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Gittel
The town bully, Karl Leckner, threatens to nail her mouth shut. Her best friend says she has more sass than sense. Even her beloved zayde wishes she would hold her tongue and rise above. But thirteen-year-old Gittel Borenstein' s feet are planted stubbornly on the earth and her tongue is as sharp as Zayde' s chalef, the razor he uses for butchering chickens. She' s fed up with being called Geetle Beetle, or Jew girl, or worse. The Borensteins and twelve other Jewish families have left behind the deadly pogroms of Eastern Europe only to find life nearly as harsh in 1911 Mill Creek, Wisconsin. The winters are fierce, the farming is unfamiliar, and not everyone in Mill Creek accepts the Jewish settlers. A star student, Gittel takes refuge in school, where she longs to blend in with her gentile friends and dreams of becoming a famous writer— a far-fetched dream when eighth grade represents the last year of formal schooling available in Mill Creek and Karl Leckner is determined a Jewish girl will never blend in.
142 pages, Kindle Edition
Published April 1, 2025
86 people want to read
About the author
Laurie Schneider
3 books21 followersLaurie Schneider grew up in central Wisconsin, not far from where her debut middle-grade novel, GITTEL, is set. A self-avowed kidlit nerd, heron spotter, and library lover, she lives in Norman, Oklahoma, with her partner and two very good cats. When not working at the library (or scoping out the latest coffee shop), she can be found stalking turtles and herons at the neighborhood pond, camera in hand. Laurie studied English and creative writing at Oberlin College and has a master’s degree in American Studies from Washington State University. Visit Laurie's website for more on the history behind Gittel and for free downloadable lesson plans for grades 6-8.
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Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews
May 6, 2025
absolutely love love loved this book, Laurie, if you see this, YOU ARE SO TALENTED!!!!
February 10, 2025
While Gittel is a traditional Yiddish name, this Gittel is no "aidel maidel". Form the moment she tells a bully that Gittel rhymes with Spittle, her personality jumps off the page, and readers of every age will want to get to know her more.
November 5, 2025
Gittel follows thirteen-year-old Gittel Borenstein, a sharp-tongued Jewish girl whose family, along with a dozen other Jewish families, leaves pogrom-torn Eastern Europe to settle on farms in Mill Creek, Wisconsin in the early 1910s. The novel tracks her adjustment to rural life, school, friendships, and repeated encounters with anti-Semitism embodied by a town bully and his family, while Gittel clings to books, poetry, and family traditions as anchors. This review was AI generated.
November 29, 2025
Gittle is the Yiddish word for good. "Gittle" isn't just good, it is fantastic. Debut author, Laurie Schneider, recreates a small town Wisconsin farm community in 1911 with style and accuracy. Gittle's family, along with a handful of others survived a pogrom and started over as farmers in a small Jewish community. The novel includes characters that make you smile. This coming of age story centers around a thirteen year old Jewish girl who is smart and sassy. Gittle must face constant antisemitic remarks from a preacher's son. She finds comfort in her strong loving family.Bubbe and Zayde are especially great characters. Gittle also finds comfort in Emily Dickenson's poetry, singing and most of all school. But as an eighth grader, she will soon graduate compulsory school. There is no high school in her town and what future does a Jewish girl have in a town with no Jewish boys her age? Schneider has crafted a novel that could be described as "Little House on the Prairie" with a Yiddish accent. This book centers on just one pivotal year in Gittle's life. I hope that Schneider continues her story, because Gittle is just that good.
June 22, 2025
What a great story about a piece of central Wisconsin history I was unaware of! Because I live in Wood County, WI, I loved hearing the names of local places: Babcock, Grand Rapids, Hemlock Creek, Lincoln High School, etc. I had no idea that there was a group of Jewish families, exiled from their homeland, who lived here in the early 1900s. I found this middle grade novel to be an interesting read!
January 3, 2025
Richie’s Picks: GITTEL by Laurie Schneider, Regal House/Fitzroy, April 2025, 144p., ISBN: 978-1-646-03551-9
“Half a world away
Or just across the street
May my eyes be open to
Anyone in need
Well, I can’t change the world
No, I can’t change the world
No… No…
But I can pray and I can love
And when all is said and done
I can’t change the world
But I can change the world for one
For one”
– Andrew Witt, “Compassion” (2009)
“The scenes from the other side of the world were devastating.
Hundreds of thousands of people fleeing government oppression in Southeast Asia were taking to the sea, and many were drowning as they tried to escape.
