A Donut in Time: A Hanukkah Story

In this third book in the “­Saralee Siegel” series, Saralee discovers a new facet to her superpowered nose. It is ­Hanukkah at the Siegel House Restaurant, and ­Saralee is stunned to learn that she is not the only one in her family with a super-nose. Her great-grandmother Gigi, the fierce and independent woman who started the family ­restaurant, also had a ­super-nose. When Saralee recreates Gigi’s ­donut recipe, the smells lead her through a portal and face-to-face with a young Gigi. To Saralee’s surprise, Gigi is embarrassed by her super-nose and isn’t the confident and strong woman Saralee was expecting. She tries to help Gigi become the successful restaurant owner she was meant to be ­before Saralee’s whole world is changed. The pacing and the text of the story are perfect for readers who are new to chapter books. Jewish culture and the celebration of ­Hanukkah are woven seamlessly into the story. The black-and-white illustrations that are peppered throughout enhance the story. The text does not define many of the physical characteristics of the characters; within the illustrations all but one minor character are depicted as white. ­VERDICT A sweet story celebrating Jewish culture and sprinkled with a little bit of magic. –V. Lynn Christiansen, School Library Journal

In the third book of this amus­ing series, pro­tag­o­nist Sar­alee Siegel uses the mag­i­cal pow­er of her super nose to trav­el back in time. There, she meets her great-grand­moth­er, Gigi, and encour­ages her to fol­low her dream of found­ing a restau­rant. Sar­alee uses the scent of Gigi’s aro­mat­ic Hanukkah donuts as the por­tal for her trip to the past. When Gigi’s courage begins to wane, and her resolve to start a restau­rant buck­les under a lack of sup­port, Sar­alee reminds her great-grand­moth­er that her choic­es will affect the future of her family. A fun, deli­cious romp through the past and the present, A Donut in Time is a charm­ing read, instill­ing in a sweet hol­i­day tale the mes­sage that some chal­lenges are worth pursuing. --Michal Malen, Jewish Book Council