Dan and the Mudman
Jonny Zucker
Hardcover
(Frances Lincoln Children's Books, March 24, 2009)
The first day in a new school is always tough, but for Dan it’s been a nightmare. He’s already had a run-in with Steve Fenton, the school’s notorious bully. Steve’s not just a bully, though — he’s an anti-Semite, too. In his last school, it didn’t matter that Dan was Jewish — lots of his classmates were — but here Lucy is his only friend. It looks like it’s going to be a long, long year. Then, in Miss Foxton’s art class, Dan starts to model clay for a class presentation. He doesn’t know what he’s making, really — a dab here, a knob there — then suddenly a form takes shape: he’s made a fierce clay giant. As he gazes in awe at his mysterious creation, he’s suddenly zapped back in time to the 16th century, where he encounters the mystical Golem of Prague. As he helps the Golem right wrongs from the past, little does Dan realize that he’s learning an important lesson in standing up for himself in the present.
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