Please join us when Paula Freedman presents and signs her debut middle grade children's novel, MY BASMATI BAT MITZVAH.
During the fall leading up to her bat mitzvah, Tara (Hindi for "star")
Feinstein has a lot more than her Torah portion on her mind. Between
Hebrew school and study sessions with the rabbi, there doesn't seem to
be enough time to hang out with her best friend Ben-O-who might also be
her boyfriend-and her other best friend, Rebecca, who's getting a little
too cozy with the snotty Sheila Rosenberg. Not to mention working on
her robotics project with the class clown Ryan Berger, or figuring out
what to do with a priceless heirloom sari that she accidentally ruined.
Amid all this drama, Tara considers how to balance her Indian and Jewish
identities and what it means to have a bat mitzvah while questioning
her faith.
With the cross-cultural charm of Bend It Like Beckham, this delightful debut novel is a classic coming-of-age story and young romance with universal appeal.
Paula J. Freedman has another career in digital media, making websites for a well-known children's publisher, a TV network, and assorted others. She's pretty much the same person she was in middle school, only nicer and with less acne. She lives with her husband and two parrots in New York City.