Summary:
The book is about two girls Lee, Jewish, and Polly, Catholic, who become friends and the struggles they face due to culturally religious differences. The mothers of the girls have very different religious beliefs for very different reasons and this makes problems for the girls and their friendship. The book unfolds the problem of Polly's mother showing lack of respect and being xenophobic for the Jewish religion of Lee and her family. Polly's mother puts Catholic literature in Lee's books and tells her she needs to convert or will end up in hell, which disturbs the young girl. Polly's mother doesn't know about Lee's background or that her grandparents died in the Holocaust, which makes Lee's mother distrusting of all non-Jewish people. In the end the two girls remain friends through secret night meetings and eventually again in front of their parents showing that they are not letting the prejudices keep them apart.

Personal Reaction:
The book shows good examples of why people can have prejudices and also how prejudices can be taught. This book hit home for me because my grandfather and his parents came here in the 1930's to escape Hitler and the Holocaust. The stories of my family and so many others are ones I think should be told. I also think it is crazy that schools are taking this world wide event out of textbooks.

Classroom Extensions:
1. I think this would be an awesome book to use in class as a reading and have my students write an essay on cultural differences, prejudice, or why we need to be tolerant of others beliefs, religion, gender identity, and culture.
2. I would like to have a multicultural month where we talk about a different culture every few days so that we truly dive into each culture.
3. I would also like to have foods and speakers for as many cultures as I can to get the students more interested in learning the differences.

Summary of Book:
Lee is a Jewish girl who finds a new friend in Polly. Polly states she has been visited by Peter Pan and enjoys playing imaginary pirate games with Lee. But when Polly's mother tries to convert Lee to Christianity, Lee's mother forbids Lee from playing with Polly.

Personal Reaction:
I liked this book. It definitely makes you look at both sides of the issue here.

Extensions:
Research differences in the 2 religions/culture
Research other religions/culture of students in the classroom.