A crisis that began before Carter took office was becoming increasingly dire by the day. In 1978, Carter ordered American ships to pick up refugees fleeing by boat. A year later, the exodus had only intensified.
And as world leaders met to discuss top issues facing their countries, Carter took a dramatic stand, announcing the US would double the number of refugees accepted monthly from the region from 7,000 to 14,000. The move, according to news reports at the time, was aimed at pushing other countries to take similarly significant steps.
It was not politically popular. As writer Thu-Huong Ha noted in a 2016 piece for Quartz, a poll from CBS and The New York Times showed that 62% of Americans disapproved. And a Gallup poll indicated 57% of Americans were opposed to the US relaxing its immigration policies for refugees from the region.
Carter did it anyway.”
– CNN, “These decisions on refugees weren’t popular. Jimmy Carter made them anyway” (12/30/24)
“I wasn’t there to see it myself. Mama has told me the story Bubbe will not.
I am five, and it is spring–not winter. Papa sends Ben and me to the countryside to stay with cousins in a neighboring shtetl.
It starts with posters, Mama says. Approved by the tsar himself. Posters all over the city, calling on Christian men to attack the city’s Jews on Easter. Why? Because Jews make their Passover matzos from the blood of Christian babies. Stupid, hateful words. Words so ludicrous no one in the Jewish community thinks anyone could believe them. Still, they take precautions. Those who can, like Papa, send their children away. Shop owners draw chalk crosses on their doors to show they do honest business with Christians.
Easter morning is sunny and warm, Mama says. Some men from our neighborhood go to Chuflinskii Square to see what is happening, to see the families picnicking and the men drinking. Drinking and ranting. They come back to warn everyone. ‘We locked and barred our doors,’ Mama says. ‘Like mice caught in traps, waiting for the cats.
They wait and watch. The most beautiful day of the year and not a soul in the street. When Mama peers from the window of our second-story flat she can see the faces of our neighbors looking out too.
She hears the yelling before she sees the mob. ‘Like a flood of sewage pouring down the street,’ she says. Dozens of men with clubs and knives, hatchets and crowbars. They break everything in sight, smashing store windows and stealing whatever they can stuff in their pockets and destroying what they can’t.
They kick down the door of the synagogue, split open the ark, and tear the Torah from its scroll. And when every stained-glass window is shattered on the floor they rage from house to house, hurling chairs out windows, using their clubs on anyone they can find. Young, old, it doesn’t matter.”
GITTEL by Laurie Schneider is a stand-out piece of historical fiction for tweens and teens. Set in Mill Creek, Wisconsin over the 1911-1912 school year, it portrays the anti-Semitism faced by thirteen year-old Gittel Borenstein, a bright student and a big fan of Emily Dickenson, after her family is relocated to the U.S. in the wake of the Kishinev Pogrom of 1903.
(Undoubtedly, for the sake of making the story accessible to upper elementary readers, Gittel’s recounting of Mama’s account of the pogrom is a childproofed version of history. Look it up on Wikipedia and elsewhere. You can see photos of the piles of bodies and read about the rapes, the severed breasts, and the two year-old boy who had his tongue cut out while still alive.)
Amidst that history, GITTEL is a story about compassion. It’s a coming-of-age tale that often reads like other fun adolescents-in-the-olden-days books. What is different are the struggles Gittel periodically faces–primarily the names and outrageous statements spewed by a class bully whose father is a preacher–as she hangs out with girlfriends, does home chores, completes the last year of schooling (eighth grade) in the little town’s one-room schoolhouse, and attracts the (positive) attention of a cute, polite, older Gentile boy.
But when things get down and dirty and climactic, Gittel displays a compassion that would have made her by-then-dead beloved grandfather even prouder of her than he already had been.
Numerous famous people of the day make appearances in the story, providing additional background about that era (George Banks’s “Age of Man" if you're a Mary Poppins fan).
In a closing aside, the author subtly suggests that the history of European settlers’ treatment of native Americans could well be seen as the moral equivalent of the Russian pogroms.
What comes to my mind as being so timely is how, this week, we are laying to rest one of my heroes, Jimmy Carter, a Christian who walked the walk, and did the right thing without regard to the political and personal fallout.
I trust that someone somewhere will be better off tomorrow, thanks to some young reader picking up this engaging read, and getting inspired to do the right thing when the time arises.
Richie Partington, MLIS
Richie's Picks http://richiespicks.pbworks.com
https://www.facebook.com/richiespicks/
richiepartington@gmail.com
“Half a world away
Or just across the street
May my eyes be open to
Anyone in need
Well, I can’t change the world
No, I can’t change the world
No… No…
But I can pray and I can love
And when all is said and done
I can’t change the world
But I can change the world for one
For one”
– Andrew Witt, “Compassion” (2009)
“The scenes from the other side of the world were devastating.
