Joshua S. Levy, author of Finn and Ezra's Bar Mitzvah Time Loop (Katherine Tegen Books) and co-editor of On All Other Nights: A Passover Celebration in 14 Stories (Harry N. Abrams), talks about where the characters start and where they have to go.
Listen along:
About the book: Finn and Ezra's Bar Mitzvah Time Loop by Joshua S. Levy. Published by Katherine Tegen Books.
Finn and Ezra's bar mitzvah weekend takes on a Groundhog Day twist in this hilarious and magical middle grade novel from Joshua S. Levy.
Finn and Ezra don't have a lot in common--except, of course, that they're trapped in a bar mitzvah time loop, reliving their celebrations in the same New Jersey hotel over and over and over again. Not ideal, particularly when both kids were ready for their bar mitzvahs to end the moment they began. Ezra comes from a big family--four siblings, all seeming to get more attention than him, even on his bar mitzvah weekend. Finn is an only child who's tired of his parents' constant focus, even worse on his bar mitzvah weekend. They just want to get past it, just want to grow up. And now they're both stuck. Friday. Saturday. Sunday. No way out.
Until Finn and Ezra meet and realize they're not alone.
Teaming up, they try everything they can think of to break the loop. But nothing works, and after every reset, the boys' schemes become more desperate. As their frustrations build, the questions mount and real-life problems start to seep through the cracks. With all the time in the world, can Finn and Ezra ever figure out how to move forward?
Also mentioned: On All Other Nights: A Passover Celebration in 14 Stories co-edited by Joshua S. Levy, Chris Baron, and Naomi Milliner; illustrated by Shannon Hochman. Published by Harry N. Abrams.
A joyful middle-grade anthology centered around Passover--from an exciting array of bestselling and award-winning Jewish creators! Named a best Passover book of all time by People magazine.
Welcome to Passover, a Jewish holiday that has been celebrated for thousands of years. The heart of Passover is the seder--a meal full of rituals, special foods, and songs--where we gather together to retell the story of the Exodus, when the Jewish people achieved freedom from Egypt.
And yet this story is about more than the ancient past. The seder's themes of freedom, joy, tradition, and more, are timeless and universal, for all.
In this collection of short stories, 14 bestselling and award-winning authors each reimagine a different step of the seder for today's young readers. Through historical and contemporary fiction, verse and prose, fiction and nonfiction, these gifted writers from different Jewish traditions and backgrounds gather around the seder table and invite everyone to join them.
The full list of On All Other Nights contributors includes:
Chris Baron (The Magical Imperfect)
Ruth Behar (Lucky Broken Girl)
Adam Gidwitz (A Tale Dark and Grimm, The Unicorn Rescue Society)
Veera Hiranandani (The Night Diary)
Amy Ignatow (The Popularity Papers, Jedi Academy)
Sarah Kapit (Get a Grip, Vivy Cohen)
Joshua S. Levy (The Jake Show)
Mari Lowe (Aviva vs. the Dybbuk)
Naomi Milliner (Super Jake & The King of Chaos)
Soifya Pasternack (Black Bird, Blue Road)
R. M. Romero (The Dollmaker of Kraków)
A. J. Sass (Ana on the Edge)
Laura Shovan (The Last Fifth Grade of Emerson Elementary)
Laurel Snyder (Orphan Island, Charlie & Mouse)
Includes black-and-white illustrations
Transcript:
For a full transcript, episode takeaways, quotes, and more, visit https://deepcast.fm/episode/a-willingness-to-let-things-take-time-with-joshua-s-levy
