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Adam Unrehearsed
In the vein of The Chosen, Catcher in the Rye , and The Kite Runner comes Adam Unrehearsed , a “hilarious, deeply moving, coming-of-age comedy” (Yossi Klein Halevi).
From the moment he’s mugged on the subway home from Bat Day at Yankee Stadium, things go wrong for twelve-year-old Adam Miller. He is in the Special Program for brainy kids, but his new junior high is on triple shift. When he gets on the wrong side of several gangs and needs them most, his friends disappear. As if that’s not enough, Adam discovers that his older brother has become a Zionist militant, his synagogue is repeatedly vandalized, and despite Adam’s “skinny voice,” his crazy new Cantor has grandiose plans for his Bar Mitzvah. Meanwhile, Adam dreams of his summer camp girlfriend in far off New Rochelle, but he’s too shy to pick up the phone. He even fails at shoplifting.
Bewildered and alone, Adam finds his only solace onstage, where he discovers the power of theater to bridge social divides. As he learns to stand out and stand up for himself, friends appear in the most unexpected places and Adam Miller discovers his own voice.
Adam Unrehearsed is a story of friendship, betrayal, life, death, and acting.
Colum McCann called it “comical…lyrical…menacing…gritty…tender…compassionate and propulsive.” Adam Unrehearsed will do for Flushing what Philip Roth did for Newark. Set in New York in 1970, just as American Jewry is coming of age, this is the next generation of great American Jewish fiction.
From the moment he’s mugged on the subway home from Bat Day at Yankee Stadium, things go wrong for twelve-year-old Adam Miller. He is in the Special Program for brainy kids, but his new junior high is on triple shift. When he gets on the wrong side of several gangs and needs them most, his friends disappear. As if that’s not enough, Adam discovers that his older brother has become a Zionist militant, his synagogue is repeatedly vandalized, and despite Adam’s “skinny voice,” his crazy new Cantor has grandiose plans for his Bar Mitzvah. Meanwhile, Adam dreams of his summer camp girlfriend in far off New Rochelle, but he’s too shy to pick up the phone. He even fails at shoplifting.
Bewildered and alone, Adam finds his only solace onstage, where he discovers the power of theater to bridge social divides. As he learns to stand out and stand up for himself, friends appear in the most unexpected places and Adam Miller discovers his own voice.
Adam Unrehearsed is a story of friendship, betrayal, life, death, and acting.
Colum McCann called it “comical…lyrical…menacing…gritty…tender…compassionate and propulsive.” Adam Unrehearsed will do for Flushing what Philip Roth did for Newark. Set in New York in 1970, just as American Jewry is coming of age, this is the next generation of great American Jewish fiction.
322 pages, Kindle Edition
Published November 14, 2023
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 72 reviews
October 31, 2023
I received a free advanced Kindle copy of this book in exchange for a review. I'm not sure why I entered the drawing for this book, and after the first couple chapters I was certain the book wasn't for me. I was wrong, though. This ended up being a lovely read, more complex and nuanced than its YA facade would make you think. Futterman covers a lot of ground here: antisemitism, racism, white flight, street gangs, etc. Even with all that, though, it's definitely Adam's story, and at the end of it all, I really liked the kid. A good read for anyone, but I think especially for young people!
November 12, 2023
Don Futterman, the Author of “ ADAM UNREHEARSED” has written an amazing, witty, and memorable novel. The genres for this novel are Coming of Age, Jewish Literature, and Fiction. The timeline for this story is set in 1970 in mostly Flushing, New York. I appreciate how the author discusses the political and multi-environmental society of the times. Adam Miller is the almost thirteen year old boy, who learns to find his voice for both his Bar Mitzvah, and the circumstances, trials and triumphs of life. I can relate to the heartbreak of Adam losing his best friend, for no reason that he can think of. Not only does he lose his friend, the friend convinces other friends to abandon Adam. The camp girlfriend that Adam has hoped would come to his Bar Mitzvah, is not at all the girlfriend he dreamed of.
Adam finds his voice in the enriched classes in Junior High, when he becomes active in theater. With the help of new friends, he creates a powerful dramatic play that becomes significant in his growth. Adam has to learn to stop running from bullies and gangs, who try to frighten him. One of the most difficult lessons that Adam has to learn is how to understand the complicated adult voices that offer different opinions. Adam also has to learn what is right and wrong, and to stand up for what is morally correct.That is certainly difficulty when antisemitism is prevalent. I highly recommend this powerful and thought-provoking novel for others.
Adam finds his voice in the enriched classes in Junior High, when he becomes active in theater. With the help of new friends, he creates a powerful dramatic play that becomes significant in his growth. Adam has to learn to stop running from bullies and gangs, who try to frighten him. One of the most difficult lessons that Adam has to learn is how to understand the complicated adult voices that offer different opinions. Adam also has to learn what is right and wrong, and to stand up for what is morally correct.That is certainly difficulty when antisemitism is prevalent. I highly recommend this powerful and thought-provoking novel for others.
