Set against a backdrop of literary censorship and growing Jewish political consciousness, Printz Honor and Stonewall award-winner Sacha Lamb's sophomore novel is a soaring exploration of identity, survival, and ultimately, hope.
On the night before her wedding, 17-year-old Sorel leaps from a window and runs away from her life. To keep from being discovered, she takes on the male identity of Isser Jacobs â but it soon becomes clear that there is a real Isser Jacobs, and people want him dead. Her mistaken identity takes Sorel into the dark underworld of her small city in the Pale of Settlement, where smugglers, forgers, and wicked angels fight for control of the Jewish community. In order to make it out, Sorel must discover who Isser Jacobs really is â and who she wants to be.
P R A I S E
Best of the Year: Boston Globe âĸ The Horn Book
"Thrums with fervent tensionâĻ steeped in Jewish folklore, queer awakening, and a reckoning of body and spiritâĻoffers a fresh way into the messy tangle of gender, its freedoms, and its restrictions.â
âReactor
"Rooted in Jewish history and brimming with magic, The Forbidden Book is at once a heart-pounding mystery and a poignant tale of identity and found family. Whatever the opposite of forbidden is (mandatory?) that's what The Forbidden Book should be."
-âIsaac Blum, Morris Award Winning author of The Life and Crimes of Hoodie Rosen
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âUnique and absorbingâĻpage-turning and attention-grabbingâĻThere are many gripping twists and turns, along with dubious motivations, questions of faith and orthodoxy, friendship, identity (gender and otherwise)âand a stolen book that was âwritten by an angel, with its own hand.ââ
âHorn Book (starred)
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âA precise and deliberate storytellerâĻ Lamb creates a historical fantasy world that is both deeply lived-in and immersive. This is a story that will undoubtedly possess more advanced readers from beginning to end.â
âBulletin of the Center for Childrenâs Books (starred)
"The Forbidden Book is the perfect follow up to the masterpiece that was When the Angels Left the Old Country... Steeped in Jewish folklore and magic, I could not put this book down. The characters are all amazingâSorel is brash in the best way, and I love them, and the ending had the perfect pay off."
âKatherine Nazzaro, Porter Square Books, Boston MA
Set against a backdrop of literary censorship and growing Jewish political consciousness, Printz Honor and Stonewall award-winner Sacha Lamb's sophomore novel is a soaring exploration of identity, survival, and ultimately, hope.
On the night before her wedding, 17-year-old Sorel leaps from a wi...