Hundreds of thousands of people fleeing government oppression in Southeast Asia were taking to the sea, and many were drowning as they tried to escape.
A crisis that began before Carter took office was becoming increasingly dire by the day. In 1978, Carter ordered American ships to pick up refugees fleeing by boat. A year later, the exodus had only intensified.
And as world leaders met to discuss top issues facing their countries, Carter took a dramatic stand, announcing the US would double the number of refugees accepted monthly from the region from 7,000 to 14,000. The move, according to news reports at the time, was aimed at pushing other countries to take similarly significant steps.
It was not politically popular. As writer Thu-Huong Ha noted in a 2016 piece for Quartz, a poll from CBS and The New York Times showed that 62% of Americans disapproved. And a Gallup poll indicated 57% of Americans were opposed to the US relaxing its immigration policies for refugees from the region.
Carter did it anyway.”
– CNN, “These decisions on refugees weren’t popular. Jimmy Carter made them anyway” (12/30/24)
“I wasn’t there to see it myself. Mama has told me the story Bubbe will not.
I am five, and it is spring–not winter. Papa sends Ben and me to the countryside to stay with cousins in a neighboring shtetl.
It starts with posters, Mama says. Approved by the tsar himself. Posters all over the city, calling on Christian men to attack the city’s Jews on Easter. Why? Because Jews make their Passover matzos from the blood of Christian babies. Stupid, hateful words. Words so ludicrous no one in the Jewish community thinks anyone could believe them. Still, they take precautions. Those who can, like Papa, send their children away. Shop owners draw chalk crosses on their doors to show they do honest business with Christians.
Easter morning is sunny and warm, Mama says. Some men from our neighborhood go to Chuflinskii Square to see what is happening, to see the families picnicking and the men drinking. Drinking and ranting. They come back to warn everyone. ‘We locked and barred our doors,’ Mama says. ‘Like mice caught in traps, waiting for the cats.
They wait and watch. The most beautiful day of the year and not a soul in the street. When Mama peers from the window of our second-story flat she can see the faces of our neighbors looking out too.
She hears the yelling before she sees the mob. ‘Like a flood of sewage pouring down the street,’ she says. Dozens of men with clubs and knives, hatchets and crowbars. They break everything in sight, smashing store windows and stealing whatever they can stuff in their pockets and destroying what they can’t.
They kick down the door of the synagogue, split open the ark, and tear the Torah from its scroll. And when every stained-glass window is shattered on the floor they rage from house to house, hurling chairs out windows, using their clubs on anyone they can find. Young, old, it doesn’t matter.”
GITTEL by Laurie Schneider is a stand-out piece of historical fiction for tweens and teens. Set in Mill Creek, Wisconsin over the 1911-1912 school year, it portrays the anti-Semitism faced by thirteen year-old Gittel Borenstein, a bright student and a big fan of Emily Dickenson, after her family is relocated to the U.S. in the wake of the Kishinev Pogrom of 1903.
(Undoubtedly, for the sake of making the story accessible to upper elementary readers, Gittel’s recounting of Mama’s account of the pogrom is a childproofed version of history. Look it up on Wikipedia and elsewhere. You can see photos of the piles of bodies and read about the rapes, the severed breasts, and the two year-old boy who had his tongue cut out while still alive.)
Amidst that history, GITTEL is a story about compassion. It’s a coming-of-age tale that often reads like other fun adolescents-in-the-olden-days books. What is different are the struggles Gittel periodically faces–primarily the names and outrageous statements spewed by a class bully whose father is a preacher–as she hangs out with girlfriends, does home chores, completes the last year of schooling (eighth grade) in the little town’s one-room schoolhouse, and attracts the (positive) attention of a cute, polite, older Gentile boy.
But when things get down and dirty and climactic, Gittel displays a compassion that would have made her by-then-dead beloved grandfather even prouder of her than he already had been.
Numerous famous people of the day make appearances in the story, providing additional background about that era (George Banks’s “Age of Man" if you're a Mary Poppins fan).
In a closing aside, the author subtly suggests that the history of European settlers’ treatment of native Americans could well be seen as the moral equivalent of the Russian pogroms.
What comes to my mind as being so timely is how, this week, we are laying to rest one of my heroes, Jimmy Carter, a Christian who walked the walk, and did the right thing without regard to the political and personal fallout.
