Confessions of a Closet Catholic

Confessions of a Closet Catholic. By Sarah Darer Littman. Penguin, 2006. 208 pages. PB $5.99 ISBN 978-0142405970

Summary: Justine Silverman is fascinated with Catholicism, and secretly give up being Jewish for Lent. Her paternal grandmother, however, suffers a stroke. Justine is distraught. Could she have caused her grandmother’s sickness by turning her back on her Jewish faith? She confesses her sins to a priest, who advises her that it’s best to research the Catholic faith before becoming Catholic. Her research leads her to learn more about her Jewish faith.

Critical Review: Justine is initially confused with religion. Her maternal grandparents are secular, discouraging her from participating in what they consider as religious superstition. As a child, Justine attended synagogue with her maternal grandmother, and remembers those times with joy. Justine’s family adheres to the Sabbath, by cooking a lot of chicken. No one in her family attends weekly service. The family only appears in synagogue for Yom Kippur and Rosh Hashanah. Justine respects the devotion she observes in the McAllister family. There everyone attends church at least once a week, and religious observance is a central part of family life. Justine is terribly curious about the Catholic faith, but she hides her interest from her family. Her siblings, paternal grandparents, and parents have laughed at her desire for religious information in the past. She confesses her sins to “Father Ted,” a teddy bear, and attends the occasional Catholic mass with her friend Mary Catherine. Her Catholic secret is safe until her grandmother has a stroke. Distraught with guilt, Justine confesses her terrible sin to her grandmother, a survivor of the Holocaust. She is ashamed with her actions. Amazingly her grandmother understands Justine’s need to research a variety of religions, and decide her faith for herself. When her Bubbe dies, Justine decides to learn all she can about the Jewish faith. She owes that to her Bubbe. Her quest brings her family closer to their Jewish faith. Justine and her father bond together by attending weekly synagogue services, where they can properly honor Bubbe’s memory by saying Kadish. Justine’s Jewish faith grows in leaps and bounds, as she meets for weekly session with the Rabbi, and decides to increase her religious devotion by keeping kosher. Her desires to become more religious are respected by her parents.

Genre: Realistic Fiction

Reading/Interest Level: 10-14 years

Awards: Sydney Taylor Book Award, 2006

Reviews: Publishers Weekly (2006, July 17); Voice of Youth Advocates (2005, April 1); Publishers Weekly (2005, February 28); School Library Journal (2005, January 1)

Similar Materials: Judy Blume’s Are You There God? It’s Me Margaret

Subjects/Themes: multi-generational family, Judaism, Catholicism, middle-children; religious-identity formation; grandparents

Character Names: Justine Silver; Mary Catherine McCallister; Bubbe; Father Ted; Helena and Jake Silver; Mr. and Mrs. Silver; Grandma Lila and Grandpa Leo; Shira Weinstein

Author Website: http://sarahdarerlittman.com/

Brief Annotation: An eleven-year old Jewish girl questions her Jewish faith, secretly nourishing an interest in Catholicism.