October 24, 2023
Adam Unrehearsed by Don Futterman. Thanks to @getredpr for the gifted copy ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Adam is growing up in New York City in the 70’s and studying for his bar mitzvah. After a subway mugging, he makes enemies and his friends desert him. He finds solace in stage as he uses the power of theatre to bridge divides in his school and community.
This story was right up my alley. I love stories of boys coming of age, especially in unique times and settings. The background of Vietnam and the politics of Zionism added history to the story and an extra dissonance to the adolescent character, who is not only studying for his bar mitzvah but dealing with community issues, anti-semitism, and youthful peer problems as well. There were moments that will make you laugh and moments that you will you cry. You will fall in love with Adam as he becomes himself and a man.
“Adults can’t understand true thoughts that make no sense. They want to solve feelings as if they are problems, overeager to erase them. I won’t be like that when I grow up.”
Adam Unrehearsed comes out 11/14.
Adam is growing up in New York City in the 70’s and studying for his bar mitzvah. After a subway mugging, he makes enemies and his friends desert him. He finds solace in stage as he uses the power of theatre to bridge divides in his school and community.
This story was right up my alley. I love stories of boys coming of age, especially in unique times and settings. The background of Vietnam and the politics of Zionism added history to the story and an extra dissonance to the adolescent character, who is not only studying for his bar mitzvah but dealing with community issues, anti-semitism, and youthful peer problems as well. There were moments that will make you laugh and moments that you will you cry. You will fall in love with Adam as he becomes himself and a man.
“Adults can’t understand true thoughts that make no sense. They want to solve feelings as if they are problems, overeager to erase them. I won’t be like that when I grow up.”
Adam Unrehearsed comes out 11/14.
January 8, 2024
I don’t understand the raves for this book. Setting aside the editing mistakes, the story felt flat and unrealistic (and I was a Jewish kid on Long Island just a few years younger than Adam).There was an attempt to throw in a whole bunch of social issues and then deal with them superficially and without resolution, and Adam was put in situations that felt overly contrived for a 12/13 year old boy.
January 10, 2024
Growing up is never easy, but it seems worse for Adam Miller because he got himself on the wrong side of some gangs in his neighborhood.
To make it even worse, he had to tell the police the identification of gang members who harassed him because they are then ordered to not get near him.
Then his friends all abandoned him.
We follow Adam as one gang after the other gets after him.
Today, the Italian gang was waiting for him. It was actually hilarious at what he did along with a friend
I felt sorry for him, but he took it in stride or so it seemed.
He did find his niche. He was great in the theater.
It is a bit slow at times, but those readers who enjoy a coming of age read and a lovable main character should enjoy this book.
To make it even worse, he had to tell the police the identification of gang members who harassed him because they are then ordered to not get near him.
Then his friends all abandoned him.
We follow Adam as one gang after the other gets after him.
Today, the Italian gang was waiting for him. It was actually hilarious at what he did along with a friend
I felt sorry for him, but he took it in stride or so it seemed.
He did find his niche. He was great in the theater.
It is a bit slow at times, but those readers who enjoy a coming of age read and a lovable main character should enjoy this book.
July 4, 2024
My book club received this ARC from Bookmovement and I really enjoyed it! Don Futterman gave a voice to a 1970's adolescent who you wanted to be friends with. I learned so much about the Jewish faith and family. The book makes you think about misunderstandings, making assumptions about people and the communities we live in. Great read!
January 13, 2024
Oh to be 12 going on 13 again. A thoroughly entertaining read about navigating life as a seventh grader and figuring out who our real friends are.
This book brought me back to planning for my bar mitzvah, attending Hebrew School three times a week, Junior Congregation on Saturday mornings, taking the LIRR to Shea Stadium to watch Mets games. A lot of similarities with Adam Miller's experiences.
This book brought me back to planning for my bar mitzvah, attending Hebrew School three times a week, Junior Congregation on Saturday mornings, taking the LIRR to Shea Stadium to watch Mets games. A lot of similarities with Adam Miller's experiences.
December 23, 2023
WOW! Such a marvelous, lived-in, deeply moving book. I loved it from start to finish.
June 16, 2025
This almost feels like an inverted ARE YOU THERE, GOD? IT’S ME, MARGARET in a way. Jewish kid moves out of the city and into the suburbs in the early ‘70s (all the way to New Jersey in Margaret’s case.) There’s some culture shock, friends drama, existential crisis…
Granted, Futterman’s version is a bit more gritty, though I’m not sure I’d say that means this book isn’t young adult. It’s pretty firmly rooted in 12-year-old Adam’s perspective, complete with italicized thoughts where he ruminates over his reality (much like Margaret does when she appeals to God!) But this book does feel a little more outward-facing about the world.