I trust that someone somewhere will be better off tomorrow, thanks to some young reader picking up this engaging read, and getting inspired to do the right thing when the time arises.
Richie Partington, MLIS
Richie's Picks http://richiespicks.pbworks.com
https://www.facebook.com/richiespicks/
richiepartington@gmail.com
February 22, 2025
Thirteen year old Gittel Borenstein is part of a Jewish family that emigrated from Eastern Europe because of a pogrom to Mill Creek, Wisconsin with 12 other Jewish families. The book focuses on various events in Gittel’s young life such as bullying from antisemitic classmates, conflicts with her more traditional Orthodox family, a budding romance with a local boy, and her participation in a Chautauqua, which is a social, influential, and inspirational program that focuses on the arts and is often held in rural areas like in Mill Creek.
Opinion:
Gittel is reminiscent of many coming-of-age books like Anne of Green Gables and The Little House books. It's not long on plot. It prefers instead to focus on various individual conflicts in Gittel’s life that test her character and teach her various lessons.
The book is strong on character, time, and place. The Borensteins emigrated for their safety but still feel out of place in this rural American country. Gittel has to suffer from insults and threats from other students, particularly Karl Leckner, whose religious antisemitic father takes every opportunity to compare them to demons. Gittel shows her strengths by using witty comebacks and verbally challenging her antagonists. She even describes her mouth as the sharpest weapon that she and her friends, Irene and Emily, have.
In a very key moment, Karl asks her what she and her family have that he doesn't. Gittel wisely thinks of her family’s love contrasted with his father's domineering abuse but doesn't answer back because she is aware that he knows the answer but won't admit it. This shows her depth in knowing when to speak and when not to and that sometimes the best words are those that are unsaid but understood.
Gittel struggles with not only societal conflicts but those within her own family. Her mother is often critical of her plans and actions while dreaming of upward mobility. Gittel questions her grandparents’ Orthodox beliefs and feels that she can't measure up to their expectations. She is competitive with her brother, Ben, who is the quiet pacifistic contrast to his more emotional, volatile sister. The only family member who seems to empathize with her is her father but that's mostly because he isn't as verbal as the rest and raises very little objections towards her choices.
Gittel is a maturing young woman who is fascinated with the American way while her family mostly clings to the tight-knit Jewish community around them. Gittel's closest friends are Emily, the daughter of the richest family in town, and Irene, Gittel’s glamorous friend. She also develops a relationship with Ole Larson, a Swedish-American boy. Through her close bonds with Emily, Irene, and Ole, Gittel develops her interests in singing, dancing, and reading, becoming a well-rounded, talented, highly intelligent young woman with aspirations beyond her family's ambitions for her to marry into a traditional Jewish family. She sees new opportunities in the United States that she wouldn't have had in Europe. She longs to continue her education in high school and college and maybe become an actress or writer despite some of her family's concerns and soft objections.
Gittel nurtures her talents particularly in public speaking in concerts and Chautauquas where she quotes the poems, “The New Colossus” and “Little Orphant Annie.” The latter is particularly memorable since Gittel has to recite the poem in an Irish dialect. She also admires such people as Mary Pickford, humanitarian Jane Addams, and particularly Emily Dickinson. Gittel often quotes Dickinson’s poems about nature and solitude during emotional moments. It gets to the point where Ben sarcastically refers to Dickinson as “Gittel's friend, Ed.”
The most heartwarming moments are when Gittel and her family come to an understanding about her aspirations and interests and she recognizes their own adaptability as well as her own. She recognizes loving bonds which while hidden and not always expressed out loud, but are always felt. Her mother names her newborn daughter, Gladys, after Mary Pickford’s real name. After a death in the family, Gittel and her grandmother read and quote Emily Dickinson back and forth. She also finds an opportunity to pursue her interests even if it means leaving Mill Creek.
Gittel is the Yiddish word for “good” which is a decent description of the book. However, it's more than good. Gittel is great.
Opinion:
Gittel is reminiscent of many coming-of-age books like Anne of Green Gables and The Little House books. It's not long on plot. It prefers instead to focus on various individual conflicts in Gittel’s life that test her character and teach her various lessons.
The book is strong on character, time, and place. The Borensteins emigrated for their safety but still feel out of place in this rural American country. Gittel has to suffer from insults and threats from other students, particularly Karl Leckner, whose religious antisemitic father takes every opportunity to compare them to demons. Gittel shows her strengths by using witty comebacks and verbally challenging her antagonists. She even describes her mouth as the sharpest weapon that she and her friends, Irene and Emily, have.
