A young girl's account of life in Jerusalem in 165 B.C. When the hated Syrian-Greek king fills ancient Jerusalem with statues of Greek gods and destroys the Jewish temple, feisty Alexandra takes up reed pen, ink, and sheet of papyrus and turns "scribe." In her scroll Alexandra records the everyday happenings of her life, as well as the events of the Jewish rebellion led by the Maccabees. When her father joins the resistance against the Greek authorities, Alexandra must leave her friends and the city she loves. The victory of the Maccabees three years later returns the family to Jerusalem--to old friends, new ones and, for Alexandra, a new life. Place and time are recreated in this story of a girl caught up in the events that led to the rebuilding of the temple, the miracle of oil that burns eight days, and the celebration of the first Hanukkah.
Customer Reviews:
Avg. Customer Rating: 4.0 / 5.0
A good read, but...:
This was our first year celebrating Hanukkah. The illustrations and quality of materials are excellent. While we enjoyed the story in the book, and it seemed to have accurate details of the Hanukkah story, we found the writing a bit simplistic. The author uses a lot of "he said, she said, they said, I said" and short, choppy sentences. We liked that the story was from a girl's perspective, as we have four daughters, but the author seemed to give the mother too much authority in the home. According to our... more info
Vivid recollection of first Hanukkah as told by a young girl:
Told from a young girl's point of view, this gorgeous book describes how the first Hanukkah came to be. There are details about using a reed pen and writing on papyrus that add historical accuracy to the vivid story. Best for ages 9 and up but smaller excerpts could be adapted for younger children.