Anywho. The story starts shortly after Adam and his family abruptly move to another part of Queens for reasons that aren’t fully obvious to our protagonist until he goes down long rabbit hole discussions about teacher unions and shifting ethnic populations (his father was a Jewish principal at a school becoming more heavily Black. See the 1968 New York teachers strike.) There’s also the issue of Adam’s older brother, Seth, who, between the plight of Soviet Jewry and dangers to Jewish institutions at home, joins one of the “Jewish defense” groups, Betar: still a far-right group, alive and kicking today. :/
Queens, and more broadly New York City, is kind of a battleground. Adam describes his overpopulated school as divided into rival ethnic groups with rules about who can use what bathroom and gangs that beat up on "outsider" stragglers. Adam and his friends are mugged on the subway after attending a Yankees game alone. This is where they run into an elusive, “old world” Jewish character, who becomes integral to Adam’s story later.
Adam is preparing for his bar mitzvah at his Conservative shul, and “the Cantor” is an Orthodox, Romanian-born Holocaust survivor. As Linda Gradstein writes in the Jerusalem Post, “The Cantor was on a personal mission to rouse the congregation of lawyers, doctors, store owners, accountants, insurance agents, and even one assemblyman (although not representing their district) to vigorous prayer. The Cantor was going to roar his way into heaven and take everyone with him.” He ends up specifically tutoring Adam, who is smart, sensitive and obviously the protagonist of the story. :P
Adam’s relationship with the Cantor extends beyond the synagogue or the subway car. The Cantor takes an active interest in Adam’s life, even accompanying him to some places around town. The Orthodox have a reputation for staying stuck in their insular world, but the Cantor’s experience in pre-to-Holocaust Romania was like Adam’s writ large. Dude definitely needed to know some street smarts.
In other avenues, Adam’s conflicts are a little more domestic, like Margaret’s. He has a falling out with his original friends group, with behaviors mirroring the passive aggressive gaslighting usually reserved for describing female relationships. He ends up befriending two new boys, Michael Mason and Suvan Chakrabarti, who are decidedly more “of color” characters. (Fun fact: my dad also rolled with an ethnically diverse group of boys in his New Jersey middle-to-high school, with my dad being the Italian American. They’re still friends to this day.)
Another recurring theme throughout the book is Adam redrawing his “bar mitzvah dais” seating chart, that is, the family and friends he wants to sit with him on the dais/bimah for lunch after his big day. The seating chart continues to shift as Adam has to deal with social norms: like the reality that his “camp girlfriend” (they held hands on the bus or something) doesn’t see their relationship in quite the same terms.
So yeah. There really is a mix of innocence and experience in here. Fans might argue that’s indicative of growing up, after all.
The pacing is also a little rapid and choppy; sometimes I had trouble keeping up with Adam’s altercations and what they meant in the social pecking order. Futterman also didn’t hold the reader’s hand much with the Jewish content, which Pamela Schoenwaldt noted in the Historical Novel Society. “A glossary would be helpful,” she opined.
The bar mitzvah was surely an anchoring point of the story (the actual date comprising the final chapter of the book.) I also like how that performance arguably ties in with the more significant throughline of Adam’s bildungsroman; his transition into a “theater kid.” That’s a little bit misleading, since he doesn’t join the school play; instead, he adapts, directs and stars in a two-person scene based off of an encounter in Elie Weisel’s autobiographical DAWN. This experience is more a way for Adam to ruminate on his Jewish identity and the broader context of life around him in Queens, more so than his future as a thespian. :P
Jessie Szalay, writing for the Jewish Book Council, is a little more forgiving of the novel’s faults. “It can sometimes be difficult to understand exactly what’s happening around Adam, but that is only because Futterman is brilliant at depicting the murkiness of the world of adolescence,” she says. I will say this melded a unique time and place with some universal realities, and I’m glad I read it.
Granted, Futterman’s version is a bit more gritty, though I’m not sure I’d say that means this book isn’t young adult. It’s pretty firmly rooted in 12-year-old Adam’s perspective, complete with italicized thoughts where he ruminates over his reality (much like Margaret does when she appeals to God!) But this book does feel a little more outward-facing about the world.
Anywho. The story starts shortly after Adam and his family abruptly move to another part of Queens for reasons that aren’t fully obvious to our protagonist until he goes down long rabbit hole discussions about teacher unions and shifting ethnic populations (his father was a Jewish principal at a school becoming more heavily Black. See the 1968 New York teachers strike.) There’s also the issue of Adam’s older brother, Seth, who, between the plight of Soviet Jewry and dangers to Jewish institutions at home, joins one of the “Jewish defense” groups, Betar: still a far-right group, alive and kicking today. :/
Queens, and more broadly New York City, is kind of a battleground. Adam describes his overpopulated school as divided into rival ethnic groups with rules about who can use what bathroom and gangs that beat up on "outsider" stragglers. Adam and his friends are mugged on the subway after attending a Yankees game alone. This is where they run into an elusive, “old world” Jewish character, who becomes integral to Adam’s story later.
