Narrator Adam Gerber sets the scene in this hilarious yet poignant middle-grade novel. After his parents' divorce, TV-obsessed Jake Lightman feels like he plays two different parts in his life: He's "Yaakov" when he's with his Orthodox Jewish mother and "Jacob" when he's with his secular-minded father. Two friends he makes at his new school, Caleb and Tehilla, show him there's a third option--just being himself. Gerber shows his talent when navigating the names of various geographical locations and when pronouncing Hebrew and Yiddish words. His energy and inflections match the material well although he disregards descriptions of how dialogue should be delivered several times. Nonetheless, he delivers a charming show. S.S. © AudioFile 2023, Portland, Maine
"Astutely depicts the pain of a contentious divorce, the balm of friendship, and the complexity of Jewish culture." — Kirkus Reviews
"You'll root for Jake as he navigates friendships, parents, religion, and figuring out who he is—and who he wants to be. Heartfelt and hilarious, The Jake Show is a coming of age story you don't want to miss." — Sarah Mlynowski, New York Times bestselling author of the Whatever After series
"A heartfelt story about discovering yourself while being pulled in two directions, Levy's The Jake Show had me laughing through tears and cheering for Jake every inch of the way. Give this TV-loving kid his Emmy; he deserves it." — Nicole Melleby, award-winning author of Hurricane Season
"A relatable coming-of-age story filled with family strife, fraught friendships, and ridiculous decisions. Funny, heartwarming, and authentic, The Jake Show is a hit!" — Rajani LaRocca, Newbery Honor-winning author of Red, White, and Whole
"This comical, authentic, and firmly Jewish caper should play to rave reviews with both secular and spiritual audiences." — Booklist
09/29/2023
Gr 5 Up—This novel has a tropey premise in middle grade novels: the seventh-grade kid caught between warring divorced parents. However, it is distinct from so many others because the root of Jake's angst is his parents' wildly differing approaches to their Jewish faith and culture. Jake's parents can't even agree on his name; Jake's dad calls him Jacob and his mom-or Imma-calls him Yaakov, his Hebrew name. The differences and expectations ramp up from there, causing Jake to create three versions of himself: Yaakov, the Orthodox version, pleasing to his mother; Jacob, the non-observant, earnest math and science student for his dad; and Jake, as he refers to himself, the kid who is just trying to make it through each day. Jake manages to assimilate into his fifth school in two years and makes friends with Caleb and Tehilla, who, like all kids, have their own personal issues. The story takes some unrealistic turns as Jake, Caleb, and Tehilla come up with a convoluted plan for them all to attend a Jewish summer camp, tricking both of Jake's parents into thinking the camp would fit their criteria for appropriate summer activities. Readers might like the story because the kids take the reins and make adult-worthy decisions. But even Jake admits that "turning on subtitles" might be helpful to non-Jewish readers. Not true. Jake does a good job of explaining. The climax contains unrealistic histrionics, but the ending is nice and tidy and will please most readers. VERDICT A representative novel with enough broad drama to circulate in middle grade libraries.—Kim Gardner
2023-03-14
An Orthodox Jewish seventh grader who has watched way too much television negotiates new schools and divorced parents.
Readers who are familiar with television-land tropes will enjoy this knowingly comic novel, in which an extremely self-conscious Jewish boy processes his experiences as if they were elements of a long-running TV show. At school, he’s Forgettable Kid #5, who goes by Jake if asked. But at his mother’s house—post-divorce, she’s married a rabbi and become extremely Orthodox—he’s quiet Yaakov, who wears a black suit and fedora. His father’s remarried to a non-Jew and is now fully secular; there, he’s lively, goofy Jacob in jeans and T-shirts. His parents have been using the courts to yank him between schools representing various denominations of Judaism, moving him so frequently he can’t make friends. But two kids at his latest stop—Broward County Jewish Day School—just won’t let him slip into the background. Caleb, who’s gone through a lot to come out as gay, and Tehilla, whose mother’s low-paying jobs don’t always cover the basics, help Jake devise a madcap scheme to join their beloved Jewish summer camp, one too secular for his mother and too religious for his father. The web of lies, the fake camp websites, a wild caper scene at the airport—have they pulled off “the greatest sleepover switcheroo in history”? All characters are presumed White.
Astutely depicts the pain of a contentious divorce, the balm of friendship, and the complexity of Jewish culture. (Fiction. 8-12)
