YA novel’s Jewish heroine faces 1990s anti- Semitism
Newest from Catskill author focuses on pre-social media bigotry
Eileen Bluestone Sherman has seen her work as a lyricist onstage at Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall.
The Catskill resident also writes for an equally exacting audience—sophisticated Gen Z readers—as an author of young adult novels. Her new YA novel, “The Violin Players,” is set in the 1990s but has a timely theme: anti- Semitic bullying among teens.
Her teenage heroine, Melissa Jensen, is a beautiful blonde violinist, confident, popular and from a non-observant Jewish family. The fact that her friends have no idea she’s Jewish seems irrelevant to daily life. But when her dad takes a job at a small Midwestern university theater department, Melissa witnesses another high school student being bullied because he is Jewish.
The plot explores how a teen who isn’t religious discovers what it means to be Jewish. “The Violin Players” audiobook was released this summer. The Times Union spoke with Sherman about her book:
Q: Would you please tell readers about how you decided to keep the story set in the 1990s rather than in today ’s era of social media?
A: After my first two historical fiction YA novels (“Monday in Odessa,” set in Russia in the early 1970s, and “Independence Avenue,” set in Kansas City in 1907), my editor at the Jewish Publication Society asked for a new YA novel.
This story was not going to be about an insecure, shy and awkward teen who would suddenly blossom because of romance. The main character of “The Violin Players” is confident, talented, smart, popular, and worldly. For the first time in her life, Melissa must (very cautiously) deflect anti- Semitic slurs and a pervasive sense of indifference about prejudice not against her, but against the one Jewish guy at her new school on whom she has a crush.
Social media is a handy platform for bullies and bigots, especially since they can hide in anonymity. However, “The Violin Players” is not about the evil aspects of social media and how it can fuel hateful discourse. It’s about dismissing hate and ignoring bigotry when we personally interact with one another.
Q: How much did your teen years resemble the life of your fictional heroine? For example, was your family observant and did your non-jewish friends make thoughtless antiSemitic remarks?
A: I grew up in a traditional Jewish family. My two sisters and I all attended Hebrew school. Bat mitzvah ceremonies and our high school confirmation ceremonies remain highlights from our childhood.
I would not hear an anti- Semitic slur personally hurled at me until I turned 18, but I learned at a very young age about the country club that did not permit Jews or Blacks to join. As a little girl, I thought, why would I ever want to associate with anyone who didn’t like me because I was Jewish? As I grew older, I started to question, why would anyone ever join a club like that?
Melissa Jensen has a very different high school experience in “The Violin Players.” Her parents do not insist that she learn about her Judaism. My parents, not once but a thousand times, told me that my Jewish education inevitably would give me the “natural courage and intellectual ammunition” to stand up to anti- Semitism, especially when I was the “singular Jew in the room.” My parents were right!
Q: In what decade was your daughter a teenager? What did she share about how her Jewish identity influenced her youth?
A: My daughter, Jenny, attended high school in the early 1990s. Second through seventh grades, Jenny attended Hebrew school in the Midwest and was inspired by teachers to value her Jewish and general studies education. In eighth grade, Jenny wanted a public school where she could enjoy even more extracurricular activities. She continued private studies with our rabbi.
Q: You mentioned Hebrew school and public school were in the same neighborhood?
A: But for the first time, Jenny was just one of a few Jewish students in her classroom. She heard anti- Semitic slurs and jokes. She made it known that she was Jewish and that she found the humor offensive. She also observed Jewish students, whose own Jewish education was minimal. They preferred to remain silent. Their response concerned her, but she understood how her own Jewish education empowered her.