Strange Relations

Strange Relations by Sonia Levitin is a Jewish YA novel. It won the Sydney Taylor Book Award in the Teen Reader category.

Marne lives with her parents in Hermosa Beach (Los Angels). Her mother has to spend the summer in Paris for her job and her father works long hours at the hospital. She cannot stay home alone. So she goes to Hawaii to visit her aunt Carole.

But her aunt is not Carole any more. She is Chaya. She is married to Yitz, and they have seven kids. They are Chabad Jews.

Marne doesn't know much about Judaism. Her family is not observant at all. She is approaching the visit as a cultural exchange.

This is a delightful book. Marne learns and grows so much over the summer.

Levitin, Sonia. (2007). Strange Relations. New York: Alfred A. Knopf.