In a very key moment, Karl asks her what she and her family have that he doesn't. Gittel wisely thinks of her family’s love contrasted with his father's domineering abuse but doesn't answer back because she is aware that he knows the answer but won't admit it. This shows her depth in knowing when to speak and when not to and that sometimes the best words are those that are unsaid but understood.
Gittel struggles with not only societal conflicts but those within her own family. Her mother is often critical of her plans and actions while dreaming of upward mobility. Gittel questions her grandparents’ Orthodox beliefs and feels that she can't measure up to their expectations. She is competitive with her brother, Ben, who is the quiet pacifistic contrast to his more emotional, volatile sister. The only family member who seems to empathize with her is her father but that's mostly because he isn't as verbal as the rest and raises very little objections towards her choices.
Gittel is a maturing young woman who is fascinated with the American way while her family mostly clings to the tight-knit Jewish community around them. Gittel's closest friends are Emily, the daughter of the richest family in town, and Irene, Gittel’s glamorous friend. She also develops a relationship with Ole Larson, a Swedish-American boy. Through her close bonds with Emily, Irene, and Ole, Gittel develops her interests in singing, dancing, and reading, becoming a well-rounded, talented, highly intelligent young woman with aspirations beyond her family's ambitions for her to marry into a traditional Jewish family. She sees new opportunities in the United States that she wouldn't have had in Europe. She longs to continue her education in high school and college and maybe become an actress or writer despite some of her family's concerns and soft objections.
Gittel nurtures her talents particularly in public speaking in concerts and Chautauquas where she quotes the poems, “The New Colossus” and “Little Orphant Annie.” The latter is particularly memorable since Gittel has to recite the poem in an Irish dialect. She also admires such people as Mary Pickford, humanitarian Jane Addams, and particularly Emily Dickinson. Gittel often quotes Dickinson’s poems about nature and solitude during emotional moments. It gets to the point where Ben sarcastically refers to Dickinson as “Gittel's friend, Ed.”
The most heartwarming moments are when Gittel and her family come to an understanding about her aspirations and interests and she recognizes their own adaptability as well as her own. She recognizes loving bonds which while hidden and not always expressed out loud, but are always felt. Her mother names her newborn daughter, Gladys, after Mary Pickford’s real name. After a death in the family, Gittel and her grandmother read and quote Emily Dickinson back and forth. She also finds an opportunity to pursue her interests even if it means leaving Mill Creek.
Gittel is the Yiddish word for “good” which is a decent description of the book. However, it's more than good. Gittel is great.
January 9, 2025
Gittel by Laurie Schneider is reminiscent of many coming of age books like Anne of Green Gables and The Little House books. It's not long on plot. It prefers instead to focus on various individual conflicts in Gittel’s life that test her character and teach her various lessons.
13 year old Gittel Borenstein is part of a Jewish family that emigrated from East Europe because of a pogrom to Mill Creek, Wisconsin with 12 other Jewish families. The book focuses on various events in Gittel’s young life such as bullying from Antisemitic classmates, conflicts with her more traditional Orthodox family, a budding romance with a local boy, and her participation in a Chautauqua.
The book is strong on character, time, and place. The Borensteins emigrated for their safety but still feel out of place in this rural American country. Gittel has to suffer from insults and threats from other students, particularly Karl Leckner, whose religious Antisemitic father takes every opportunity to compare them to demons. Gittel shows her strengths by using witty comebacks and verbally challenging her antagonists. She even describes her mouth as the sharpest weapon that she and her friends, Irene and Emily, have.
Gittel struggles with not only societal conflicts but those within her own family. Gittel is a maturing young woman who is fascinated with the American way of life while her traditional Orthodox family mostly clings to the tight-knit Jewish community around them. Gittel makes gentile friends, develops her interests in singing, dancing, and reading, and uses her talent in public speaking during a Chautauqua. She nurtures aspirations to continue her education and become an actress or writer despite some of her family's concerns and soft objections.
The most heartwarming moments are when Gittel and her family come to an understanding about her aspirations and interests and she recognizes their own adaptability as well as her own. She recognizes loving bonds which while hidden and not always expressed out loud, but are always felt.
Gittel is the Yiddish word for “good” which is a decent description of the book. However, it's more than good. Gittel is great.
13 year old Gittel Borenstein is part of a Jewish family that emigrated from East Europe because of a pogrom to Mill Creek, Wisconsin with 12 other Jewish families. The book focuses on various events in Gittel’s young life such as bullying from Antisemitic classmates, conflicts with her more traditional Orthodox family, a budding romance with a local boy, and her participation in a Chautauqua.
