***Thank you to the author for providing a copy of the book. My review contains my honest thoughts about my reading experience.***

Summary

This book follows Tammie, a young Jewish girl living in Capernaum at the time of Jesus’s adult life. She is the daughter of the local rabbi, and we get to see the impact Jesus has on her life and the lives of others in her town. The story provides a window into this time period and shows major events from Jesus’s adult life through the eyes of Tammie.

What I Liked

This is a children’s book meant to provide an accessible entry point to the story of Jesus for young readers. I think it does a remarkably good job at accomplishing this goal. There is a great deal of humor and modern language throughout this book that I’m sure will help younger readers understand and enjoy the story of Jesus from this perspective. It also provides a lot of interesting information about Jewish culture during that time period that I never knew, which I enjoyed learning.

My favorite thing about this book was getting to see these events unfold through the eyes of the characters. It allowed me to better understand what it must have been like to know, love, and lose Jesus during the course of his life. I especially liked reading about the emotions of Jesus’s followers after his crucifixion. I had never really given much thought to how scary of a time it must have been for them, not knowing if they would be rounded up next or how to move forward without him.

Things I Didn’t Like

The only thing I didn’t like was the conversational tone of the narrator of the story. At times, it could be cute and fun, but it was often a distraction for me and pulled me out of the story. This seemed to lessen as the story went on, which I appreciated.

Final Thoughts

I enjoyed reading this book much more than I expected given it is not my usual read. It was a refreshing and engaging take on the story of Jesus with interesting information about Jewish culture sprinkled throughout. The emotional journey of Jesus’s followers was a joy to read, but the style of narration was distracting at times. Therefore, I rate it 4 out of 5 stars.