Aviva vs the Dybbuk Hardcover – February 22, 2022 by Mari Lowe

Description

Author: Lowe Mari

Package Dimensions: 0x0x788

Release Date: 22-02-2022

Details: Product Description
A long ago “accident.” An isolated girl named Aviva. A community that wants to help, but doesn’t know how. And a ghostly dybbuk, that no one but Aviva can see, causing mayhem and mischief that everyone blames on her.

That is the setting for this suspenseful novel of a girl who seems to have lost everything, including her best friend Kayla, and a mother who was once vibrant and popular, but who now can’t always get out of bed in the morning.

As tensions escalate in the Jewish community of Beacon with incidents of vandalism and a swastika carved into new concrete poured near the synagogue.so does the tension grow between Aviva and Kayla and the girls at their school, and so do the actions of the dybbuk grow worse.

Could real harm be coming Aviva’s way? And is it somehow related to the “accident” that took her father years ago?

Aviva vs. the Dybbuk is a compelling, tender story about friendship and community, grief and healing, and one indomitable girl who somehow manages to connect them all.
Review
“Debut author Lowe offers an insider’s view of a close-knit Orthodox Jewish community where much of daily life is prescribed in gender-segregated activities. The dybbuk mystery is well-handled, as are the secrets surrounding Abba’s death, which Aviva has blocked from her consciousness. A compassionate look at grief and healing.”-Booklist,

““Aviva is a strong lead, both relatable and flawed. It is refreshing to see a story focused on an Orthodox child that renders that world realistically while also dealing with universal struggles. Both Aviva and her story are worth spending time with.”-Foreword Reviews”

[STAR] “This emotionally complex novel set within a contemporary Orthodox Jewish community is full of immersive Jewish detail. The book creates a strong sense of the protagonist’s isolation-awkward, impetuous Aviva has difficult relationships with her classmates, and communication is strained with her mother, who lives with severe depression-but remains accessible while addressing its heavy issues. Unreliable narrator though Aviva ends up being, she’s a heart-rendingly sympathetic one.”
– The Horn Book (starred),

About the Author
Mari Lowe has too little free time and spends it all on writing and escape rooms. As the daughter of a rabbi and a middle school teacher at an Orthodox Jewish school, she looks forward to sharing little glimpses into her community with her books. She lives in New York with her family, menagerie of pets, and robotic vacuum.