About the B'Nai Bagels

by E.L. Konigsburg

Book Overview

Mark Setzer has a lot on his mind. He's worried about his upcoming bar mitzvah, and he misses his best friend, who's moved to the rich side of town and started hanging out with the obnoxious kid they used to make fun of. Mark doesn't need the aggravation of his mother signing on to manage his Little League team. But if "Mother Bagel" complicates Mark's life, she's great for the team. Suddenly, they're winning games and headed toward the championship...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1416957987
• ISBN13: 9781416957980
• Release Date: March 2008
• Publisher: Atheneum Books for Young Readers
• Length: 208 Pages
• Weight: 0.34 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 5.5" x 7.6"
• Age Range: 8 to 12 years
• Grade Range: Grades 3 to 7

Customer Reviews

Baseball

This was a pretty good book. The main idea of the story is baseball and being a jewish boy. It is hard though, for somebody who does not know much about baseball to read this book. E.L. Konigsburg did a great job tying in the part about being a jewish boy preparing for his bar mitzvah and being on a baseball team. Over all, it was a pretty good book.

A Jewish Boys Hardships

Mark Seltzer is a twelve year old boy who is going through preparing for his Bar Mitzvah and playing on his mom's baseball team. Mark loves playing baseball, but he has a hard time in Hebrew school and his social life because he has to worry about so many things. I liked this book because it show what hardships Mark has to overcome in preparing for his Bar Mitzvah and still have a fun time. I also liked this book because it had a lot of baseball in it and I love baseball.

a very good book

I would give this book About the B'nai Bages four out of five stars. It was really interesting. I never wanted to put the book down. I really liked this book. I think I liked this book because I like sports. I think this book is a lot like Bearstone. It teaches you to never let anything friendship get in the way of your friendship. It also reminds me of Outsiders because they all stick together. The gang in the Outsiders knows that friendship is the most important, but it takes Mark a while to realize that friends are the most important thing. I would recommend this book to teenagers who like to read, because it shows the meaning of friendship

One of my favorite books -- EVER

This is a touching and loving portrayal of a Jewish kid who has to put up with an over-achieving older brother, his best friend moving away, and -- horror of horrors -- his mother becoming his baseball team's manager. While he prepares for his Bar Mitzvah, he is faced with several challenges and choices, which -- though minor in the scheme of things -- help him learn about himself and what it means to become an adult. The story is told with gentle and self-deprecating humor. I first read this book when I was 10, I read it most recently when I was 39, and I have given it to my 10 year-old daughter.

Great growing up book

If your child is a future fan of Neil Simon's plays, get them About the B'nai Bagels as soon as possible.This is a story that grows on you a lot. I first read it when I was ten, and thought it quite dumb at the time. But there's a lot of life in there.It was years later when I saw a presentation of Brighton Beach Memoirs. It dealt with the same issues as B'nai Bagels: a pubescent kid who goes through puberty.While your average fourth or fifth grader may wish to pursue an adventure in Donkey Kong rather than reading, the book is short enough not to interrupt their busy schedule.Trust me, when he/she gets to be an old college kid, you'll be glad B'nai bagels was one of the old book reports.