Something comes over me, a cold streak up my spine even under all the dark fabric I’m wearing.
He who?
He wanted to tell me…what?
Quickly I turn and look off into the distance, toward the portable toilets and the stretch of field and the trees.
“He waved,” Goldie says. “I dunno. Maybe that means he’ll come back to get you later? Was he your ride home?”
I shake my head. I don’t really have words for it, only questions. “I have a ride,” I tell her.
“Great,” she says, and then proceeds to tell me about every one of the heroines on her blue blanket. She’s only getting started with her collection. While she talks, I hold the camera close and wonder about the twelve frames inside. If any are of him, and if the film hasn’t been destroyed by the years; if I might see something there, something recognizable of my family, of my future self. For me, it’s so easy. I can be myself out in the world, I can say who I am, and I can use my whole name when I do. I have to remember there was a time when not everyone in my family felt they could.
Fear is such a funny thing. When it flies away into the sky over the flea market, it looks like a blurry smudge on glass for a moment. Then I blink, and it’s gone.
I don’t remove my outrageous hat that’ll make me stand out in any crowd. I keep it on for the whole rest of the day. I keep it on until the sun goes down and the veil shimmers and gleams in the moonlight.
* * *
***
Weeks later, on another Saturday, held down on the blue blanket (really and actually a bedsheet meant for Goldie’s bed) and kept in place with two fresh, smooth river stones, lovingly arranged, is a new photo to take its place among Goldie’s collection of Jewish heroines. Written at the bottom of the photo, it says:
Simone Jonathan (Cohen), 2019
She says it counts as a part of her collection, even if I’m “kinda” Jewish and even if I haven’t done the thing that makes me a heroine to the world yet, or figured myself out by now, or talked to more than a few people at my new school, apart from her. She says my face and name are enough for now—and besides, we’ve both got time.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
We are incredibly grateful to bring this anthology into the world, to bring fourteen different stories about Jewish life into the mainstream, and to bring together fifteen contributors (including ourselves) from varying backgrounds. But we couldn’t have done it alone. Thank you to Karen Greenberg and the entire Knopf team for believing in this anthology and pulling it all together behind the scenes. Thank you to our agents, Jim McCarthy and Louise Fury, for making this dream happen.
We are also grateful to have such an incredible list of contributors. Our authors worked on tight deadlines, answered what felt like a million emails, and, most importantly, shared their experiences and stories with us. We had a vision of what this anthology would be, but the end result surpassed even our greatest hope. These stories make us laugh and cry, and we hope our readers will experience the same wonderful emotions.
Laura would like to acknowledge her parents, who brought her up in a supportive and vibrant Jewish community. She is immensely grateful for every b’nai mitzvah party drop-off and pickup, for every Jewish youth group traveling fee, and especially for every bowl of matzo ball soup. She would also like to thank Congregation Etz Chaim and her rabbis, from both past and present: Rabbi Shalom Lewis, Rabbi Paul Kerbel, and Rabbi Dan Dorsch.
Katherine would like to acknowledge her family and all their support, not just for this book but always. She’d especially like to thank her mom for all the schlepping she did back and forth from synagogue—the super-supportive, kind mom in Some Days You’re the Sidekick; Some Days You’re the Hero is for you. She’d also like to thank Rabbi Yair Robinson, Marisa Robinson, Rabbi Elisa Koppel, and Congregation Beth Emeth for their support, wisdom, and teaching. She’d like to thank Congregation Rodeph Shalom for being a welcoming new home.
And, most importantly, we are grateful to our readers. Thank you for picking up this book. Whether or not you are Jewish, we hope you connected to these stories; we hope you found something that brought you joy, or made you think, or made you believe.
Thank you for reading.
CONTRIBUTOR BIOS
Dahlia Adler is an associate editor of mathematics by day, a blogger for B&N Teens, LGBTQ Reads, and Frolic by night, and an author of young adult and new adult novels at every spare moment in between. Her books include the Daylight Falls duology, Just Visiting, and the Radleigh University trilogy. Her short stories can be found in the anthologies The Radical Element, All Out, and His Hideous Heart, the latter of which she also edited. Dahlia lives in New York with her husband, son, and an obscene amount of books. She can be found on Twitter and Instagram at @MissDahlELama or at dahliaadler.com.
Adi Alsaid is the author of several young adult novels, including Let’s Get Lost, Never Always Sometimes, and North of Happy. He was born and raised in Mexico City. He can be found online at AdiAlsaid.com.
