Final day of our Fall Sale! Join BookBrowse today and discover exceptional books for only $3 / Month.

Summary and Reviews of The Life and Crimes of Hoodie Rosen by Isaac Blum

The Life and Crimes of Hoodie Rosen by Isaac Blum

The Life and Crimes of Hoodie Rosen

by Isaac Blum
  • BookBrowse Review:
  • Critics' Consensus:
  • First Published:
  • Sep 13, 2022, 224 pages
  • Paperback:
  • Oct 2023, 224 pages
  • Rate this book

  • Buy This Book

About This Book

Book Summary

The Chosen meets Adam Silvera in this irreverent and timely story of worlds colliding in friendship, betrayal, and hatred.

Hoodie Rosen's life isn't that bad. Sure, his entire Orthodox Jewish community has just picked up and moved to the quiet, mostly non-Jewish town of Tregaron, but Hoodie's world hasn't changed that much. He's got basketball to play, studies to avoid, and a supermarket full of delicious kosher snacks to eat. The people of Tregaron aren't happy that so many Orthodox Jews are moving in at once, but that's not Hoodie's problem.

That is, until he meets and falls for Anna-Marie Diaz-O'Leary—who happens to be the daughter of the obstinate mayor trying to keep Hoodie's community out of the town. And things only get more complicated when Tregaron is struck by a series of antisemitic crimes that quickly escalate to deadly violence.

As his community turns on him for siding with the enemy, Hoodie finds himself caught between his first love and the only world he's ever known.

Isaac Blum delivers a wry, witty debut novel about a deeply important and timely subject, in a story of hatred and betrayal—and the friendships we find in the most unexpected places.

CHAPTER 1

in which I celebrate Tu B'Av by taking the first step toward my own ruination

LATER, I TRIED TO EXPLAIN to Rabbi Moritz why it was ironic that my horrible crime was the thing that saved the whole community. He didn't get it, either because he was too angry, or because his head was filled with other thoughts, or because the man has no sense of humor.

I don't think it's funny now—it ruined my life, put me in intensive care, and humiliated me and my family on a global scale. But I found it funny at the time.

It all started on Tu B'Av, which is one of the more obscure Jewish holidays. I'm Orthodox, but even I couldn't recall what the holiday was about. I only remembered when I looked out the window and saw the girl in white. She was on the sidewalk across the street.

I was in halacha class, learning about Jewish law. We were talking about ritual hand-washing. Rabbi Moritz paced back and forth in front of the whiteboard, reading from the Shulchan Aruch, making the occasional ...

Membership Advantages
  • Reviews
  • "Beyond the Book" articles
  • Free books to read and review (US only)
  • Find books by time period, setting & theme
  • Read-alike suggestions by book and author
  • Book club discussions
  • and much more!
  • Just $45 for 12 months or $15 for 3 months.
  • More about membership!

Reviews

BookBrowse Review

BookBrowse

Each chapter is introduced with an irresistible teaser ("Chapter 1: in which I celebrate Tu B'Av by taking the first step toward my own ruination"), like the punchline of a joke but in reverse. Additionally, Blum intersperses chapters not with flashbacks but with flash-forwards, causing the reader to 1. Laugh because it's so darn weird, it's funny; 2. Admire Hoodie for stating his crimes outright, unlike your typical teenager; 3. Become curious enough to want to read further, especially when he mentions ending up in intensive care and "humiliating me and my family on a global scale." Blum's novel starts off slow, but is clever and provocative. At times, it turns a bit slapstick, almost as if trying to balance the gravity of the heartbreaking histories Hoodie shares. This dichotomy of humor and tragedy, familial love and violence, becomes the backbone of the novel, through which one sees there is no clear answer to how minority cultures can survive assimilation in mainstream America without repercussions or threats...continued

Full Review (623 words)

This review is available to non-members for a limited time. For full access, become a member today.

(Reviewed by Tina Choi).

Media Reviews

Horn Book Magazine (starred review)
A sharply written coming-of-age story whose protagonist, like any teen, is figuring out where he fits in, under circumstances that are thought-provoking and at times heart-wrenching.

Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
Funny, smart, moving, courageous, and so timely it almost hurts.

Publishers Weekly (starred review)
Blum tackles themes of acceptance and community via an intricately detailed Orthodox Jewish cast and a steadily building anticipatory atmosphere, which enlivens this impressively drawn story.

Booklist
Blum's novel is well plotted, instructive in its portrayal of Orthodox life, and dramatic…with some much-needed humor.

Author Blurb Gavriel Savit, New York Times bestselling author of Anna and the Swallow Man
The Life and Crimes of Hoodie Rosen is a deeply authentic story about the terror and glory of encountering the outside world without sacrificing who you are—and who you want to be. It's touching, tragic, and as Jewish as your Bubbe's cholent.

