The Hebrew Kid And The Apache Maiden

By Robert J. Avrech

Book Overview

Ariel Isaacson, having migrated westward with his family following the Civil War, is determined to have his Bar Mitzvah, while he also forms a deep friendship with Lozen, an Apache warrior girl. This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0975438212
• ISBN13: 9780975438213
• Release Date: November 2004
• Publisher: Seraphic Press
• Length: 220 Pages
• Weight: 0.65 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 6.8" x 8.9"

Customer Reviews

Cannot praise this book highly enough!

I'll admit, I bought THE HEBREW KID AND THE APACHE MAIDEN for my 12 year-old nephew, but I couldn't resist taking a peek myself. And, once I started it, I was hooked; couldn't put it down. Author Robert Avrech has crafted a marvelous plot. He weaves together the history of the Jews with details about traditional anti-Semitism--both in Europe and in the United States--along with lore about the American Wild West of the 19th Century. This novel is a work which combines great imagination with scholarly research. Every page here is an adventure, starting with Apaches on the war path and moving on to Mexican desperadoes. The reader, especially the younger reader, definitely will learn much about the Jewish religion as a result of reading this book. According to the author's biography, he already is a successful screenwriter. I have read novels written by great authors, and I have seen screenplays written by great screenwriters, and THE HEBREW KID AND THE APACHE MAIDEN is the equal of the best of them. Robert Avrech dedicated this book to the memory of his son.

Adventure story that teaches love and compassion

I met screenwriter Robert J. Avrech and his wife for the first time before Christmas, and he presented me with a copy of his book. He hoped to learn the impact his words would have on a non-Jewish California girl. Today, I emailed him the following message, which I hope will be useful to persons considering his book as a delightful addition to their bookshelves and their lives: I want you to know that I finally had some quiet time yesterday afternoon/evening to sit alone and enjoy your book.  That the story revolves around a Jewish family is in no way a road block to enjoying the pages.  In fact, I was incredibly grateful for the glossary at the end of the book, which I referred to again and again, and the story not only satisfied my thirst for adventure but also for cultural knowledge. The empathy and compassion with which you drew the characters -- Jews, goyims, gamblers and warriers alike -- enabled the story to be appealing cross-culturally.  When Ariel brought this message home in the last few pages at his bat mitzvah, I was moved to tears.  Your story is really all about love, isn't it?  I feel it on every page.  I can see that this book will be appealing to audiences young and old, because it is so fun to accompany your characters on their journey, and there is also deeper meaning on every page.  Thank you for sharing this with me.

Culture Schock!

Avrech has created a fascinating mix of religious instruction, mysticism, and danger, along with a healthy dose of the Old Wild West, filled with unforgetable characters and their reactions to unfamiliar and unlikely circumstances. Ariel is a lead character you can't help speculating about- his future as a leader of a Jewish community in America or possibly a Senator of the United States. At the very least, he could likely grow into a combination of Doc Holiday/Dr. Welby, shooting from the hip but tempered with love and compassion. Ariel and Lozen are great role-models as an unlikely pair of fish out of water who find a common ground for understanding and even "forbidden" love! His relation with his parents and sister is nothing short of heroic as he literally rides to his sister's rescue showing uncommon courage and smarts. The Cartwrights have nothing on this family! I can't wait for the next installment!

Spans all generations, a great bedtime story too!

The Hebrew Kid and the Apache Maiden works on many levels. It's an adventure story, with page turning appeal, but also imparts information about Judaism, Apache culture, and the pioneering spirit that drove Westward expansion. It pleases the young adult reader, but transcends all ages. A family I know read it out loud from cover to cover on a Friday night, but adults also enjoy its character development and touching relationships. I recommend The Hebrew Kid and the Apache Maiden as a wonderful Chanuka gift for all generations.

A Metaphor For One Man's Journey Through Hollywood

I read this novel by my friend Robert J. Avrech straight through in two hours Friday night. I laughed out loud a dozen times. It is terrific and a much-needed contribution to fiction for kids. ......... A soldier approaches the frum family. "You get back to your Cossack friends before I knock your head in, you dirty little sheygitz." Mama lifted a cast iron skillet. "Please, ma'am, I'm not a sheygitz. My name is Schulman. I'm a landsman. A Jew." ............... The mother yells at this Indian maiden Lozen. "So you be careful who you call a witch. Let me tell you something, you might scare the goyim with your whoops and hollers and guns and knives, but to me you're just a little shicksah pisher. And a little advice, maidel: you should spend a bit more time on your looks... You think a man is going to want to marry a wild girl? You should be thinking about a shidduch, not riding around like you're on the warpath!" Mama was practically shouting. Lozen nodded mutely. ............ The book is written from the perspective of Ariel, a 12-year old about to celebrate his bar mitzvah in the Wild West of the 1870s. It's clearly crafted by an accomplished screenwriter. All the scenes have conflict and move the story forward. Most of the chapters end with a hook that compells you to keep reading. The story often heads in the opposite direction of what you'd expect. Dialogue is an Avrech strength. His emails are frequently hilarious when he paints his life with spare dialogue. While Ariel is the book's most sympathetic character, momma and Doc Holliday are the most entertaining. The book reminds me a great deal of Robert's movie A Stranger Among Us with its romantic view of Jewish mysticism. Both works have lead characters named Ariel who dabble in kaballah. I love the absurd tensions of an Orthodox family trying to deal with the goyim in the Wild West. The book comes out of a robust confidence that must flow from Robert's life that Orthodox Judaism is strong enough to tackle the wider world. I believe that Robert Avrech (who comes from a long line of Orthodox rabbis and his son Ariel would've carried on that tradition) is the first Orthodox screenwriter of feature films (with Brian De Palma's Body Double in 1984). In the world in which he grew up, Hollywood was at best foolishness. So Robert must've learned at his secular college, and at his secular kibbutz in Israel, and in secular Hollywood, how to interact with non-Jews, righteous and otherwise, while maintaining his Orthodoxy. Robert's life reminds me of My Name is Asher Lev, probably my favorite Jewish novel. I read The Hebrew Kid for fun, but I reflect on it as an allegory of Robert's journey through the non-Orthodox world. Like the frum family in his novel, Robert has long strived to practice Orthodox Judaism within a frequently hostile environment. Avrech is not of the "Yossi Klein Halevi school of Orthodox Judaism," which simply posits that Orthodoxy is the language he lear