The Two Wrong Halves of Ruby Taylor by Amanda Panitch

 The Two Wrong Halves of Ruby Taylor  by Amanda Panitch  314 pages

Of her two granddaughters, Grandma Yvette clearly prefers Ruby Taylor's perfect--and perfectly Jewish--cousin, Sarah. They do everything together, including baking cookies and having secret sleepovers that Ruby isn't invited to. Twelve-year-old Ruby suspects Grandma Yvette doesn't think she's Jewish enough. The Jewish religion is matrilineal, which means it's passed down from mother to child, and unlike Sarah's mother, Ruby's mother isn't Jewish. So when Sarah starts acting out--trading in her skirts and cardigans for ripped jeans and stained T-shirts, getting in trouble at school--Ruby can't help being somewhat pleased. Then Sarah suddenly takes things too far, and Ruby is convinced her cousin is possessed by a dybbuk, an evil spirit... that Ruby may or may not have accidentally released from Grandma Yvette's basement. Ruby is determined to save her cousin, but a dybbuk can only be expelled by a "pious Jew." If Ruby isn't Jewish enough for her own grandmother, how can she possibly be Jewish enough to fight a dybbuk?

This is a Mark Twain nominee book.  It is a mix between realistic fiction with details of the Jewish religion and fantasy with ghosts and evil spirits.  I love reading about religions. This one was a little weird for me, because I really don't like fantasy.  It was definitely written for pre-teen girls, because it has their personalities all over it.