Adam is preparing for his bar mitzvah at his Conservative shul, and “the Cantor” is an Orthodox, Romanian-born Holocaust survivor. As Linda Gradstein writes in the Jerusalem Post, “The Cantor was on a personal mission to rouse the congregation of lawyers, doctors, store owners, accountants, insurance agents, and even one assemblyman (although not representing their district) to vigorous prayer. The Cantor was going to roar his way into heaven and take everyone with him.” He ends up specifically tutoring Adam, who is smart, sensitive and obviously the protagonist of the story. :P
Adam’s relationship with the Cantor extends beyond the synagogue or the subway car. The Cantor takes an active interest in Adam’s life, even accompanying him to some places around town. The Orthodox have a reputation for staying stuck in their insular world, but the Cantor’s experience in pre-to-Holocaust Romania was like Adam’s writ large. Dude definitely needed to know some street smarts.
In other avenues, Adam’s conflicts are a little more domestic, like Margaret’s. He has a falling out with his original friends group, with behaviors mirroring the passive aggressive gaslighting usually reserved for describing female relationships. He ends up befriending two new boys, Michael Mason and Suvan Chakrabarti, who are decidedly more “of color” characters. (Fun fact: my dad also rolled with an ethnically diverse group of boys in his New Jersey middle-to-high school, with my dad being the Italian American. They’re still friends to this day.)
Another recurring theme throughout the book is Adam redrawing his “bar mitzvah dais” seating chart, that is, the family and friends he wants to sit with him on the dais/bimah for lunch after his big day. The seating chart continues to shift as Adam has to deal with social norms: like the reality that his “camp girlfriend” (they held hands on the bus or something) doesn’t see their relationship in quite the same terms.
So yeah. There really is a mix of innocence and experience in here. Fans might argue that’s indicative of growing up, after all.
The pacing is also a little rapid and choppy; sometimes I had trouble keeping up with Adam’s altercations and what they meant in the social pecking order. Futterman also didn’t hold the reader’s hand much with the Jewish content, which Pamela Schoenwaldt noted in the Historical Novel Society. “A glossary would be helpful,” she opined.
The bar mitzvah was surely an anchoring point of the story (the actual date comprising the final chapter of the book.) I also like how that performance arguably ties in with the more significant throughline of Adam’s bildungsroman; his transition into a “theater kid.” That’s a little bit misleading, since he doesn’t join the school play; instead, he adapts, directs and stars in a two-person scene based off of an encounter in Elie Weisel’s autobiographical DAWN. This experience is more a way for Adam to ruminate on his Jewish identity and the broader context of life around him in Queens, more so than his future as a thespian. :P
Jessie Szalay, writing for the Jewish Book Council, is a little more forgiving of the novel’s faults. “It can sometimes be difficult to understand exactly what’s happening around Adam, but that is only because Futterman is brilliant at depicting the murkiness of the world of adolescence,” she says. I will say this melded a unique time and place with some universal realities, and I’m glad I read it.
April 6, 2024
In the way of all enduring fiction, Adam Unrehearsed uses vibrant specificity of time and place to wrench readers into a new world that feels emotionally familiar. Anyone who has passed through adolescence will recognize the push/pull of family, intense and fickle friendships, and the desperate need to belong and succeed without knowing how.
It’s 1971 in Queens, New York. Adam is a smart, too-sensitive Jewish boy, an avid Yankee fan, bewildered when his best friends shun him, discovering theater, sure he’ll monumentally embarrass himself at his coming bar mitzvah, in love with a girl he’s much too shy to contact—the whole messy, bewildering tangle of teenage years.
Larger social forces loom over Adam. High school and street gangs threaten him every day. Racial tensions pit Black, white and Jewish communities against each other despite their common needs. He must secretly leave a neighborhood he loves. His best friends turn against him, but the new boy from India gets him. His synagogue’s vandalized and the older brother becomes a Zionist militant, to the dismay of a father who believes against all evidence that people of good will can talk out their grievances.
Futterman is masterful in portraying the vastly separate worlds within each family, as when Adam laments: “Adults can’t understand true thoughts that make no sense. They want to solve feelings as if they’re problems, overeager to erase them. I won’t be like that when I grow up.” Funny, wise, heartbreaking and heart-healing, Futterman’s novel reaches across time, ethnicity and faith traditions to bore into the universalities of youth. Non-Jewish readers may have a small critique, that a glossary would be helpful, but all the fundamentals of a classic coming-of-age tale shine through in Adam Unrehearsed.
My review originally published in Historical Novel Review
It’s 1971 in Queens, New York. Adam is a smart, too-sensitive Jewish boy, an avid Yankee fan, bewildered when his best friends shun him, discovering theater, sure he’ll monumentally embarrass himself at his coming bar mitzvah, in love with a girl he’s much too shy to contact—the whole messy, bewildering tangle of teenage years.
