From Dust A Flame

 From Dust A Flame, a debut novel by Rebecca Podos.

A warm touching YA novel.  Growing up with her mother and brother always on the run, Hannah has never felt understood.  Her mother always seems distracted and more connected to her brother, Gabe.  Hannah is turning 17 and she has her future mapped out on a spread sheet, finish high school in one place, working as hard as she can for the best grades.  That way she can get noticed by the teachers and get recommendations to the Ivy league universities and leave her mother behind.  Then on her birthday everything changes.  Her well ordered life is really out of her control.  In an effort to straighten things out she finds out how much she never knew about her mother.  She finds a family she did not know existed and she grapples with who she really is.

This novel explores many interesting topics; Judaism, family connections, sexuality, friendship and commitment.  Written in a teenage voice that embraces the current thoughts of today, and perfectly taking into account the different way parents grew up and the learning curve. The power of the ancient Jewish mysticism to connect with a modern day lesson of love, strength and family.