A creative and powerful exploration of identity, bias, community, and change.
Benji Zeb, a White, Jewish boy, lives on a kibbutz in Washington State along with his parents, extended family members, and other Jewish werewolves. They have a communal life as Modern Orthodox Jews and maintain a sanctuary for regular wolves that helps them hide their werewolf nature from the neighboring community.
Benji’s main concern is preparing for his bar mitzvah. Having anxiety makes it hard for him to think about reading from the Torah in front of the community, though, especially because the portion of the Torah that he must read, based on the date of the event, contains the fundamental text that proves their lives as werewolves have a place in Jewish history: “Benjamin is a ravenous wolf; in the morning he consumes the foe, in the evening he divides the spoil” (Genesis 49:27). He was named after that Benjamin, and feels that his d’var Torah—the speech he must give about his portion—must be perfect in order to do justice to such a key text for his community.
Benji also knows he’s gay, but the biracial (Asian and White) boy he has a crush on, Caleb, has recently turned mean. But then Caleb’s White stepfather starts to threaten the kibbutz, prompted by an antisemitic stranger—and things get more complicated when Caleb shows up one night manifesting his own werewolf nature (not really a spoiler, since it’s in the jacket blurb). It turns out, too, that the stranger and Caleb’s stepfather’s views go beyond antisemitism to include an anti-Asian bias that impacts Caleb and his Chinese American mother. Benji must then teach Caleb all about being a werewolf (in the process sharing much about his Jewish life as well), while the boys figure out what to do about the individual and communal threats. As the two boys learn to work together, though, Benji also finds that his crush on Caleb is only growing.
Author Deke Moulton uses both the occasion of a bar mitzvah and the figure of the werewolf—both tired tropes in many stories—to powerful effect. The rereading of Genesis to explain werewolves works surprisingly well, and is actually part of a long Jewish tradition (dating back at least to the 12th century) of interpreting Genesis 49:27 to refer to werewolves.
Moulton also weaves in information and insights on Jewish practice and ethics, and uses Yiddish and Hebrew phrases liberally throughout. (Context and a glossary at the end help explain most of them to readers who may need some assistance.) Some of the kibbutz members also stem from Jewish communities in India and Ethiopia, too, a nice reminder that not all Jews are White.
While the focus is on Jewish culture, however, the book really shows how hate of any kind—against Jews, Asians, or werewolves—is often tied together by fears of those who are different, and harms individuals, families, and communities alike. While there are a lot of “lessons” here, they’re conveyed through Benji’s eyes in an engaging and relatable way, via a suspenseful storyline and a sweet first crush.
As with their previous book, Don’t Want to Be Your Monster, Moulton gives us a thoughtful look at family life, Jewish identity, and the larger question of what makes someone a monster. At the same time, they offer the hope that, we ordinary humans, like werewolves, can also adapt and change. A highly recommended title. Yasher koach.