Larger social forces loom over Adam. High school and street gangs threaten him every day. Racial tensions pit Black, white and Jewish communities against each other despite their common needs. He must secretly leave a neighborhood he loves. His best friends turn against him, but the new boy from India gets him. His synagogue’s vandalized and the older brother becomes a Zionist militant, to the dismay of a father who believes against all evidence that people of good will can talk out their grievances.
Futterman is masterful in portraying the vastly separate worlds within each family, as when Adam laments: “Adults can’t understand true thoughts that make no sense. They want to solve feelings as if they’re problems, overeager to erase them. I won’t be like that when I grow up.” Funny, wise, heartbreaking and heart-healing, Futterman’s novel reaches across time, ethnicity and faith traditions to bore into the universalities of youth. Non-Jewish readers may have a small critique, that a glossary would be helpful, but all the fundamentals of a classic coming-of-age tale shine through in Adam Unrehearsed.
My review originally published in Historical Novel Review
November 3, 2023
One would think after reading Adam Unrehearsed that Don Futterman has been writing fiction for years. This is a masterfully crafted novel with a compelling and timely story-line about the coming of age of a pre-bar mitzvah 12 year-old Jewish boy who deals with the emotional and psychological complexities of friendship, betrayal, self-discovery, first-love, loyalty, and family relationships. Though set within the specific cultural milieu of the early 1970s in Queens, NY, the novel holds universal relevance and appeal for any age and community. Don knows a lot about a lot of things: pop-culture, film, television, politics, Jewish, Zionist, American, and world history, the theater and acting, literature and the writer’s craft, and all of it is reflected in his richly told story. He weaves, with seeming ease, disparate strands of the plot and subplots into a unified whole in which every detail carries relevance and importance. Don’s writing is wonderfully descriptive in this page-turner of a novel that springs surprises and the unexpected continuously upon the reader. I didn’t want the novel to end, and I look forward to Don’s next work.
John L. Rosove, Rabbi Emeritus, Temple Israel of Hollywood, Los Angeles
John L. Rosove, Rabbi Emeritus, Temple Israel of Hollywood, Los Angeles
November 13, 2023
Thank you to Get Red PR Books and Post Hill Press for an advanced copy of this book.
My rating of this book fell between 4 and 5 stars. It wasn't the typical genre that I read, and it is not one that I would have picked up on my own, if it wasn't brought to my attention for a book feature. I greatly appreciated the opportunity because I ended up really enjoying it. I read it in one sitting (in fairness, I was on a plane, so there weren't many distractions).
This book is about a twelve-year-old boy named Adam and the year leading up to his Bar Mitzvah. I will be honest and say that I don't know that much about Jewish culture, but felt I learned a lot from this book.
The story follows Adam as he deals with everyday preteen issues, planning his seating arrangement at his Bar Mitzvah when his group of friends is ever changing, and bullying. The book also delves into harsher bullying, and Adam's experiences with antisemitism. I felt that the author did such a great job with telling the story from a young boy's perspective.
I felt the book was sad at times, but quite heartwarming overall.
My rating of this book fell between 4 and 5 stars. It wasn't the typical genre that I read, and it is not one that I would have picked up on my own, if it wasn't brought to my attention for a book feature. I greatly appreciated the opportunity because I ended up really enjoying it. I read it in one sitting (in fairness, I was on a plane, so there weren't many distractions).
This book is about a twelve-year-old boy named Adam and the year leading up to his Bar Mitzvah. I will be honest and say that I don't know that much about Jewish culture, but felt I learned a lot from this book.
The story follows Adam as he deals with everyday preteen issues, planning his seating arrangement at his Bar Mitzvah when his group of friends is ever changing, and bullying. The book also delves into harsher bullying, and Adam's experiences with antisemitism. I felt that the author did such a great job with telling the story from a young boy's perspective.
I felt the book was sad at times, but quite heartwarming overall.
November 22, 2023
4.5 ⭐️
Thank you @getredprbooks @post_hill_press and @donfutterman for a spot on tour and a gifted book.
It’s Adam Miller’s bar mitzvah year, and it’s proving to be quite the year - one Adam wishes he could thrive in; maybe he better just survive it.
Set in 1970 New York, Adam is a Jewish boy facing some big challenges: not wanting to disappoint his parents, keeping his friends, standing up to antisemitism, and he’d love not to get beaten up. Adam is at that age where friendships and loyalties are shifting, and the ever-present bullies and gangs strain those bonds even more.
Adam gets involved in the theatre, which helps him to act out his feelings. He also does his studies for his bar mitzvah, searching for answers to the troubling situations that surround him.
Mr. Futterman does an excellent job of telling Adam’s story. Even though it has a weightiness with the antisemitism and cruel bullying, it felt hopeful and even humorous at times as we are privy to Adam’s inner thoughts. It is an interesting look at multicultural dynamics through a young boy’s eyes, especially one like Adam - who has a big heart and is just trying to find his place in life.
