Ping-Pong Shabbat: The True Story of Champion Estee Ackerman

For Estee Ackerman (b. 2002), “Shabbat was a day of calm,” Koffsky writes, “a break from the exciting pop, pop, ker-pops” of the ping-pong tournaments she played during the week. Rajunov contrasts the intensity of competition—images of fierce concentration, bold motion lines, and onomatopoeia—with starry scenes of the athlete’s family serenely gathered around the Shabbat table. At 11, Ackerman was on the brink of winning the U.S. National Table Tennis Championships when the finals were set for a Saturday and the officials refused to budge. Her decision to forfeit wasn’t easy, but it captured the nation: “People everywhere read the articles. Most of them didn’t play Ping-Pong. A lot of them weren’t Jewish. But many of them were excited to hear about a young girl who had chosen her values over the gold medal.” The book concludes with Ackerman winning gold the following year—on a Monday—and an afterword. Ages 4–8. (Sept.)