James has lost his dad - he was killed by a lightning strike. His mum is in jail for bootlegging and she is also suffering from depression. James lives with his grandfather (Pappy) and until recently with his beloved grandmother (Abuela) but six months ago she died. Abuela was a town healer. Pappy runs the local diner and he makes delicious food for the people in the town. I loved the way James tucks into pie and hamburgers.
There is a new kid who has moved to Odessa, Texas. He is from Ukraine and he has very little English. He is older than the kids in the class and so he is taller which is helpful for James because he is regularly tormented by a bully named Virgil and now Paul is his friend so her has someone on his side when the bullies attack. Paul's family seem very different to James. They speak a strange language (he later discovers this is Hebrew) and they observe unfamiliar customs which often include special rituals and very delicious food. They don't go to the local Christian church.
Just before she died Abuela gave James an amulet which has a strange symbol on one side and foreign writing on the back. The Pappy shows James the family bible and it seems Abuela has a connection that goes back to 1492 when Jewish people were expelled from Spain. You can read about that in this picture book:
"Things were starting to get a little less muddy. Between the charm and the Bible with my name in it and the Hebrew writing, I felt like Abuela was sending me a message from the grave, trying to tell me that I was somebody different than I'd thought I was. And I go to wondering, too, if this news about my family's past could have something to do with me finding my purpose."
"I think your Texas Odessa is named after my Odessa because railroad workers here said this place reminded them of their home in Ukraine. ... Same name but better place for our family that Ukraine, Odessa ..."
Readers aged 10+ might gain a little more understanding about Jewish culture and the history of their persecution through this story. Paul talks about the terror his family experienced in Ukraine - a situation which has been repeated today with the Russian army.
Our famous children's bookshop The Little Bookroom has reopened in a different location in Melbourne and I was there on their first day (not their official opening which was held two weeks later). The new owner filled several shelves with books from the previous store and marked them at 90% off the retail price and so that is how I came to find When Lightning Struck. This book was published in 2022. The ebook version is available.
The setting for this book is Texas in 1928 but apart from references to prohibition, the Klu Klutx Klan and a few sporting heroes the parts of the story set in Texas didn't feel historical enough for me.
Here is list of other books by Betsy R Rosenthal (and there is a link to teachers notes from When Lightning Struck).
Bookseller blurb: It's 1928 in Odessa, Texas, and eleven-year-old James is struggling to find his purpose in life and to uncover a family secret. With his father struck dead by lightning and his mother in jail, he is taken in by his grandparents. Treated as a pariah at school, James is taunted as being cursed by his family's bad luck. But he finds a friend in Paul, a Russian immigrant, who is also treated as an outcast, and together, they battle the school bully. But James's life is turned upside-down yet again when he uncovers a family secret involving his beloved grandmother. His discovery leads him to find the sense of purpose he's been seeking.