Mayim Bialik is best known as Amy Farrah Fowler on America’s #1 comedy, The Big Bang Theory, a role for which she has received four Emmy nominations and two Critics’ Choice Award nominations, in addition to two Critics’ Choice Awards. She also starred in the early-1990s sitcom Blossom. Mayim earned a BS from UCLA in neuroscience and Hebrew and Jewish studies, and she went on to earn a PhD from UCLA in neuroscience. She is the author of the #1 New York Times bestseller Girling Up, as well as Boying Up, Beyond the Sling, and Mayim’s Vegan Table.
David Levithan is the author of numerous young adult novels. Some he writes by himself, like Boy Meets Boy, Every Day, Two Boys Kissing, and, most recently, Someday. He also writes books with other people, including five with Rachel Cohn (Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist being the first), one with John Green (Will Grayson, Will Grayson), one with Andrea Cremer (Invisibility), and one with Nina LaCour (You Know Me Well). You can find more about him at davidlevithan.com.
Elie Lichtschein is a writer and producer based in New York City. His work has been published by PJ Library and can be found on The Other Stories podcast. He is currently developing a children’s audio horror series with WGBH.
Katherine Locke is the author of The Girl with the Red Balloon (a Sydney Taylor Honor Book) and The Spy with the Red Balloon. They are a contributor to Unbroken: 13 Stories Starring Disabled Teens. They live and write in Philadelphia with their demanding feline overlords and secretly believe most stories are fairy tales in disguise. They can be found online at @Bibliogato and at katherinelockebooks.com.
Alex London, a 2009 finalist for the National Jewish Book Award, is the author of twenty-five books for adults, teens, and children. Black Wings Beating, his latest young adult novel, was an NBC Today Show Pick, a Kirkus Best YA Fantasy Book of the Year, and a We Need Diverse Books Must-Read. His young adult debut, Proxy, was an ALA Top Ten Quick Pick for Reluctant Young Adult Readers and a Best Fiction for Young Adults selection. He’s been a journalist reporting from conflict zones and refugee camps, a young adult librarian, and a snorkel salesman. Alex lives with his husband, daughter, and dog in Philadelphia. You can find him online at calexanderlondon.com.
Goldy Moldavsky is the New York Times bestselling author of Kill the Boy Band and No Good Deed. She was born in Lima, Peru, and grew up in Brooklyn, where she still lives. Her perfect Shabbos includes family + friends + board games. She can be found online at goldymoldavsky.com.
Hannah Moskowitz is the author of over a dozen works for children and young adults, including 2013 Stonewall Honor Book Gone, Gone, Gone and 2013 Bisexual YA Book of the Year Not Otherwise Specified. Her first book, Break, was published when she was a senior in high school. She lives in Maryland. She hopes. She can be found on Twitter at @hannahmosk.
Matthue Roth is an editor at Hevria.com and a writer at Google. His work has appeared in Tin House and Ploughshares, where he was sho
rt-listed for the Best American Short Stories 2018. He also adapted the works of Franz Kafka into a picture book, which was called “eerie and imaginative” by the New Yorker. He keeps a secret diary at matthue.com.
Lance Rubin is the author of Denton Little’s Deathdate and Denton Little’s Still Not Dead. He’s worked as an actor and written sketch comedy, including successful runs of The Lance and Ray Show at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre in New York City. He’s also co-written a new musical called Broadway Bounty Hunter. Lance lives in Brooklyn with his wife and son. You can follow him online at lancerubin.com and on Twitter at @lancerubinparty.
Dana Schwartz is the author of the young adult novel And We’re Off and the memoir Choose Your Own Disaster. She is currently based in Los Angeles. She can be found online at @DanaSchwartzzz on Twitter and at danaschwartzdotcom.com.
Laura Silverman earned her MFA in creative writing from the New School. She is the author of Girl Out of Water and You Asked for Perfect. She currently lives in Brooklyn. You can reach out on Twitter at @LJSilverman1 or through her website at laurasilvermanwrites.com.
Rachel Lynn Solomon writes, tap-dances, and collects red lipstick in Seattle. She is the author of the young adult novels You’ll Miss Me When I’m Gone and Our Year of Maybe. You can find her online at rachelsolomonbooks.com and on Twitter at @rlynn_solomon.
Nova Ren Suma is the author of A Room Away from the Wolves and the #1 New York Times bestselling The Walls Around Us. She also wrote Imaginary Girls and 17 & Gone and is co-creator of FORESHADOW: A Serial YA Anthology. She has an MFA in fiction from Columbia University and teaches at Vermont College of Fine Arts. She grew up in the Hudson Valley, spent most of her adult life in New York City, and now lives in Philadelphia. Find her online at novaren.com.
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