Welcome Back, Maple Mehta-Cohen
Average Rating
11-year-old Maple Mehta-Cohen has an impressive vocabulary and loves making up mystery stories, but she also has a big secret: she can’t read. Maple managed to keep her dyslexia a secret from all the adults in her life for years. Now that her secret is out, she has to repeat fifth grade. Embarrassed and anxious, Maple lies and tells her new classmates that she’s been asked to stay back as a teacher’s helper. Meanwhile, her (ex) best friend Aislinn invited all the sixth-grade girls to her birthday party, but not Maple. This is a sweet, engaging story about a young girl struggling to face life’s challenges and learning to love herself just as she is.
● Maple has a Hindu father and a Jewish mother, and she identifies as a “Hin-Jew.” She names the hero of the mystery story she’s making up “Mira Epstein-Patel,” noting that Mira is a name that works in both Sanskrit and Hebrew.
● Maple’s charm bracelet includes a Star of David.
● Maple’s mother makes traditional Ashkenazi foods, such as challah and matzah ball soup. Maple’s father makes her a T-shirt with fabric from important family textiles and includes a piece of his and her mother’s chuppah (wedding canopy).
11-year-old Maple Mehta-Cohen has an impressive vocabulary and loves making up mystery stories, but she also has a big secret: she can’t read. Maple managed to keep her dyslexia a secret from all the adults in her life for years. Now that her secret is out, she has to repeat fifth grade. Embarrassed and anxious, Maple lies and tells her new classmates that she’s been asked to stay back as a teacher’s helper. Meanwhile, her (ex) best friend Aislinn invited all the sixth-grade girls to her birthday party, but not Maple. This is a sweet, engaging story about a young girl struggling to face life’s challenges and learning to love herself just as she is.
● Maple has a Hindu father and a Jewish mother, and she identifies as a “Hin-Jew.” She names the hero of the mystery story she’s making up “Mira Epstein-Patel,” noting that Mira is a name that works in both Sanskrit and Hebrew.
● Maple’s charm bracelet includes a Star of David.
● Maple’s mother makes traditional Ashkenazi foods, such as challah and matzah ball soup. Maple’s father makes her a T-shirt with fabric from important family textiles and includes a piece of his and her mother’s chuppah (wedding canopy).
