Mr. Katz is different from other students that eight-year-old Sarah’s father tutors for their bar and bat mitzvahs. “You’re way past thirteen,” Sarah (brown-skinned) tells the elderly man the first day he comes for a private lesson. Mr. Katz is good humored, while Sarah must work at curbing her bluntness and lack of patience. She learns Mr. Katz is 81, likes birds just like she does, and likes talking with her. When she asks why he never had a bar mitzvah, Mr. Katz explains that when he was growing up in Russia, it was too dangerous to have one because they were forbidden by the government. By the time Sarah attends his bar mitzvah, she feels proud to be Mr. Katz’s friend. “Mr. Katz keeps coming to our house once a week … But he doesn’t sing with my father, he sings with me.” The intergenerational friendship at the center of this tender story features two strong, distinct personalities that shine. The warm, welcoming illustrations incorporate recurring bird imagery.

2025 Sydney Taylor Notable Book

Named a Best Jewish Children's Book of 2024 by Tablet Magazine

"A delightful tale of friendship formed across cultures and generations." --School Library Journal

"Having friends with different experiences and backgrounds can be very enlightening." --Sydney Taylor Shmooze

"Opens space to discuss antisemitism in a non-threatening way with children and is recommended for all collections." --Association of Jewish Libraries

A young girl learns how to be more accepting of others different than herself as she comes to be friends with an octogenarian Russian immigrant who wants to learn Hebrew with her father and finally celebrate the bar mitzvah it was too dangerous to have when he was a boy in the Soviet Union.

Sarah often listens when her father tutors students for the Bar or Bat Mitzvah. She enjoys hearing the boys and girl learn Hebrew and sing. When a new student arrives, a wrinkled man named Mr. Katz, Sarah is confused. He is older than 13. Much older. How can he have a Bar Mitzvah? Why do his hands shake and sometimes he forgets his book? But Mr. Katz has a beautiful voice and he likes watching birds with her. As Sarah and Mr. Katz slowly become friends, she learns about former Soviet Union, where he was born. It was dangerous to be Jewish there, but after immigrating to America and meeting Sarah's family, he has a new chance to have his Bar Mitzvah, even at 81 years young.

Inspired by the life experiences of the author's own grandfather, a Russian Jewish immigrant himself.