My Guardian Angel

Elvina #1

by Sylvie Weil, Gillian Rosner

Winner of France's most prestigious children's book award, this vividly drawn novel tells the harrowing tale of a smart, feisty 12-year-old Jewish girl in 11th C. France during the first Crusade.

Feisty and smart, Elvina is not your average 12-year-old. She adores reading, writing, and studying like the boys. And she detests silly girls' chores, like keeping chicken eggs warm until they hatch. But she is also skilled in the art of healing, a skill that ultimately gets her into trouble.
It's the 11th Century in France, and the Crusades are on a campaign to rid France of the Jews. The Jews live in terror and are on high alert that danger is drawing near to their town. One night, while Elvina is alone in her house, she hears a rap on the door. Can her guardian angel keep her safe?

Genres: Historical Fiction, Jewish, Fiction, Young Adult, Religion, France, Audiobook

208 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2001

About the author

Sylvie Weil earned degrees in classics and French literature at the Sorbonne. She was a professor of French literature and is the author of several award-winning works of fiction for adults and for young adults, including two novels published in the United States: My Guardian Angel and Elvina’s Mirror.

Reviews

[Tami · Rating 4 out of 5]

I absolutely love the stories about Rashi and his girls. I find them both fascinating and inspiring. Rashi was one of the most famous rabbis and Jewish scholars of any age. He lived in France around the time of the first crusade. Unfortunately, Rashi never sired any sons to pass on his scholarly gifts. He did however have daughters. Unprecedented in his efforts, Rashi taught his daughters (and later his grandchildren) to read and write. A few even defiantly studied the torah at a time when the mere thought of this was completely unheard of.

My Guardian Angel is the story of Elvina, the grand daughter of Rashi. She too learns to read and write. She also yearns to become a writer. The book serves as a diary of sorts as the young girl as she tries to find her place in a world that is hateful towards Jews, where traditional remedies are seen as evidence of evil magic, and where woman are supposed to focus all their energies on finding a man.

I think this story will bring understanding, pride, and inspiration to a whole new generation of young women. About the only critique I could make about this book would be that I found the change of voice from Elvina to her guardian angel just a little distracting. I would have preferred that the book keep in first person for the entire story.

[Dennis Fischman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Even though this book seems written for young teens or tweeners, the subject matter and the voice of the main character delighted me. You get a sense of what it was like to be a young Jewish woman in medieval France—the limitations and the possibilities, the science and the supernatural—and also, the threat that the Crusades posed not only to Muslims in the Middle East, but to Jews back in Europe, close to home. The Christians in the book aren’t villains, however, other than Peter the Hermit (who deserves the vilification). And all the men and all the women are distinct personalities, even if grandfather Rashi is idealized.

The glossary in the back of the book will help with any Hebrew terms the reader doesn’t know.

[Janet · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall the story was well done but more for younger youth readers. I could imagine the girl speaking with her guardian angel - how often do we do the same in our own lives!

Elvina, the main character of the story, seems to be a scrappy girl for the times she was living in. But inside she was less sure of herself and needed more assurance that she was alright and doing the right things.

[Renee Schwendinger · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some many books about the Crusades are from the Crusaders point of view. This book is from a Jewish girls point of viewing offering a very interesting contrast. Very well done!

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

I put this on my GoodReads tbr because it highlighted a more rarely documented part of Jewish history. This young adult book takes place in France during the beginnings of the First Crusade, and it’s even written by a French author! :P Gillian Rosner translated it into English.

Weil fictionalizes the life of Elvira, daughter of the famous Rabbi, writer and Talmudic scholar known as Rashi. Elvira is mentioned briefly in some documents I found online as having inspired some halachic decisions. She was “learned,” says Wikipedia, and she taught some of Rashi’s customs, passed on through her mother, to others, says the Jewish Women’s Archive.

Weil turns Elvira into more of a stereotypical middle grade heroine. She can read and write (and sneaks into the house of study in order to take part in her brother’s lessons.) She even takes notes for her grandfather. From her mother, she understands all sorts of healing practices. She’s already deemed as an “unusual” girl, and beyond that her reckless decisions end up being good ideas after all. She opens her home to Crusaders when one of them is hurt, and she later hides and feeds that hurt Crusader. The first instance saves her brother and cousin, who have been captured, from forced baptism. The second gains her allies who later protect her father when he goes to give ransom money to one of the leaders of the Crusades, Peter the Hermit.

So it’s a little bit unbelievable, really, a little too good to be true. (Kind of like an American Girls story for Jewish history. :P) Beyond that, Weil shifts a few times from first person to third person and that took me out of the story. But she was plucky enough to follow in her role, and I liked this perspective on history. We learned about “proper” past times for Jewish girls, like warming eggs in the winter, and various household tasks. We also got a surprisingly complex look into the Crusades, at least from the vantage point that there were some driven by period antisemitism to attack Jews, and others who were more disciplined and focused on their larger agenda. Crusaders were often outsiders to towns they were marching through in order to slowly make their way to Jerusalem. But even the Jews’ neighbors held antisemitic beliefs. In one chapter, Elvira joins non-Jewish friends at their home, only to be stabbed in the back by their unquestioned and inaccurate stereotypes.

At the end of the day, this is the story about a Jewish community trying to go about it’s business while living in fear of a dangerous passing element, and also how a young girl’s actions contribute to their well-being. In the face of such hatred, it’s nice to have examples of oppressed communities that survive, even if the parameters of this story are a bit forced.

[Rona · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rashi, an important Jewish scholar circa 1040-1105 CE, had three daughters, no sons. He had several grandchildren, including a granddaughter names Elvina. This book, suitable for children 7 or so and up, takes place while a dangerous Crusader army sets up camp outside the town of Troyes, where Rashi and his community are settled. Will they be attacked?
Young Elvina takes risks to do what is right, but is it really right? Like all good historic fiction, this book is full of time-appropriate details, along with human truths that are as old as humankind.

[Francesca Leone · Rating 4 out of 5]

Surprise treat

I wasn't sure what exactly to expect from this book, but it was good, a simple but uplifting story. The tale of Elvina is written in plain, straightforward language that suits our honest main character. I really enjoyed reading this one.

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review is for audiobook. Excellent narrator. Cozy story.

[Jonathan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wild that this is a true(ish) story

[Amanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wanted to like this more than I did. And, I *did* like it, just not as much as I'd hoped, I guess. The setting is a fascinating one, and I loved the main character (she's a good balance of spunky independence and realistic historical humility, I thought), but it just didn't really stand out particularly as a whole.

[Teri · Rating 3 out of 5]

I listened to this work on audiobook.

This book was an introduction to a period in history I had never studied, and it was particularly interesting to view it through the journal of Elvina, a plucky 12 year-old girl who would rather be studying and attending school like boys than attending to her housekeeping and chores.

Elvina was a naive, charismatic narrator, and it was refreshing, humorous, and poignant to view her world through her eyes.

I was reminded of the movie _Yentl_ while reading this book, and I hadn't thought of that movie in years.

My 13 and almost 15 year-old boys didn't see the charm in this story, but I enjoyed it.

[Jennifer Heise · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fascinating book about a young Jewish girl in the Renaissance who wants to become a scribe. Though such titles often push the reader through tragedy after tragedy, pogrom after pogram, this one is rather more peaceful and develops the characters themselves.

[Krista the Krazy Kataloguer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Troyes, France, 1076, during the first Crusade.

[Fenared]

It is about a Jewish girl who goes through many evernts in her life.

[Horace Mann Family Reading Challenge · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think it was very boring because there was no action. J. M.