A loving kind of face book

Angela Kiverstein talks to American author M. Evan Wolkenstein about his new ‘loosely autobiographical’ book

V WILL LOVES turtles but, ironically, needs surgery to correct his turtle-like facial features. Meanwhile, he must prepare for his barmitzvah, studying his portion and volunteering as a hospital visitor to teenage Ralph. Will must complete the experiences on Ralph’s bucketlist that Ralph himself is too ill to attempt — and confront his own fears in the process.

Wolkenstein’s Turtle Boy (Usborne, £6.99) offers a friendly introduction to leyning, the Mishnah, mitzvot, brachot, keeping turtles, drumming and its connection to Kaddish, Kol Nidre, elementary Ivrit and the lessons you can learn from your bubbe.

It is a pleasure to find all this Judaism in a mainstream book for age nine up.

“Turtle Boy is loosely autobiographical,” says Wolkenstein, who lives in Marin County with his wife, writer Gabi Moskowitz, and their two-yearold, Anna, who has just learnt to say the Shema. As a child, Wolkenstein underwent the same surgery as Will and experienced similar teasing. “Turtles were like my kryptonite. But as I grew out of that shell into a rock ’n’ roll drummer, traveller and teacher, I was periodically haunted by those memories.”

He devised a comic strip called How I Learned to Love my Face, which led to the novel.

“I teach the Torah in a Jewish high school and one of the things that gives me most joy in life is helping people open their eyes to a new way of seeing things,” he says. He believes in the power of an immersive experience, which is why the book gets right down to the Jewish minutiae, such as the individual leyning notes.

“My hope is it will give readers — adult readers, too — a chance to experience a richer sense of Jewish life.” With the Pardes Institute in Jerusalem, he has created a curriculum to go with the book. But this is absolutely not a preachy story-withan-agenda. Will inhabits the real world, where kids hide illicit pets, rabbis devour junk food and school is awash with social awkwardness.

“One of the main messages of Turtle Boy is about the need for balance,” says Wolkenstein. “Will finds a way to say Kaddish musically, rhythmically. I meant that to be a recipe for a lifetime of Jewish exploration. I want to urge every kid to make a whole year a barmitzvah year and find a balance between doing things expected of them and celebrating who they are and what they want to become.”