The Do More Club

Dana Kramaroff's The Do More Club is a moving story in verse for 10 year olds about the only Jewish kid at a school that's just been covered in hate graffiti.

What happens

Josh Kline is twelve. Nobody at Washington Middle knows he's Jewish, and he'd like to keep it that way. Back in third grade, someone left a shaving-foam bagel and a nasty note in the family's mailbox. Ever since, blending in has felt safer.

Then, one weekend, someone sprays swastikas and hateful words across the bricks, doors and windows of his school.

Afterwards the school runs two weeks of group sessions. Josh ends up in a circle with quiet Nat, popular Austin, his best mate Christian, kind Reenie, their teacher Mr G and Gavin, who rolls his eyes at all of it. In an activity called "if you really knew me", everybody's hidden stuff starts to come out. Except Josh's.

The whole book is short poems in Josh's voice, and it reads SO fast. You're right inside his head. There are the quick jokes, the worrying at two in the morning, and the moment he can't make himself say three small words. It's a very honest look at what it costs to hide part of who you are.

His friendship with Nat is the heart of it. She's teased about her weight, and the two of them end up swapping secrets on folded scraps of paper. It's really touching.

Worth knowing before you hand it over

The graffiti is quoted word for word, including a call for Jewish people to die. Josh's family tree has relatives who died at Auschwitz, and a Holocaust survivor visits the school. One classmate ends up hurling slurs at Josh's face, and things turn physical. There's some cruel teasing about Nat's weight, and some mild swearing too.

It's all handled with real care, but it's strong stuff. For a child who has faced antisemitism or racism, it may feel very close to home. For a reader who's ready to talk about hate and what we can do about it, it's a brilliant place to start.

What to read next

If this one stays with them, Aviva vs the Dybbuk is in the library too. Aviva is Jewish and lonely, and most of the girls in her class can't stand her. Then, one day, a strange shape appears in the wet cement outside her shul.