Not So Shy
Shai misses her beloved Israeli home. English is so weird. And hard. Luckily, Shai has a plan to get back to where she belongs…
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What the Book is About
Jewish Content & Values
Content Advisory
What the Book is About
When 13-year-old Shai’s family moves to California for her dad’s job, she’s prepared to do whatever it takes to go back home to Israel. Things start looking up when Shai’s neighbor and new friend, Kay-Lee, tells her about a poster contest with a prize of a plane ticket to the place of the winner’s choice. Shai just has to win so she can go back to Israel and live with her grandparents. Meanwhile, the school bullies target Shai with antisemitic comments and call her Muslim classmate Hakim a terrorist. Shai stands up for Hakim, and they become friends. Just as Shai is starting to feel at home in San Diego, her grandparents are caught up in a terrorist bombing in Tel Aviv, leaving her Safta in a coma. Shai and her family fly back to Israel, where Shai realizes that there are things about America that she is missing and that it might be possible to feel at home in both places.
Jewish Content & Values
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Shai’s family is Israeli. They eat Israeli foods, speak Hebrew and keep Israeli traditions.
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The family celebrates Jewish holidays including Shabbat, Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur and Purim.
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Shai wears a Star of David necklace. When she experiences antisemitism at her new school, her savta, who is from Iraq and experienced discrimination in both Iraq and Israel, encourages Shai to find the good in a bad situation even when it’s not easy.
Content Advisory
Shai faces antisemitic comments at school, and an Israeli living in the United States refers to Israel as “a lousy imitation of America.” Shai’s Muslim friend also deals with Islamophobic remarks. Shai’s grandmother is badly injured in a terrorist bombing in Tel Aviv but survives.
What the Book is About
What the Book is About
When 13-year-old Shai’s family moves to California for her dad’s job, she’s prepared to do whatever it takes to go back home to Israel. Things start looking up when Shai’s neighbor and new friend, Kay-Lee, tells her about a poster contest with a prize of a plane ticket to the place of the winner’s choice. Shai just has to win so she can go back to Israel and live with her grandparents. Meanwhile, the school bullies target Shai with antisemitic comments and call her Muslim classmate Hakim a terrorist. Shai stands up for Hakim, and they become friends. Just as Shai is starting to feel at home in San Diego, her grandparents are caught up in a terrorist bombing in Tel Aviv, leaving her Safta in a coma. Shai and her family fly back to Israel, where Shai realizes that there are things about America that she is missing and that it might be possible to feel at home in both places.
Jewish Content & Values
Jewish Content & Values
-
Shai’s family is Israeli. They eat Israeli foods, speak Hebrew and keep Israeli traditions.
-
The family celebrates Jewish holidays including Shabbat, Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur and Purim.
-
Shai wears a Star of David necklace. When she experiences antisemitism at her new school, her savta, who is from Iraq and experienced discrimination in both Iraq and Israel, encourages Shai to find the good in a bad situation even when it’s not easy.
Content Advisory
Content Advisory
Shai faces antisemitic comments at school, and an Israeli living in the United States refers to Israel as “a lousy imitation of America.” Shai’s Muslim friend also deals with Islamophobic remarks. Shai’s grandmother is badly injured in a terrorist bombing in Tel Aviv but survives.
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