Even the racist Buster LaCoste is painted in human colors. But the haunted Tante is the character who stays with you. Angry and pessimistic, sarcastic and fearful, her breakdown and her reconnection with humanity are the most poignant things in the book. Along the way, there are threats and bombs, beatings and fires. Rocks and insults are thrown, and Audrey's little brother is almost drowned. Rosen refuses to look away from the raw emotion of hate. But there are also flowers and dolls and beautiful stars, the mysteries of life and death, and of growing up. In these things, too, Rosen shines; in these things, too, SPEED OF LIGHT recommends itself as a coming-of-age novel for the ages.

WHEN I WAS LITTLE, I USED BOOKS TO TRAVEL. MY MIND WENT PLACES THAT WERE WAY BEYOND MY EXPERIENCE AND I OFTEN FOUND MYSELF READING BOOKS THAT WERE WAY "TO OLD" FOR ME. WHAT I FOUND SO FABULOUS ABOUT THIS BOOK IS THE VOICE OF THE MAIN CHARCTER, ELEVEN YEAR-OLD AUDREY. SHE ENGAGES AND EXPLORES THOSE INEFFABLE "ADULT" PLACES AND QUESTIONS THAT I FELT AS A CHILD BUT COULDN'T ARTICULATE. AS AN ADULT WOMAN, READING THIS BOOK FOR CHLDREN, I WAS COMLETELY ENTHRALLED BY AND IDENTIFIED WITH AUDREY'S UNCONTAINABLE IMPULSE TO UNDERSTAND WHY IT IS THAT WE SEPARATE OURSELVES FROM ONE ANOTHER. WHY DO WE CREATE DIVISION WHEN OUR HEART LONGS TO CONNECT? ROSEN GIVES VOICE TO THAT WONDERFUL DRIVE TO KNOW, TO SEE, AND TO UNDERSTAND THAT WE TEND TO SILENCE IN CHILDREN AS THEY ARE COMING OF AGE. I WOULD ESPECIALLY RECOMMEND THIS BOOK TO ANYONE WITH A GRADE SCHOOL DAUGHTER. I READ THIS BOOK OUT LOUD WITH TEN-YEAR OLDS AND IT WAS SUCH A PERFECT STARTING POINT FOR US TO BEGIN OUR DISCUSSION ABOUT RACISM, COMMUNITY, AND EQUALITY. I READ THIS BOOK ALONE AGAIN AND WAS SO MOVED BY ROSEN'S UNDERSTANDING OF HOW A YOUNG GIRL SEES THE INEQUITY OF THE WORLD AND TAKES STEPS TO BE FREE AND TO FREE OTHERS. I KNOW THAT GIRL IN MY BONES. THANK YOU FOR THIS BEAUTIFUL EXPLORATION OF FREEDOM.

This realistic depiction of life in a small southern city in the 50's reflects accurately the problems facing Jews and Blacks during the struggle for integration. At the same time, a child's eye view of Holocaust reality is brought home in the character of the aunt who has survived. Young readers will enjoy the give and take between the children in the story, while learning some hard facts about history.This is a well written story with many lessons for thoughtful young readers.