Gershona is a 12 year old girl living in 10 year old Israel in 1958. The horrors of the Holocaust and World War II are not the focus of the book, but only mentioned in passing a few times.

Gershona hates her name - a boy's name (Gershon) with an a tacked onto the end to make is sound feminine. Kids make fun of her for it. But as the story begins, two new people move into her neighborhood and her life. One is her Grandfather, who is blind, and has been living in the United States for the last 30 years - he never even knew his son, Gershona's father. The other is Nimrod, a boy who moves into a neighboring building, and doesn't make fun of Gershona at all - but seems to like her.

Some of the story is educational, in that it takes place in a culture a little different than that of the modern U.S., or indeed the U.S. at any time. But the main elements of young love, and finding a kindred spirit in a aging grandparent are universal themes that would ring true for readers from any culture.

As in life, some of the questions that the book brings up are never answered. And in the case of Becoming Gershona, that is as it should be. ( )