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Tammar Stein is the award winning author of books for children and young adults, including Beni’s War, winner of the Middle East Book Award and The Six-Day Hero, a Junior Library Guild Selection and Sydney Taylor Honor. Tammar has lived on three continents, in five countries, and six states. She currently lives in Singapore with her family and adopted dog. Barbara Bongini went to an artistic high school and later enrolled in the Illustration program at the IED (European Institute of Design). After graduation, she pursued a career in children’s publishing, illustrating several series for different age groups for the largest Italian publishing houses. Barbara is also an author of several series of moveable children’s game-books and an album on modern art for children. When not illustrating, Barbara loves spending time with her 2 kids in Milan, Italy.
""'My name is Becca Goldstein, and this is the story of how I became famous,' reads the opening line of this chapter book. Children will be instantly drawn into the story of two girls. Becca is an American Jew visiting Israel with her family, reluctantly participating in an archaeological dig at Tel Maresha. Rebeka is a Jewish girl living in the same spot 2,200 years previously. The book alternates chapters from each girl's point of view as the reader sees how the location has changed and remained the same. Item, such as pottery shards, that Becca's family finds are being used by Rebeka's family. And, the origins of a special artifact that Becca finds are explained in Rebeka's chapters. Both girls are concerned about their families needing to move and have similar resolutions to their problems. At the end of the book, Becca realizes, 'It wasn't only modern girls whose parents need to move someplace new,' while Rebeka thinks, 'Perhaps her parents were right. Wonders awaited them.' The full-color cover illustration will attract young readers, and the black and white drawings in each chapter will add to the enjoyment and make it easier to understand how an underground cave could be used for storage. The book concludes with an author's note that goes into more detail about the historical events depicted and the actual Tel Maresha dig.The book will appeal especially to independent readers in third through fourth grade and to younger children as a read-aloud. This title is a recommended purchase for homes, libraries, and schools."" Association of Jewish Libraries