The book is strong on character, time, and place. The Borensteins emigrated for their safety but still feel out of place in this rural American country. Gittel has to suffer from insults and threats from other students, particularly Karl Leckner, whose religious Antisemitic father takes every opportunity to compare them to demons. Gittel shows her strengths by using witty comebacks and verbally challenging her antagonists. She even describes her mouth as the sharpest weapon that she and her friends, Irene and Emily, have.
Gittel struggles with not only societal conflicts but those within her own family. Gittel is a maturing young woman who is fascinated with the American way of life while her traditional Orthodox family mostly clings to the tight-knit Jewish community around them. Gittel makes gentile friends, develops her interests in singing, dancing, and reading, and uses her talent in public speaking during a Chautauqua. She nurtures aspirations to continue her education and become an actress or writer despite some of her family's concerns and soft objections.
The most heartwarming moments are when Gittel and her family come to an understanding about her aspirations and interests and she recognizes their own adaptability as well as her own. She recognizes loving bonds which while hidden and not always expressed out loud, but are always felt.
Gittel is the Yiddish word for “good” which is a decent description of the book. However, it's more than good. Gittel is great.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 11, 2025
Gittel is a wonderful, moving read which follows a young girl who finds herself transplanted to Wisconsin in order to escape the Russian pogroms. While she and her family learn to farm - what seems like - unforgiving land, Gittel must contend with antisemitic bullying, worries about the future, and the limitations of her perspective.
There are a lot of tiny character touches that felt real. One character is obsessed with searching for the skull of a dead circus elephant. Another attempts to reassure the main character without realizing that she's being insulted. Moments like these took me back to similar moments in my childhood: summer excursions to find treasure and grumping when adults said the wrong thing. Gittel's family is made up of vibrant characters with their own worries and dreams, and I loved getting to know them, especially her zayde. Every child needs someone like Zayde who listens and offers a different perspective (and a stolen cookie) without dictating the right way to do things.
This isn't a book about concrete rights and wrongs or easy answers. It's about listening to those around you and finding what works best for you and them. It's about listening and seeing the humanity in others. Gittel learns difficult lessons about the world's complexities and the limitations of her instincts. Thankfully, her family, friends, and beloved Emily Dickinson are there to help her along.
There are a lot of tiny character touches that felt real. One character is obsessed with searching for the skull of a dead circus elephant. Another attempts to reassure the main character without realizing that she's being insulted. Moments like these took me back to similar moments in my childhood: summer excursions to find treasure and grumping when adults said the wrong thing. Gittel's family is made up of vibrant characters with their own worries and dreams, and I loved getting to know them, especially her zayde. Every child needs someone like Zayde who listens and offers a different perspective (and a stolen cookie) without dictating the right way to do things.
This isn't a book about concrete rights and wrongs or easy answers. It's about listening to those around you and finding what works best for you and them. It's about listening and seeing the humanity in others. Gittel learns difficult lessons about the world's complexities and the limitations of her instincts. Thankfully, her family, friends, and beloved Emily Dickinson are there to help her along.
March 23, 2025
Gittel is Laurie Schneider’s middle-grade novel about a smart, thoughtful, yet sharp-tongued girl in an Eastern European Jewish refugee farming community in Wisconsin in the early 1900s. I’m excited about Gittel because the setting and historical backdrop are so fresh and new, and yet the book feels slightly and comfortingly familiar—the strong, relatable title character, the keen sense of place, and the depiction of struggling-but-loving families bring to mind my other favorites, the All-of-a-Kind-Family stories (Sydney Taylor) and the Little House series (Laura Ingalls Wilder). I’m hoping Laurie Schneider will give us a sequel, or even a whole series, because I’m just so curious to know what happens next to Gittel and her family!
The magic is in the details that Laurie Schneider uses to evoke a particular moment in time, place, and culture. Jane Addams, the Chautauqua movement, the evolution of U.S. public education—these details and others are woven into the story in a way that feels natural, not heavy-handed. I almost wish I were a middle-grades teacher, because there are so many creative ways one could use Gittel in teaching history, civics, or English. There’s even a teaching guide! https://www.laurieschneider.com/for-t...
The magic is in the details that Laurie Schneider uses to evoke a particular moment in time, place, and culture. Jane Addams, the Chautauqua movement, the evolution of U.S. public education—these details and others are woven into the story in a way that feels natural, not heavy-handed. I almost wish I were a middle-grades teacher, because there are so many creative ways one could use Gittel in teaching history, civics, or English. There’s even a teaching guide! https://www.laurieschneider.com/for-t...
