The Blood Lie

September 22, 1928, Massena, New York. Jack Pool's sixteenth birthday. He's been restless lately, especially during this season of more-times-at-the-synagogue than you can shake a stick at. If it wasn't Rosh Hashanah, then it was Yom Kippur, and if it wasn't Yom Kippur, it was the Sabbath. But temple's good for some things. It gives him lots of time to daydream about a beautiful but inaccessible Gentile girl named Emaline. And if she isn't on his mind, then he's thinking about his music and imagining himself playing the cello with the New York Philharmonic. Yup, music is definitely his ticket out of this remote whistle-stop town—he doesn't want to be stuck here one more minute. But he doesn't realize exactly how stuck he is until Emaline's little sister Daisy goes missing and he and his family are accused of killing her for a blood sacrifice.

With sensitivity and insight, The Blood Lie, takes its place among the slim number of YA novels dealing with hate  crimes.  It was inspired by a real bood libel that took place when a small girl disappeared from Massena, NY in 1928, and an innocent Jewish boy was called a murderer.

This is a short but powerful story about how rumors, not knowing/understanding enough about someones faith or just plain meanness can lead to all sorts of awful behaviors. I can see the book being a great tool to use for school discussions with it's themes of faith, forgiveness, prejudice. I am appalled that this false myth is still believed today.

Author: Shirley Reva Vernick
Published: October 2011
Pages: 141
Genre: YA Historical Fiction
Source: Author
Finished: 10/2/11

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This complimentary review copy was received thankfully from Shirley Reva Vernick and in no way influenced my review of this book. These are my personal thoughts and reactions to the reading of the book.