Book Review - When the Angels Left the Old Country



1. BIBLIOGRAPHY

Lamb, Sacha. (2024). WHEN THE ANGELS LEFT THE OLD COUNTRY. Levine
Querido. ISBN:

2. PLOT SUMMARY

An angel and demon from the Jewish religion embark on a journey to America, leaving
their homeland for the first time in an attempt to rescue one of their own villagers whom
they believe is in trouble. Along the way they run into the challenges of traveling to a
new land, being outsiders, and making some friends along the way. They uncover a
conspiracy that traps Jewish immigrants into debt and focus on taking down the men
causing trouble for the community.

3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS

The author embeds Judaism seamlessly into this story depicting an angel and demon
teaming up together to stop the exploitation of their people who are relocating to the
United States. Even though this novel is a fantasy, the author still embeds real struggles
faced by immigrants such as having to send money back to family, over working and
getting underpaid, the possibility and reality of getting denied at the border after traveling
such a long way, and being outsiders in an unfamiliar land. Despite these hardships, she
focuses on what creates strength in ourselves like love and family bonds.

Though this book focuses on the Jewish population and is saturated with the religion’s
vocabulary and customs, non-Jewish readers could still relate to this coming of age tale
through the struggles the main characters face: figuring out who they are versus who
they want to be and learning to accept themselves and others. This novel immerses the
reader in Jewish customs and verbage from the first page, which can seem a little
confusing and overwhelming at first, but the author does their best to explain unknown
words through inference rather than outright definitions, allowing the story to flow
smoothly. There is also an added index in the back allowing for easy lookup of unknown
words.

The dichotomy of good and evil along with the conclusion that perhaps doing “what’s
right” is a mixture of both creates an interesting and thought provoking subject matter
that young adults would find intriguing. That coupled with an underlying mystery and
some romance creates a novel that is both informative and entertaining for all ages.

4. REVIEW EXCERPT(S)

STONEWALL BOOK AWARD WINNER
SYDNEY TAYLOR AWARD WINNER
MICHAEL L, PRINTZ HONOR BOOK
NATIONAL JEWISH BOOK AWARD FINALIST
KIRKUS STARRED REVIEW: “Despite its length, this novel clips quickly along, crafting a
world that proves hard to leave behind.”
BOOKLIST STARRED REVIEW: “Richly imagined and plotted, this inspired book has the
timeless feeling of Jewish folklore, which is further enhanced by the presence of two
magical protagonists, and not one but two dybbuks!”

5. CONNECTIONS

*Jewish folklore
*LGBTQ+ representation
*Students could have a discussion about different perspectives as the book is narrating
between characters with different outlooks, an angel and demon.
*Students could trace back and research the Jewish folklore mentioned in the book,
helping relate it to their understanding of the novel.

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