May 11, 2025
Except for roots in the upper Midwest, my story and Gittel's could hardly be more different. Yet I found a deep resonance in her experience of growing through 8th grade, her complicated, loving family, and her dawning self-knowledge. There is so much subtle goodness and love in this story, and even though we hate the bullying, we come to love and understand the bully through Gittel's maturing sensibilities. And it is such a thrill when people stepped in to give her a chance at high school!
Whenever I read YA fiction of this caliber, I wonder, why does it need to be pigeonholed like that? When a book can teach deep insights into society and humanity through a 12-year-old protagonist, should it not be marketed to all ages? Likewise, historical fiction, when carefully researched, can provide us with understandings we couldn't achieve from learning dry historical facts.
It was our privilege to know Laurie and her family when they lived in our town, and especially to meet the wonderful Gloria. So maybe my perceptions of Gittel's story are colored by that. But make no mistake, anyone with a heart could not fail to be moved by this story, and the wider story of immigration, especially to that part of the country.
Whenever I read YA fiction of this caliber, I wonder, why does it need to be pigeonholed like that? When a book can teach deep insights into society and humanity through a 12-year-old protagonist, should it not be marketed to all ages? Likewise, historical fiction, when carefully researched, can provide us with understandings we couldn't achieve from learning dry historical facts.
It was our privilege to know Laurie and her family when they lived in our town, and especially to meet the wonderful Gloria. So maybe my perceptions of Gittel's story are colored by that. But make no mistake, anyone with a heart could not fail to be moved by this story, and the wider story of immigration, especially to that part of the country.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 3, 2024
Gittel is a frontier immigrant story that brings to life a little-known history of Jews fleeing pograms in Europe, in this case to relocate to rural Wisconsin. This novel adds another rich dimension to stories about those who settled the U.S., like Patricia Park's Prairie Lotus, Louise Erdrich's Birch Bark House, and the Laura Ingalls Wilder's Little House books, and would make a great companion to those books, giving young readers another, very compelling perspective. Gittel is an engaging heroine who encounters bigotry and discrimination but responds with spunk and determination. I loved the way Schneider brings this period to life with historical references like Carry Nation, Jane Addams, and the Chautauqua where Gittel, who takes refuge in poetry and music, performs, as she gradually makes a place for herself.
June 7, 2025
This short novel was clearly well-researched, providing a strong sense of time and place. It just felt a bit rushed to me. I would have liked more time with Gittel and her family.
My initial reaction was that it reminded me of Mildred Taylor’s Logan family saga, which begins with Roll of Thunder, Hear my Cry. But events, while not overly dramatic, happened relatively quickly. This pace highlighted a lack of subtlety in establishing the character flaw Gittel needs to overcome. In the end, it is more like Anna Rose Johnson’s The Star That Always Stays.
Overall, despite these critiques, as a window to another person’s experience, this is a great choice, and I liked it enough to buy a copy after reading one from the library.
My initial reaction was that it reminded me of Mildred Taylor’s Logan family saga, which begins with Roll of Thunder, Hear my Cry. But events, while not overly dramatic, happened relatively quickly. This pace highlighted a lack of subtlety in establishing the character flaw Gittel needs to overcome. In the end, it is more like Anna Rose Johnson’s The Star That Always Stays.
Overall, despite these critiques, as a window to another person’s experience, this is a great choice, and I liked it enough to buy a copy after reading one from the library.
June 11, 2025
This tender story for people aged 11 and up is 99% true based on the author's great-grandparent's experiences in the early 1900s in a little town in central Wisconsin. Uprooted from Russia because of the pogroms against the Jews, a few Jewish families settled in Wisconsin and struggled to learn to be farmers and to fit in to small town life. The 8th grader Gittel loves learning, school and poetry but struggles against prejudice and no money to go on to high school. It's about the love of a family, the ability to reach for high goals and see beyond persecution for the good in people.
At the back of this small, gentle book is a glossary of Jewish words, the history the Kishinev pogrom, and a tribute to the poet Emily Dickinson.
At the back of this small, gentle book is a glossary of Jewish words, the history the Kishinev pogrom, and a tribute to the poet Emily Dickinson.
