Sam I am

By Ilene Cooper

Subjects: Christmas, fiction, Hanukkah stories, Identity, fiction, Family life, fiction, Identity (Philosophical concept), Christmas, Religions, Hanukkah, Families, Identity, Interpersonal relations, Hanukkah, fiction, Christmas stories, Fiction, Interfaith families, Children's fiction, Religions, fiction, Individuality, Juvenile fiction, Interpersonal relations, fiction, Family life

Description: Twelve-year-old Sam Goodman knows the holidays are going to be difficult when his dog knocks over the Hanukkah bush/Christmas tree. His Jewish father and Christian mother have never quite figured out how to celebrate both holidays, and when the tree goes down, their resentments, simmering for so long, boil over. His older sister and younger brother don't seem to have any solutions for the family's predicament; his best friend Avi seems to know who he is as he prepares for his Bar Mitzvah; his secret crush, Heather, knows who she is and who she wants to associate with.