Penina Levine Is a Hard-Boiled Egg (review)

Penina's main problem is her bratty, attention-seeking little sister—until her sixth-grade class is asked to write letters from the Easter Bunny for creative writing, and Penina, who's Jewish, can't bring herself to complete an assignment that's a participation in another faith's holiday. She and her teacher, Mrs. Anderson, find themselves at an impasse, since Penina's receiving a zero for the assignment until she produces it; when Mrs. Anderson attempts a non-apology apology ("She'd said the words 'I'm sorry,' but she'd also said 'If'), Penina's intemperate response gets her in further trouble. The setup isn't very contemporarily likely, and the book is a little muddy about some of Penina's practices (a comment by her best friend suggests that there may be further restrictions, such as keeping kosher, that are never explained), but it's also believably nuanced in its depiction of Penina's dilemma. It's plausible that her resistance semi-randomly crystallizes (and that she also thinks the assignment is dumb), but that once it takes hold, it's serious; Mrs. Anderson is also a credibly complex character, genuinely well meaning yet also using good intentions to cover her stubborn dogmatism. Careful explanations of Passover traditions ensure that gentile readers won't get left behind, and youngsters in general will sympathize with a kid who stands up for herself when she's wronged (and gets away with crossing a teacher). Final illustrations not seen.