Thank you @getredprbooks @post_hill_press and @donfutterman for a spot on tour and a gifted book.
It’s Adam Miller’s bar mitzvah year, and it’s proving to be quite the year - one Adam wishes he could thrive in; maybe he better just survive it.
Set in 1970 New York, Adam is a Jewish boy facing some big challenges: not wanting to disappoint his parents, keeping his friends, standing up to antisemitism, and he’d love not to get beaten up. Adam is at that age where friendships and loyalties are shifting, and the ever-present bullies and gangs strain those bonds even more.
Adam gets involved in the theatre, which helps him to act out his feelings. He also does his studies for his bar mitzvah, searching for answers to the troubling situations that surround him.
Mr. Futterman does an excellent job of telling Adam’s story. Even though it has a weightiness with the antisemitism and cruel bullying, it felt hopeful and even humorous at times as we are privy to Adam’s inner thoughts. It is an interesting look at multicultural dynamics through a young boy’s eyes, especially one like Adam - who has a big heart and is just trying to find his place in life.
November 23, 2023
Thank you @getredprbooks for having me on this booktour. I am so delighted to have read this literary-historical fiction about reformed Jews in Flushing, NY back in the 1970s.
This book is mish-mosh of what our current society is today. There’s anti-semitism, racism, segregation, red-lined communities, the crapy NYC, reformed secular society, sarcasm, immigrants, death and living. It is really an unputdownable because this fictional book hit every single one of the major issues of NY urbanization. I try not to pull any politicalization or parallelism to current situations, but this draws some attention and similarities to today’s Jews in NY. I remember baby-sitting a boy who was prepping his bar mitzvah, and what he went through what Adam had to go through, but Adam’s (the protagonist) life was more colorful and adventurous. Overall, this book is entertaining, teachable moments, historical stories and feel-good book.
This book is mish-mosh of what our current society is today. There’s anti-semitism, racism, segregation, red-lined communities, the crapy NYC, reformed secular society, sarcasm, immigrants, death and living. It is really an unputdownable because this fictional book hit every single one of the major issues of NY urbanization. I try not to pull any politicalization or parallelism to current situations, but this draws some attention and similarities to today’s Jews in NY. I remember baby-sitting a boy who was prepping his bar mitzvah, and what he went through what Adam had to go through, but Adam’s (the protagonist) life was more colorful and adventurous. Overall, this book is entertaining, teachable moments, historical stories and feel-good book.
November 29, 2023
BOOK:ADAM UNREHEARSED -A NOVEL BY DON FUTTERMAN.
BOOK REVIEWER -OKOKO AYEZU TAMARAPREYE
A poetic style fiction on Adam Miller and family.The story discusses a wide range of interesting subject matters from high school gang and street fighting to racism and student associations;being a teacher and the job of a teacher in a white environment;ray-sea-zim (with Zim for presence in ikwerre language in Nigeria);racism and the Nazi situation;cops and police role and intervention in ray-sea-zim;the Jewish(ju-wee-shhh with ju for right to mean right the "wee shutters or closers) struggles;black militant reprisal; immediate family and link to nuclear wars using Vietnam (ve-ate-nam with Ve for victory and nam for "go" in Igbo) and Nazi(for presence of go with na as "go" and Zi as "presence" in Igbo and ikwerre language in Nigeria) example;fight against racism and it's link to a fight encouraging poplar ,rape and "in's" ,coitus or the absence of coitus.
BOOK REVIEWER -OKOKO AYEZU TAMARAPREYE
A poetic style fiction on Adam Miller and family.The story discusses a wide range of interesting subject matters from high school gang and street fighting to racism and student associations;being a teacher and the job of a teacher in a white environment;ray-sea-zim (with Zim for presence in ikwerre language in Nigeria);racism and the Nazi situation;cops and police role and intervention in ray-sea-zim;the Jewish(ju-wee-shhh with ju for right to mean right the "wee shutters or closers) struggles;black militant reprisal; immediate family and link to nuclear wars using Vietnam (ve-ate-nam with Ve for victory and nam for "go" in Igbo) and Nazi(for presence of go with na as "go" and Zi as "presence" in Igbo and ikwerre language in Nigeria) example;fight against racism and it's link to a fight encouraging poplar ,rape and "in's" ,coitus or the absence of coitus.
December 17, 2023
Having come of age in the 70s, just as Adam, the main character in Adam Unrehearsed, did, I was somewhat overwhelmed and amazed as Futterman's first novel transported me back to that time. It's unusual to have a chance to see the world through the eyes of a young teen; they don't write first-class novels for adults. Futterman enables us to go back, to remember and understand what it means to be that age, how adult choices can be baffling and have lasting impacts, and how friendships and adult role models can matter so, so much.
Not only does the book draw you in and demand that you read voraciously to the end, it forces the reader to consider important questions about who we include in our community, how we treat each other, and what is important to fight for and which means to employ to achieve those ends.
