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Eishes Chayil (a pseudonym meaning "woman of valor"; pronounced AY-shis CHEYE-el) was raised in a world of Chassidic schools, synagogues, and summer camps. She lives in New Jersey with her family.

Inside the closed community of Borough Park, where most Chassidim live, the rules of life are very clear, determined by an ancient script written thousands of years before down to the last detail—and abuse has never been a part of it. But when thirteen-year-old Gittel learns of the abuse her best friend has suffered at the hands of her own family member, the adults in her community try to persuade Gittel, and themselves, that nothing happened. Forced to remain silent, Gittel begins to question everything she was raised to believe.

A richly detailed and nuanced book, one of both humor and depth, understanding and horror, this story explains a complex world that remains an echo of its past, and illuminates the conflict between yesterday's traditions and today's reality.

VOYA

Gittel and Devory have been best friends forever; born on the same day in the same hospital, the girls are more like sisters than neighbors. Living in a predominantly Chassidic neighborhood in New York, the girls have been sheltered from all the things their community deems unseemly. But Gittel's innocence is shattered one night when she witnesses Devory being abused. Gittel knows she has seen something terrible, but her culture does not have the words to explain what she has seen, so she is told to keep silent. Her knowledge continues to haunt her, and Gittel struggles to come to terms with Devory's situation. After Devory's death when the girls are ten years old, the community seems to forget, but Gittel cannot move on. Thoughts of Devory continue to haunt her, and Gittel's silence begins to feel like guilt. This first-person narrative alternates the voices of ten-year-old and seventeen-year-old Gittel. The included details of the Chassidic community paint a rich cultural picture but may be confusing to readers who do not have any prior knowledge of Judaism. Gittel's struggle is sometimes hard to sympathize with because her innocence can come across as foolishness to a modern adolescent reader—there is just so much that Gittel does not know that it is almost unbelievable. For the reader who is willing to stick with this complex novel, it will strike a deep emotional chord, but some readers may not make it through the first half of the book. Reviewer: Jennifer McConnel