I don't love every story - but the ones I love, I love HARD.(Full disclosure: I received a free e-ARC for review through NetGalley. Trigger warning for mental health issues, including eating disorders and social anxiety; bullying; and discussions of homophobia.) I’ll probably never know what a space station careening through the atmosphere looks like, because I wasn’t looking up anymore. I was looking at him and smiling, and he was smiling back at me, and his braces were gleaming like starlight,...

Only like 1/12th biased

I'm so happy and honored to have a story in this collection, about a Modern Orthodox girl named Amalia who's suffering major culture shock at the transition from her insular world during college orientation. But there's a great amount of variety in here, including a story that made me cry like whoa (by Hannah Moskowitz), a story that brought back so many fun memories for me (by Goldy Moldavsky), and a story that makes such great use of social media I didn't even have as a teen (by Katherine Lock...

Average Rating - ⭐️⭐️⭐️.67 I’m always looking for anthologies to read because it’s a nice way to discover new authors. When this collection was first announced, I was very excited because it features many authors I follow on social media and enjoy interacting with. Despite not knowing much about Judaism as a religion or culture, I really had a lot of fun reading these stories. They are a wonderful exploration of what being Jewish means, how there are various expressions of the faith a

Average rating: 3.6Overall this collection was really good. The rating would have been much higher if only one or two stories had not been included but otherwise I think its a really strong collection. Its a really awesome anthology for the Jewish members of the YA reader base. I would like to mention that I am not personally Jewish and therefore cannot review these stories on an Own Voices perspective. However, I do think it is worth mentioning that I have Jewish members of my family whom I am

It's a Whole Spiel is an anthology that collects several short stories about Jewish teens. I must say I expected a bit more from this collection, it was okay overall, but nothing more. The only story that stood out to me is Be brave and all by Laura Silverman, which is the only one I gave 4 starts to. If you're interested, here are the ratings for every novella: Indoor Kids by Alex London 2/5 Two truths and one lie by Dahlia Adler 3/5 The hold by David Levithan 3/5 Aftershocks by Rachel

Oh this was so so so good. And so needed. As someone who went to Jewish day school and was a part of youth group etc I WISH this anthology existed for me as a teen. As a Jewish adult I loved it so much too. Thank you Katherine and Laura!!!!!

I’ve waited for a book like this for years. In all the talks of diverse books, I kept looking to find Jewish representation, especially with new releases. Having scarcely seen any, I went off to my local library to scour the Hebrew shelves, which is when my reviews started focusing more on those. But I’m so glad this exists now.Support this book and try a taste of It's a Whole Spiel through my Amazon Affiliate link: This review and more can be found on my blog.

I received a digital ARC of this book through Netgalley thanks to Random House Children’s Knopf Books for Young Readers in exchange for an honest review.When I first found out about this anthology on Twitter (I follow both Katherine Locke and Laura Silverman along with a few of the authors that contributed to this book) I almost burst into tears from happiness. In all of the books I’ve read throughout my life, I’ve found very little Jewish representation, and the same can be said for TV shows, m...

Sounds Jewish I'm in

Publication Date September 17th 2019Thank you to NetGalley, the authors, and the publisher for this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review. I’m not Jewish. Each of these short stories could have told me people who are Jewish drink coffee because it brings them closer to God or some such equally strange nonsense and I would have believed it. Thankfully the authors are all Jewish and probably wouldn’t be too excited about misrepresenting Jewish people. It’s a Whole Spiel: Love, Latkes, and Other J...

An anthology brimming with love and acceptance, It's a Whole Spiel is an affirming and wholesome #ownvoices anthology about being Jewish. - Contains 12 stories about 12 very different Jewish teens, their Jewish identities, and the diverse ways that they embody 'being Jewish'.- There are a fantastic range of stories - some romantic, some a little sad, some that will make you feel fuzzy, and some that will make you feel less alone in the world. All of the stories are contemporary, but I loved how

Indoor Kids, by Alex LondonVery good and funny, with a side of space disaster. I ship it. Two Truths and an Oy, by Dahlia AdlerQuite short! Sheltered girl from an Orthodox community goes out into the wider world and finds it is stressful. The Hold, by David LevithanWell this is very good to read and a master class in structure and hits like a lightning bolt.Aftershocks, by Rachel Lynn SolomonAdorable!Good Shabbos, by Goldy MoldavskyI both loved and struggled with the narration here, but I am alw...

Due to my name, I think a lot of people assume I am Jewish...I am not. I honestly know very little about Judaism...and this book seems like a good book to start learning through various Jewish experiences about Judaism.

(7.6/10) - ⭐⭐⭐⭐It's not often that I read an anthology that scrapes together more than three stars, because there's always stories I dislike, but somehow It's a Whole Spiel managed four!This collection of stories by and for members of the Jewish community did a great job of illustrating what it's like to grow up more Jew-ish than *JEWISH*, and while I could've done with a little more diversity in ethnicities than what we got, I want to praise it for that.I think there's still a lot of misconcept...

About time! I've been waiting for a Jewish YA anthology, or just a Jewish anthology in particular. Not gonna lie though, I'm a little bitter that we have to wait until 2019 to get it.

I haven’t read a lot of short story collections, but I loved the format and how quickly reading it went by. Although the point of this selection was to read about something I’m unfamiliar with (here, the Jewish experience), I found a lot to relate to in these insightful characters investigating their own intersections of identities.

LOVED this book! I gobbled up every story. So many different aspects of the Jewish experience, yet all recognizable too. 💙 ✡️

(Disclaimer: I received this book from Netgalley. This has not impacted my review which is unbiased and honest.) An anthology coming from two of my favorite authors? Yes. Please! Not to mention the contributor list is off the scales with authors I love in It's a Whole Spiel and all centered around different stories revolving around people's Jewish identity. The wonderful thing about good anthologies, like It's a Whole Spiel is the capacity to see your favorite authors in a new light. And to disc...

I received this book from Netgally in exchange for an honest reviewI did end up giving a higher rating than I thought I would to this book, so I’m not going to jump in right away about how this didn’t really live up to expectations. Because some stories were really good!! But that’s the thing about an anthology, it’s so hard to give a concrete review because there are so many stories of different ratings included in the complete book. My final rating was the average of my separate ratings for al...