In other words, it mesmerizes its readers and challenges our beliefs all at the same time. A must-read new book, and an ideal book-group choice.
Not only does the book draw you in and demand that you read voraciously to the end, it forces the reader to consider important questions about who we include in our community, how we treat each other, and what is important to fight for and which means to employ to achieve those ends.
In other words, it mesmerizes its readers and challenges our beliefs all at the same time. A must-read new book, and an ideal book-group choice.
January 30, 2024
I loved every aspect of Adam Unrehearsed, from the universal coming of age theme to the time capsule of Queens in the 1970's. Don Futterman has done an amazing job capturing the whit and wisdom of Adam as he encounters many obstacles in the months leading up to his bar mitzvah. Adam is challenged on many levels; he encounters antisemitism, gang violence, and unexplained ostracism from his best friend group. This novel fully captures the inner-workings of this early adolescent boy and displays his determination and resilience to overcome the conflicts on all of these challenging domains. Adam is a survivor and reaches across cultures and socioeconomic groups to create connections that help himself and others to not just survive, but thrive. Using his own humor and whit, Futterman is able to bring us along as Adam develops into his own path from stage actor to life director. I can't recommend this novel highly enough!
October 8, 2024
Not since Herman Wouk's 1948 City Boy has there been as nuanced, funny and poignant a Jewish coming of age story. Futterman captures so vividly the racial and economic tensions of 1970's New York City as experienced through 13 year-old Adam preparing for his bar mitzvah alongside the falling-away-of-innocence re-evaluation of sibling and parental motivations and the universal questioning of the yearning and seeking adolescent heart and mind. In his heroic journey towards himself, Adam, a brainy good kid and unlikely Everyman, is helped along by his wise, no-nonsense Romanian Orthodox bar mitzvah teacher and also by his charismatic Junior High School theater teacher. It is by learning to stand up, be himself, and be clear--at least for the moment--of the swirling social groups, hierarchies and everchanging understandings of teenage life, that Adam, unrehearsed, succeeds in stepping out as a hero onto the stage of his life. This is a great story told well. It is extraordinary how cleverly the structural elements laid-out so carefully build to the book's climax and, just as they should, fall exactly into place.
July 21, 2025
Adam Unrehearsed is a thoughtful and comical story Adam Miller as he weaves through the challenges confronting a seventh grader growing up in Queens; from taking the subway with friends for the first time and being mugged, to directing the final gut wrenching scene from Elie Wiesel’ novel Dawn for his school play; from being shunned by the classmates he thought were his friends, from being befriended by someone he considered his enemy. Futterman develops his characters with clever and distinct voices, from the cantor teaching him his bar mitzvah lessons to his proud and single minded older brother. Every chapter is engaging and many full of surprises, for both the reader and for Adam. But behind this engrossing coming of age story lurks the forever present anti-Semitism that even his rabbi does his best to ignore until it is too late. Thoroughly enjoyed Adam Unrehearsed and looking forward to see how he handles high school.
January 16, 2024
I received a free Kindle copy of this book with the promise of an honest review. If I am honest, I began this book and had a difficult time connecting with the main character. Because of the requested review, I did not give up on this book. I am glad that I continued reading. While the beginning felt slow to me, it picked about halfway through. I felt the main character, Adam, became more multifaceted and likeable. His interactions with Michael and the Cantor were my favorites parts. They made him look outside himself and how others have alternate realities and experiences. I did struggle with some of the events surrounding the Jewish people during that time period. I know many high schools teach Night and this would be a great companion to that text. I would recommend this book to other readers.
November 10, 2023
Adam Unrehearsed is a touching, thoughtful, moving and at times surprisingly funny novel by Don Futterman. Adam Unrehearsed follows a soon to be 13-year-old Jewish kid in 1970s NY during the year of his Bar Mitsvah preparation as he deals with complicated friendships and bullies, love and betrayal, antisemitism and racism and so much more. The book gripped me and didn't let go the whole way - I couldn't put it down. It is a truly fantastic story with fantastic and nuanced characters.
I must also add, that this a truly universal novel about growing up and what that means, I implore you to read it, especially if you are not Jewish!
Don writes with an astounding voice that feels extremely refined for a first-time fiction author. Can't wait for the next one!
5 stars
I must also add, that this a truly universal novel about growing up and what that means, I implore you to read it, especially if you are not Jewish!
Don writes with an astounding voice that feels extremely refined for a first-time fiction author. Can't wait for the next one!
5 stars
November 20, 2023
I got this book sent to me from #getredpr.
This book follows Adam who lives in New York City in the 70's. When a subway mugging causes him to gain some enemies and lose some friends he turns to the stage for peace. Adam starts to do theater in hopes of finding a mending in his own life but realizes that he is mending bridges in his community.
When I started this I honestly didn't think I was going to like it as much because I mostly read Romance however, I really enjoyed this Coming-Of-Age book. This book was good, it is the first coming-of-age book I have read where it was a male story. It gives you a different insight into the way people grow in different years and states.
