The Life and Crimes of Hoodie Rosen

 The Life and Crimes of Hoodie Rosen
Isaac Blum
Philomel, 2022
218 pages
Grades 8-12
Realistic Fiction

Hoodie's family has recently relocated to the small community of Tregaron, New York from a different small upstate community that they can no longer afford. The previous town was well set-up and accommodating to the Orthodox community of which Hoodie's family is a part. The citizen's of Tregaron are not welcoming and feel threatened by the new residents. Racial slurs and political underhandedness is making life in their new town difficult and Abba is blocked from constructing the high-rise apartments to house more Orthodox Jews. Throughout this unpleasantness and despite the restrictions of his strict Yeshiva, Hoodie meets a local girl and the two strike up a friendship, bonding over erasing anti-semitic graffiti on Jewish graves at the local cemetery. Hoodie's family and community forbids the friendship, even going to the extent of shunning him, but he continues his friendship with Anna-Marie. Finally, an incident occurs that rocks the entire town and changes the lives of the young people, along with everyone else, forever.

I was surprised at how much I liked this book. I became emotionally connected to the characters, particularly Hoodie, and actually cried at one point, which is unusual for me. I love that it focuses on an Orthodox community, something I can relate to since I serve several various religious groups at my library, including Orthodox Jews. Blum demonstrates what Yeshiva and home life is like for many Orthodox Americans and I appreciated and learned from this glimpse. In my opinion Blum remains respectful and, although he demonstrates the harshness of Hoodies eventual shunning, shows the benefits and comfort living in such a community can bring. The book is laugh-aloud funny, which I was not expecting, and highly readable. It read quickly and I could not put it down. Though brief, the book has a lot to say and many different issues are explored that will make teens, and adults, think. Much like The Watsons Go to Birmingham, the book moves along in a light, somewhat humorous vain, until we get hit with a wallop, which changes the entire tone of the book. Super powerful and timely, this National Book Award long-list nominee is one of my favorite titles of the year.