The Judgment of Yoyo Gold

July 22, 2024
A high school junior living in fictional Colwyn, Pa., Yocheved “Yoyo” Gold cares for her younger siblings, excels at school, and strives to meet the expectations placed upon her as the eldest daughter of her largely Orthodox Jewish community’s rabbi. After she meets the daughter of the town’s Reform rabbi, Yoyo starts to question her own community’s rules and interpretation of Judaism. She pays teenage Shua Holtzman, recently returned from being kicked out of yeshiva, to remove the filter on Yoyo’s phone that restricts her access to social media apps and “other inappropriate content.” Yoyo finds release in posting anonymized TikToks about her Orthodox peers’ “hypocrisy and unfairness” and bends rules to spend time alone with Shua as feelings blossom between the two. But when one of her TikToks goes viral—and leads to IRL consequences—Yoyo panics about being discovered. Blum (The Life and Crimes of Hoodie Rosen) carefully outlines one character’s experiences in her Orthodox community alongside the world she encounters through social media, creating a nuanced novel about finding oneself amid the perceived constraints and comforts of one’s environment. Yoyo and Shua read as white. Ages 12–up.

August 15, 2024
Yocheved "Yoyo" Gold is a good Orthodox Jewish girl. She proudly does the family's grocery shopping, the weekly Shabbos cooking, and even looks after her two younger brothers. When her closest friend, Esti, is suddenly put on a plane to attend boarding school in Las Vegas after kissing boys and breaking the laws of kashrut, Yoyo feels blindsided, depressed, and betrayed. She misses sharing absolutely everything with her best friend and only confidant. While she's volunteering with Jewish Hunger Relief, Yoyo is paired for meal delivery with Mickey, who has a white dad and a Korean and white mom who's a rabbi at a Reform synagogue. Through her, Yoyo is introduced to different ways of being Jewish. She soon decides to get the filter on her smartphone removed and turns to TikTok for comfort. As she attempts to navigate her sheltered upbringing on the outskirts of Philadelphia and the intoxicating world of social media, Yoyo confronts new situations and difficult decisions. Through her new friendship and a budding forbidden romance with Shua, her friend Chani's older brother, Yoyo discovers more about herself and the role she wants to play within her family and the Orthodox Jewish community. The book's well-written short chapters and fast-paced, first-person narrative will keep readers glued to the pages. Yoyo's voice is compelling, and both she and her observant family are portrayed positively and respectfully. Blum's fans won't be disappointed. A kosher coming-of-age story with a bissel of romance.(Fiction. 14-18)

COPYRIGHT(2024) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Starred review from October 15, 2024
Grades 9-12 *Starred Review* As the oldest daughter of an Orthodox rabbi, Yocheved "Yoyo" Gold faces high expectations from her parents and her entire Orthodox community to be a leader and role model for her peers. She usually handles this status well, but she is currently preoccupied by the banishment of her best friend, Esti, to a boarding school in Las Vegas. Esti is now all the way across the country after she was caught kissing a boy, which is strictly forbidden. Yoyo meets another rabbi's daughter, Mickey, whose mother is the rabbi of a Reform synagogue, and Yoyo's both shocked and intrigued by the differences between them. Mickey introduces Yoyo to social media, and Yoyo crashes headlong into a topsy-turvy world radically different from her own. When she sees her Orthodox friends violating rules like eating at McDonald's or buying drugs, she starts posting anonymous TikTok videos reporting on their transgressions. It all catches up to her, and Yoyo realizes that (1) she needs boundaries, and (2) they need to come from within her. Blum's depiction of a teenage Orthodox Jewish girl is remarkable in its precision and authenticity, along with the depth he gives Yoyo as she experiences life outside her community and contemplates her future. Yoyo's first-person narrative is convincing and appealing along with the well-rounded characters around her.

COPYRIGHT(2024) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

November 1, 2024
In this coming-of-age novel set in an insular Orthodox Jewish community (adjacent to the one in The Life and Crimes of Hoodie Rosen, rev. 11/22), Yocheved "Yoyo" Gold is the eldest daughter of the local rabbi and has been cast in a particular and demanding role by those around her. After her best friend leaves town under questionable circumstances, Yoyo begins to notice cracks in the standards of behavior she has always accepted and feels an urge to call out the hypocrisy she sees. New friends -- one from outside her tight-knit community and one who is pushing boundaries within it -- lead her to question both her responsibilities and her beliefs. Social media, alcohol, and physical relationships feature heavily in the story, and each potential hot-button issue is handled with delicacy and nuance as Yoyo approaches these new experiences from her sheltered but mature perspective. While the book critiques Orthodoxy, it also treats its norms and traditions with respect. Even at the height of mean-girl drama, the characters have dimension and agency, and Yoyo models a level of integrity that feels both genuine and aspirational. The story's depictions of teens grappling with expectations are specific to this community and also represent universal themes of growing up, friendship, family pressures, and being true to oneself. Miriam Steinberg-Egeth

(Copyright 2024 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

July 1, 2024
In this coming-of-age novel set in an insular Orthodox Jewish community (adjacent to the one in The Life and Crimes of Hoodie Rosen, rev. 11/22), Yocheved "Yoyo" Gold is the eldest daughter of the local rabbi and has been cast in a particular and demanding role by those around her. After her best friend leaves town under questionable circumstances, Yoyo begins to notice cracks in the standards of behavior she has always accepted and feels an urge to call out the hypocrisy she sees. New friends -- one from outside her tight-knit community and one who is pushing boundaries within it -- lead her to question both her responsibilities and her beliefs. Social media, alcohol, and physical relationships feature heavily in the story, and each potential hot-button issue is handled with delicacy and nuance as Yoyo approaches these new experiences from her sheltered but mature perspective. While the book critiques Orthodoxy, it also treats its norms and traditions with respect. Even at the height of mean-girl drama, the characters have dimension and agency, and Yoyo models a level of integrity that feels both genuine and aspirational. The story's depictions of teens grappling with expectations are specific to this community and also represent universal themes of growing up, friendship, family pressures, and being true to oneself.

(Copyright 2024 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)