Publisher's Synopsis
Stripped of the comfort provided by her eccentrically fun and outrageously creative parents, Alexia is forced to change her lifestyle. She has just turned twelve and is the youngest to have ever won the Ming Karate Championship. Other than some disputes with her mom, the ways of the world are treating her well. However, Alexia's huge house, in a pastoral Paradise, is replaced with a claustrophobic urban Judaic slum. Her Bubbe and Zeyde (grandparents) are, suddenly, controlling her life. As she explores this new setting, she learns how to interact with this strange culture by combining her creativity, strength, and intellect. This includes uniting her knowledge of karate with the Rabbi's teachings of the Torah. They create "Turn A cheek and Never Lose," a form of non-contact martial arts. To save the neighborhood from the punks that are causing destruction, she disguises herself as a muscular boy/man, the Jewish Ninja. Award winning playwright Allegra Saens Coleman offers this Jewish odyssey, filling it with humor, tragedy, unforeseen circumstances, the necessity of endurance, and the discovery of oneself within a large community. This is not only a story, but an experience.
