This book focus­es on Ortho­dox teenage girls. The author describes the var­i­ous mitzvot an Ortho­dox fam­i­ly per­forms, and also shows how an Ortho­dox lifestyle can enrich one’s life. Writ­ten from the per­spec­tive of 13 year old Talia, the daugh­ter and only child, we repeat­ed­ly see how upset she is that she must share her par­ents every Shab­bat with peo­ple who stay at their home for this 24-hour peri­od. Because one of the family’s cen­tral val­ues is to be hos­pitable and also to edu­cate by exam­ple, this hap­pens every week. Through­out the book, we see how Talia copes with all the guests. One Shab­bat, a young woman (Gabrielle) who was a bal­let dancer in New York, comes for Shab­bat but doesn’t leave. Although Talia’s moth­er knows why Gabrielle is there, she does not share this infor­ma­tion with Talia. The author slow­ly reveals why Gabrielle con­tin­ues to live with them, and how her secrets affect Talia’s growth and matu­ri­ty. Besides the dra­ma at home, there is excite­ment at school. Talia is cho­sen as a math team mem­ber who will rep­re­sent the Jew­ish day school. Read­ers who like math will appre­ci­ate the mind games that Talia plays in both her approach to prob­lem solv­ing and her love of num­bers. The pace of this book is slow, espe­cial­ly at the begin­ning. The author includes many Jew­ish cus­toms and teach­es the read­er a great deal about Ortho­dox Judaism. If you are Ortho­dox or would like to be, this vol­ume would be a nice addi­tion to your col­lec­tion; oth­er­wise, this over­ly long book may not hold your inter­est. For ages 12 – 15.