November 27, 2024
Born of Jewish immigrants who fled the violent Kishinev pogroms in Eastern Europe in the early 1900s, the young teen Gittel must now straddle two worlds. Her Jewish family is her safe harbor, rooting her in love and meaningful religious traditions. And there is also a new world amidst American gentiles, with opportunities but also challenges, including the evils of anti-Semitism. Gittel wants what other young girls then and now want, a place to belong and a place where her dreams can come true. Laurie Schneider brings Gittel and her time and place to life, creating an exciting story while opening readers' eyes to historical events we should never forget.
June 19, 2025
A lovely coming-of-age historical fiction story. The protagonist is a witty young Jewish girl who is determined to make something of herself as her family adjusts to their new environment after fleeing Eastern European pograms. A touching showcase of a lesser-known chapter in Wisconsin history that is true to the setting. Readers follow Gittel through triumphs and tribulations and learn lessons of empathy as she navigates bigotry, loss, and love.
March 2, 2025
A loc author brought this book into the shop the other day and I was so excited to read it. YA, beautifully written. Unfortunately the themes (community, immigration, accepting and loving others who are different, a love of education) are very relevant now even though the book is set in 1911.
Beautiful book! I’m glad to promote it at the shop!
Beautiful book! I’m glad to promote it at the shop!
April 8, 2025
A fascinating and compelling coming-of-age story about a young Jewish girl in early twentieth-century Wisconsin, complete with tips of the hat to Emily Dickinson and Jane Addams. It's a terrific read, starring a most memorable and determined protagonist trying to fit in and find her voice. Based loosely on actual Jewish-American history.
April 8, 2025
Two words came to mind reading this book: warm and sweet. I loved spending time in Gittel's world—meeting a girl so smart and spunky, and learning more about this chapter of Jewish American history. I highly recommend this book to anyone looking for a middle grade read that goes down like fresh baked challah.
May 11, 2025
Beautifully written and a beautiful story for adults as well as young adults. Gittel reveals a community, time, place, and piece of history and heritage that has been little explored. But that's not the main reason to read this book. It is subtly moving and leaves you feeling uplifted. Everything you want from a reading experience.
August 26, 2025
A wonderful and compelling story of an immigrant girl who left the pogroms of Eastern Europe behind only to discover new challenges in America. Readers will quickly find themselves immersed in her world. Gittel is feisty and strong and a character that everyone will find themselves rooting for. I was a huge Little House on the Prairie fan and this is very much the Jewish 'Laura'.
April 20, 2025
Gittel is a fabulous read! I was pulled in right from the very first paragraph. Gittel has spunk and chutzpah and I loved getting to know her. Also, I wasn't familiar with rural Wisconsin in the early 1900s so loved learning a bit of history.
August 3, 2025
A beautiful, evocative and true story of immigration and integration into the American heartland.
Gittel and her family find their way in this new land, while preserving the cherished traditions of the old country. Cannot recommend it more highly for young people and adults!
Gittel and her family find their way in this new land, while preserving the cherished traditions of the old country. Cannot recommend it more highly for young people and adults!
August 15, 2025
I think I may have finished thisbook back in July, but I never wrote a review, so I am reading it again. I’mnot sure why itreminds me of 100 dresses. For a good review see Richie Partington’sreview.
November 15, 2025
Gittel is spunky and smart. She has a loving family, but their circumstances are hard. First they came to America to escape the deadly Russian pogroms. But life in rural Wisconsin is hard, too, especially since not everyone welcomes Jewish refugees on their community.
June 1, 2025
Very good upper elementary/middle grade historical fiction.
October 5, 2025
A beautifully written and inspiring story!
August 31, 2025
Gittel by Laurie Schneider
A Jewish Gem of historical fiction (middle grade)
I absolutely adored this historical fiction story about a feisty girl, Gittel Borenstein, and her life in Mill Creek, Wisconsin. Author Laurie Schneider leans into her family history and crafts characters, settings, and events that feel and sound real. From the very first page, I fell in love with Gittel and rooted for as she faced antisemitism and bullying. A star student, she learns when to hold her tongue and when to use her voice. I laughed, cried and cheered - to the very end. And personally, I hope there’s a sequel to this compelling story, which will stay with me for a very long time.
A Jewish Gem of historical fiction (middle grade)
I absolutely adored this historical fiction story about a feisty girl, Gittel Borenstein, and her life in Mill Creek, Wisconsin. Author Laurie Schneider leans into her family history and crafts characters, settings, and events that feel and sound real. From the very first page, I fell in love with Gittel and rooted for as she faced antisemitism and bullying. A star student, she learns when to hold her tongue and when to use her voice. I laughed, cried and cheered - to the very end. And personally, I hope there’s a sequel to this compelling story, which will stay with me for a very long time.
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