Author Blurb Tyler Feder, Sydney Taylor Award-winning author of Dancing at the Pity Party
Yehuda 'Hoodie' Rosen's goofy yet deeply thoughtful voice is a perfect guide to the complexities of navigating an ancient religion in the TikTok age. A refreshingly human look at the day-to-day nuances of Orthodox Judaism and the terror of modern antisemitism. I laughed, I gasped, I craved kosher Starburst. Two thumbs up from this nice Jewish girl!

Author Blurb Vesper Stamper, National Book Award-nominated author of What the Night Sings
Blum gives the common but often-dismissed spiritual journey of many teens the respect it deserves in this witty, profound look at cross-cultural friendship, courageous honesty, and how a willingness to truly see and love our neighbors can change an entire community.

Reader Reviews

Membership Advantages
  • Reviews
  • "Beyond the Book" articles
  • Free books to read and review (US only)
  • Find books by time period, setting & theme
  • Read-alike suggestions by book and author
  • Book club discussions
  • and much more!
  • Just $45 for 12 months or $15 for 3 months.
  • More about membership!

Beyond the Book



Simchat Torah

Simchat Torah celebration in a synagogue, with participants holding scrolls and dancing Human connections are arguably at their most powerful when experienced through communal dance, music and other communication beyond words. Events such as these are highlighted numerous times in Isaac Blum's debut young adult novel, The Life and Crimes of Hoodie Rosen, which creates a picture of Orthodox Jewish life that sears into one's mind. Nowhere does the power of collective tradition resonate more than in the book's depiction of the festive holiday Simchat Torah.

Literature lovers may be pleased to know that Religious Studies Professor Samuel L. Boyd likens the feelings present in the holiday to the process of completing a book: "Reading can cause many different emotions. For some people, beginning a new book produces ...

This "beyond the book" feature is available to non-members for a limited time. Join today for full access.

Membership Advantages
  • Reviews
  • "Beyond the Book" articles
  • Free books to read and review (US only)
  • Find books by time period, setting & theme
  • Read-alike suggestions by book and author
  • Book club discussions
  • and much more!
  • Just $45 for 12 months or $15 for 3 months.
  • More about membership!

Read-Alikes

Read-Alikes Full readalike results are for members only

If you liked The Life and Crimes of Hoodie Rosen, try these:

  • The Silence that Binds Us jacket

    The Silence that Binds Us

    by Joanna Ho

    Published 2023

    About this book

    Joanna Ho, New York Times bestselling author of Eyes That Kiss in the Corners, has written an exquisite, heart-rending debut young adult novel that will inspire all to speak truth to power.

  • Stories from the Tenants Downstairs jacket

    Stories from the Tenants Downstairs

    by Sidik Fofana

    Published 2023

    About this book

    Set in a Harlem high rise, a stunning debut about a tight-knit cast of characters grappling with their own personal challenges while the forces of gentrification threaten to upend life as they know it.

We have 5 read-alikes for The Life and Crimes of Hoodie Rosen, but non-members are limited to two results. To see the complete list of this book's read-alikes, you need to be a member.
Search read-alikes
How we choose read-alikes
Membership Advantages
  • Reviews
  • "Beyond the Book" articles
  • Free books to read and review (US only)
  • Find books by time period, setting & theme
  • Read-alike suggestions by book and author
  • Book club discussions
  • and much more!
  • Just $45 for 12 months or $15 for 3 months.
  • More about membership!

Top Picks

  • Book Jacket: Playground
    Playground
    by Richard Powers
    The primary narrator of Richard Powers' latest novel, Playground, is Todd Keane, who at 57 years old...
  • Book Jacket: The Empusium
    The Empusium
    by Olga Tokarczuk
    Not long after checking into Willi Opitz's "Guesthouse for Gentlemen," young Mieczysław Wojnicz...
  • Book Jacket
    Suggested in the Stars
    by Yoko Tawada
    In Scattered All Over the Earth, Yoko Tawada's 2018 lightly dystopian novel, a ragtag group of young...
  • Book Jacket: Shred Sisters
    Shred Sisters
    by Betsy Lerner
    "No one will love you more or hurt you more than a sister" is a wry aphorism that appears late in ...

Members Recommend

  • Book Jacket

    In the Garden of Monsters
    by Crystal King

    A woman with no past, a man who knows her, and a monstrous garden that separates their worlds.

  • Book Jacket

    The Bog Wife
    by Kay Chronister

    Five West Virginia siblings unearth secrets after the rupture of a supernatural bargain tying their fate to their land.

Book Club Giveaway!
Win Let Us Descend

Let Us Descend by Jesmyn Ward

Jesmyn Ward imagines the life of an enslaved girl in the years before the Civil War in this instant classic.

Enter

Wordplay

Solve this clue:

J O the B

and be entered to win..