Naomi Feitelbaum Ends the World, an adventure spin on Golem mythology

Professional wrestling, just like a good mglit book needs an excellent heel. If the evil, bad guy, or source of conflict is not somewhat believable, in addition to being an actual threat, then the build-up is for naught. Iron Man 3 is a great example of that. Naomi Feitelbaum Ends the World is mglit that doesn’t suffer that same fate. It’s a quick-paced, lively romp with a Golem at the center of things.

Now, what’s a Golem?  Yeah, my first thought was Lord of the Rings too, but that’s actually Gollum. If you’re a student of mine then this is why you learn what a homonym is, and why it’s important. A Golem is a creature from Jewish folklore that’s created from Earthen substances like dirt or clay. The Golem’s job is to help the human that created it, however, in Naomi Feitelbaum Ends the World it just might have a different purpose.

Naomi’s Bat Mitzvah is coming up and she is really excited about it. With the help of her rabbi, she’s been practicing all of the things that she needs to memorize from the Torah and everything is on track for a great celebration. On her front porch, she discovers a box, it’s obviously a gift for her Bat Mitzvah, but when she opens it there aren’t any directions.

Her mom makes fun of her relatives who still live in the ‘Stone Age’ and Naomi goes about her business until she starts seeing things. It’s a dark blur in the corner of a room at first, but it then becomes people looking at her in a disturbing manner. Naomi joking asks the Golem if all of this is its fault and there’s a subtle wink in its eyes. Before she knows it, the tiny Golem is walking around her bedroom floor.

A real, moving Golem in her bedroom starts to freak Naomi out, so she calls her friends. Note: calling your teenage friends when you’re freaking out about a clay Golem, in addition to the ghosts you’ve started seeing is not a good idea. The friends are aware that a Golem is supposed to help, so the three of them get on a phone call to brainstorm some ideas.

They goof around and try to get the tiny Golem to go to another one of their homes. Sure enough, the tiny Golem arrives as one of their homes, but it’s no longer so small. It’s grown and with each subsequent instance of it helping someone, it grows even more. Soon, Naomi’s Golem is the size of a doll, then it gets even bigger and now it’s very difficult to hide.

The three friends seek some advice from their Rabbi. Their questions are all hypothetical, but also a bit too specific to just be about what could happen. He’s a good sport and answers the questions to the best ability, but he lets them know that if things get serious that they can always go to him for help. With her Bat Mitzvah coming up Naomi has a world of issues, and things happening and the last thing that she needs is a Golem that’s almost as big as her following her around.

Thankfully for her, we live in a broken world with many things that can be helped. These are things that are front-burner issues for teens like homelessness or gun violence. When Naomi gets really frustrated one day she compels Golem to go on an impossibly large task, like solving one of those things. Everything in her world goes quiet for a day or two, until homeless people start disappearing, in addition to other strange happenings on a big scale.

They know that a Golem won’t stop until its mission is accomplished, even if it’s one with good intentions, but is going about it incorrectly. This is where the book could’ve gotten preachy or boring, but it thankfully avoids that route. Instead, the book rolls up its sleeves and goes about telling an adventure about how the kids deal with the Golem.

Yes, it reminded us of Gremlins at times. The fact that the character’s religion is referenced throughout the book didn’t impact or phase us at all. Naomi Feitelbaum Ends the World feels like a book that’s more about folklore and mythology, rather than just a Jewish book of monsters. It’s a weird book about a clay monster that gets out of control and forces the main characters to solve it using their wits, with a little bit of assistance. Those ages who are eight and up will find it enjoyable and different, with enough action to bring in those who need that.

Naomi Feitelbaum Ends the World is by Samara Shanker and is available on Atheneum Books for Young Readers, an imprint of Simon & Schuster.

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