The Entertainer and the Dybbuk by Sid FleischmanMy rating: 2 of 5 stars
Freddie T. Burch, better known as Fredde the Great, is a down-n-out ventriloquist working his way through Europe 3 years after the end of WWII. He is not a very good ventriloquist, his lips keep moving. Then he runs into a dybbuk, a Jewish spirit or ghost who's troubles keep him from moving on. This dybbuk is named Avrom Poliakov and he is a 12 year old boy killed by the Nazis before his bar mitzvah. And now Avrom wants something of Freddie. What Avrom wants just might be the last thing Freddie ever does.
I liked this book. The subject matter is heartwrenching - the killing of Jewish children by the Nazis, often as sport. However, the whole time I was reading the book I felt like it was just skimming the surface. I kept wanting more depth - to the characters and to the plot. I don't know if Fleischman kept it shallow because he was writing for kids, but even so, it only seems to touch the surface of the story.
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