My Google-fu is weak and my memory is weaker. I’ve decided now that I just need to give in and ask folks out in the world to give me a bit of a hand. Hopefully one of my well-read friends will be able to swoop in and say “this is what you’ve been looking for!” and my problems will be over.
Here’s the deal.
When I was a kid there was a series of books in my school library which were written at around an 8th/9th grade level. Sort of on par with Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew stuff. There were maybe three or four books in the series–if I recall correctly–and they were about a Jewish family at the turn of the 20th century in America. They either lived in St. Louis or New York City, I think. The books were sort of in line with Mama’s Bank Account in that whole “immigrants and first generation Americans experience the New World” sort of story telling. There was an uncle who lived with the family and also a baby. They were the first books where I heard about “kosher” and corned beef. As I recall there was also a plotline with a sickly relative–maybe the uncle.
I have long passed the point of being mildly curious when I recall these books and have no become obsessed. If I’m lucky someone else out there has read them. Please!!!!
UPDATE
This may be the most pointless blog entry ever. I was still obsessing so I decided to search again while dropping “st. louis” out of the criteria. (I think my mind was poisoned by “meet me in St. louis”). I believe the books I’m talking about are the All Of A Kind Family stories.
Sounds like All of a Kind Family.
Note to self: read to end of post before commenting.
Kat,
I followed your link to amazon, and was struck by this review of the book:
[i]There’s something to be said for a book that makes you wish you’d been part of a poor immigrant family living in New York’s upper east side on the eve of World War I. Sydney Taylor’s time-honored classic does just that. Life is rich for the five mischievous girls in the family. They find adventure in visiting the library, going to market with Mama, even dusting the front room. Young readers who have never shared a bedroom with four siblings, with no television in sight, will vicariously experience the simple, old-fashioned pleasures of talk, make-believe, and pilfered penny candy. The family’s Jewish faith strengthens their ties to each other, while providing still more excitement and opportunity for mischief. Readers unfamiliar with Judaism will learn with the girls during each beautifully depicted holiday.[/i]
So true, and it is almost counterintuitive that all of the families I have admired in life had an intangible character–beyond fame or wealth or some worldly giftedness, that drew others in.
nm, maybe if my daughter reads them she can teach me a thing or two about Judaism