The story of a Hasidic Jew teenage girl and a Jamaican teenage boy and their chance meeting. During a hurricane, they get stuck in an elevator together and start to talk. They find themselves immediately attracted to each other and start seeing each other in secret (her family would NOT approve). They are both trapped in lives that their parents have planned out for them and are searching for something better.

The peeks into the culture of Hasidism were very interesting (and made me grateful for my UU/atheistic upbringing) and both main characters were very likable. Maybe I'm getting old and crotchety but I had a bit of trouble believing/ understanding the desperate, I'll-die-without-him/her feelings. Despite that, it is still a good story of growing up and finding your place in your family and society. ( )

Two teenagers meet in a New York hospital elevator during a blackout. Devorah is a Hasidic Jew, Jaxon is black. Devorah is not allowed to socialise with boys outside of her family, let alone anyone outside her community, but she and Jaxon keep finding ways to see each other.

This was fascinating, but also frustrating -- I was frustrated with Devorah’s culture for making her feel like she would be disowned if she put a foot wrong, and also frustrated, perhaps unfairly, with Jaxon for not fully appreciating the risks Devorah faces. However I liked the ending a lot. ( )

Audiobook sync offered this novel in the summer of 2020. I so enjoyed this novel because it was truly realistic. if you want a romance--it's a realistic romance for teens.

Devorah, a Hasidic Jew, finds herself trapped in an elevator with a black male, Jax. Hasidic females are never allowed to be alone with males. They graduate from high school, marry via an arranged marriage and take care of the house and have babies. Devorah epitomizes the "perfect" Jew. She's never questioned anything and followed the requirements. She regrets that she can't continue her education because she does well in school, better than many of the boys, but the path is set. This moment in the elevator raises Devorah's blood pressure, so to speak. Will she get in trouble? What should she do? People find Jax a dependable young man. He keeps his promises, makes good grades, shows up to work, and respects his family. He realizes this young girl is nervous and he wants to assuage her feelings. He tries to get them out and then they determine they're stuck. They strike up a friendship.

The novel then centers on how two people from two vastly different worlds can have a relationship. Neither can forget about the other. For Devorah, this relationship introduces her to a larger world where choice exists and not everything is a sin. Devorah's brother-in-law, Jacob, expresses disdain toward Devoah and expects her to do as he says. After all, he is male and he must protect the family's reputation. He suspects Devorah and certainly does not display any Biblical love towards others. Devorah imagines being married to someone like Jacob and realizes that she loves Jax because he is kind, the opposite of Jacob. Jax appears to be a better man then Jacob. Jax realizes that Devorah is interesting as well as beautiful. He fails to understand how difficult a relationship would be between them. They sneak around. Jaxon just wants to be with her; she wants to be with Jax but also to discover a wider world that she might exist in. Could other choices exist? Can a woman choose love before marriage? What does she want in her future? Is there another way besides the Hasidic way without turning away from the traditions and family in which she finds comfort and peace?

I liked the novel because it's important for teens to think and have choice. I don't live in a place with there is a Jewish population, so my knowledge is woefully inadequate. I liked that Devorah found the strength to experience life and seek her own truth. I liked thinking about the role of women and how some people still see women are inferior. Women can certainly choose to let their husband take the lead in the marriage, stay at home, and obey while raising children. However, these women should allow other women to find a different path and a different relationship. I like that both choices were presented as options. I also liked the realistic ending. I worried it would have a Romeo and Juliet ending. Because I was engrossed the entire reading and liked the realistic ending, I gave it five stars. This novel would make a great high school book club selection because there is so much to discuss and delve in to! ( )

Fate brought them together. Will life tear them apart? Devorah is a consummate good girl who has never challenged the ways of her strict Hasidic upbringing. Jaxon is a fun-loving, book-smart nerd who has never been comfortable around girls (unless you count his four younger sisters). They've spent their entire lives in Brooklyn on opposite sides of the same street. Their paths never crossed...until one day they did.

When a hurricane strikes the Northeast, the pair become stranded in an elevator together, where fate leaves them no choice but to make an otherwise risky connection. Though their relationship is strictly forbidden, Devorah and Jaxon arrange secret meetings and risk everything to be together. But how far can they go? Just how much are they willing to give up?

Realistic. Hopeful. ( )

Devorah is a 16-year-old Hasidic Jew. She is devout; never straying from the extraordinarily strict rules of her upbringing, among them, that an unmarried girl is never alone with any man outside of her own family.
Jaxon is a college bound, academically inclined 16-year-old black boy.
Both Devorah and Jaxon end up in a hospital during a storm, and get stuck in an elevator together. Devorah does what she has never done - she talks to boy unchaperoned. Jaxon does what he has never done - any form of association with the Hasids who live in his neighborhood of New York. A spark of a crush develops in each, and they begin looking for ways to see each other, though they know it is forbidden.
That spark that starts the book is a bit of a stretch. It's hard to imagine either of these characters having any sort of romantic interest in the other right off the bat. But once you accept that they do, the story follows a believable line, for anyone who remembers (or is currently dealing with) being head over heels in love. All rational thought is out the window, and both (but especially Devorah) do things they know will get them in serious trouble if they are caught, just to be with each other, even for a few precious moments. It's a sweet story, and the reader will be rooting for them to somehow find a way.
The story is told in alternating chapters, Devorah one, Jaxon the next, but it is pretty clear from the beginning that it is Devorah's story. She is one who is risking the most, she is the one doing more things forbidden to her, she is the one who will face the direst consequences if they are caught, and in the end, it is Devorah who changes and grows in the course of the book. Jaxon learns a few lessons, but is largely the same person at the end as he was at the start.
(Spoilers follow.)
In the end, it is a bittersweet tale. They are caught in a shocking encounter with the Shomrim (a sort of official Hasidic rule-enforcing police) and the reader will begin to suspect that this story will not have a fairy tale ending. Devorah realizes that even though she knows Jaxon loves her, and she loves him in return, there is no way for their relationship to have a happy ending. No matter what they do, one or both of them will sacrifice more than they can bear, and it just can't be. It was a bit sad to me. I wanted them to find a way. But while this ending didn't make it the sweet, heartwarming book I was hoping for, it did make it a better book.
Only drawback, it's very slow getting going. After their meeting in the first couple of chapters, very little happens in the first half of the book, other than the reader learning many details about life in a Hasidic Jewish community. ( )