This book follows Adam who lives in New York City in the 70's. When a subway mugging causes him to gain some enemies and lose some friends he turns to the stage for peace. Adam starts to do theater in hopes of finding a mending in his own life but realizes that he is mending bridges in his community.
When I started this I honestly didn't think I was going to like it as much because I mostly read Romance however, I really enjoyed this Coming-Of-Age book. This book was good, it is the first coming-of-age book I have read where it was a male story. It gives you a different insight into the way people grow in different years and states.
December 8, 2023
Don Futterman captures the zeitgeist of Queens, NY so well in addition to painting a portrait of Jewish life 50 years ago. But because it is a coming of age tale it is both relevant and mote universal than particularistic in its essence. Its relevance is further underscored by the its wrestling with the antisemitism confronting kids even back then. And graduates of high schools like Stuyvesant and Bronx Science will surely recognize the school attended by the main character as their own. Finally the spirit of the late Elie Wiesel and his impact on an entire generation of Jews and non Jews is an additional treat for some readers and thinkers. One of my most important reads this year.
January 1, 2024
"Adam Unrehearsed" is a nostalgic and relatable coming-of-age story set in Flushing, Queens, in the early 1970s. The novel follows twelve-year-old Adam Miller as he navigates the challenges of adolescence, faces muggings, shifts in friendships, family issues, and the complexities of growing up in a rapidly changing urban environment.
Futterman is a great storyteller who effectively captures Adam's internal thoughts, humorously showcasing the character's clever yet anxious nature.
The story made me laugh and cry as it captured the universal challenges of growing up and finding one's way in the world.
Futterman is a great storyteller who effectively captures Adam's internal thoughts, humorously showcasing the character's clever yet anxious nature.
The story made me laugh and cry as it captured the universal challenges of growing up and finding one's way in the world.
November 27, 2023
In the tradition of Mark Twain, Sholom Aleichem, and Herman Wouk, Futterman brilliantly uses the eyes and experiences of a child as a window into the very grown up complexities of a society at a time of historical change and societal upheaval. The charm and humor of Adam’s adolescent adventures make for a pleasant read, so the important reflections and insights never feel forced or pedantic.
You are going to love this one. I’m going to be giving this one as a gift; there are so many people I can think of who would really enjoy it.
You are going to love this one. I’m going to be giving this one as a gift; there are so many people I can think of who would really enjoy it.
December 9, 2023
Adam Unrehearsed is a masterpiece. Don Futterman captures the essence of Flushing in the early 1970s. Futterman’s characters carry out a story line which accurately describes those days in Flushing and in fact the NY metropolitan area as well as the posture of America as well. His writing addresses some of the main issues of the times - anti-semitism; race relations; acceptance; education and how adults viewed life and their families. The book brought back many emotions and helped me remember what life was like in those days. Great job by the author of capturing so much!
February 13, 2024
Finding Your Voice in America
In this story, Adam shows us what it means to be a young person in America- finding the intersection between his heritage, his religion, his interactions with other young people from diverse backgrounds and circumstances. Adam, through the love of his family, his cantor, circumstances, unlikely friends,and an inspiring teacher, finds his voice, his faith, and his friendships while working through the many layers of history and stereotypes that exist in our society. Throughout the story, Adam finds that the true answers lie within yourself.
In this story, Adam shows us what it means to be a young person in America- finding the intersection between his heritage, his religion, his interactions with other young people from diverse backgrounds and circumstances. Adam, through the love of his family, his cantor, circumstances, unlikely friends,and an inspiring teacher, finds his voice, his faith, and his friendships while working through the many layers of history and stereotypes that exist in our society. Throughout the story, Adam finds that the true answers lie within yourself.
November 11, 2023
Adam Unrehearsed is a great coming-of-age story about a young Jewish boy coming into adulthood. A truly remarkable read with characters that readers will love. This book has both hilarious and heartbreaking moments, but Adam discovers his place through theater. I really enjoyed the beginning of this book, it introduces the characters well and touches upon friendships during childhood. I truly enjoyed this one from start to finish and definitely recommend.
November 11, 2023
This is easily one of my favorite books of this year. It is a beautifully written novel, with compelling and relatable characters and a fast and gripping pace. I couldn't put it down! This book managed to move me. I found myself tearing up at places and laughing out loud in the middle of the night at others, afraid I would wake up my family! I would recommend it to anyone, readers of all ages and backgrounds. A truly wonderful book and a must read in my opinion.
November 16, 2023
The characters are intriguing and real. The situations are comical, true, honest, and occasionally inspiring. It brings back memories of being a young teen, and of the 70's. Futterman manages to mix insight about humans and family relationships with frank commentary about race and class relations. And, it gives an honest portrayal of being a Jewish kid in America. It's funny, smart, and goes down easy. I read it in a few sittings, as it was way too fun to put down.
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