Guide to Jewish Literature - March/April 2025

This critically acclaimed bestseller presents the captivating story of Clara Prinz, a remarkable woman forced to leave her native Berlin in 1939. As Clara traveled alone on a voyage into the unknown, she turned to memories of her adolescence during La Belle Époque – the Beautiful Era filled with optimism and cultural transformation at the dawn of the twentieth century. Through Clara’s chance encounters with notable personalities of the period, Clara’s Secret weaves an unforgettable tapestry of personal and historic events. Clara’s Secret is ultimately a compelling story of the advancement of humankind and the survival of its decline. 

Sixteen-year-old Lazar Hermanski and fourteen-year-old Daria Solov survive the 1881 Warsaw pogrom, endure a perilous journey in steerage, and arrive in New York. They marry, have a family, and navigate the conflict of adjusting to their new country and culture while attempting to follow their Jewish traditions. Throughout the story, family members participate in historical events, such as the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire, the sinking of the Lusitania, and the women’s suffrage movement, and interact with historical figures such as Lillian Wald, Fanny Brice, and Fiorello LaGuardia.

Enduring Ties provides an up-to-date, in-depth exploration of Israel’s ongoing war and its complex history as a close ally of the United States. The author delves into the ups and downs of this critical relationship, examining pivotal moments and shifts over time. Woven into the narrative are parallel discussions on the culture wars, the Iran Nuclear Deal, and other key issues that have shaped public opinion and policy toward Israel. The book also takes a hard look at the political divide in America, contrasting the progressive left’s waning support for Israel with the steadfast backing from conservatives.

A Worldwide Battle of Traditional and Nontraditional Points of View. The Culture Wars is a thought-provoking book that illuminates the stark contrast between the progressive narrative – rooted in the radical ideals of a vocal minority. This book examines the divide between the skewed ideals perpetuated by the media and entertainment industries and the principles that embody real-world values. Covering the most pressing topics, including Title IX, modern programming, music, sports, history, education, youth indoctrination, women’s rights, and more, provides a comprehensive exploration of the ongoing battle, whose victor will claim the very soul of our society.

Winner 2024 National Jewish Book Award Book Club Award. “A remarkable novel about faith lost and regained in the aftermath of the Holocaust. In telling this story of the last surviving rebbe of a Hasidic dynasty passing as a Black street-fiddler, Langer has discovered a new idiom of American Jewish writing. A brilliant re-imagining of the legend of the hidden righteous soul told as though the melodies of Hasidic niggunim were blues.” David Stern, Starr Professor of Jewish Literature, Harvard University. “If you liked James McBride’s novels …. you’ll love The Last Dekrepitzer.” Kathryn Hellerstein, co-editor of The Norton Anthology of Jewish American Literature.  “Verdict: Get it.” Kirkus Reviews.

Late one night in the summer of 1897, Morris Massimo Levy, nearly sixteen, of mixed Italian-Catholic and East-European Jewish background, watches as the father of the girl he loves is dropped from the Brooklyn Bridge by the notorious Jewish gang leader (and actual historical figure) Monk Eastman. The event helps propel Morris into a dangerous involvement in the notorious wars between the ethnic gangs of the Lower East Side of New York City and prompts his initiation, despite his idealistic impulses, into the ruthless means one often needed to survive and flourish in early modern America.

The year is 1987. Rachel Martin is a bright, sensitive thirteen-year-old who feels that nothing will ever turn out right for her. Living  in the shadow of her beautiful, older sister, the one anchor in Rachel’s life is her supportive father, but even he won’t be able to protect her from the events that lie ahead. School continues to be a joke…until an older woman with a dark and mysterious past comes to take over her English class…and from then on nothing is ever quite the same.

This award-winning novel invites readers into the Orthodox community of Skokie, Illinois, where Sally Lieberman must decide whether to stay in the world she chose or leave to save her family. “A stunning read” filled with food, friendship and passion, Woman of Valor is a courageous story of love and self-determination that will have you on the edge of your seat until the very last page.

This bestselling novel set in Scotland explores love, Jewish identity, self-discovery and ancestral redemption with a touch of magical realism to keep you on the edge of your seat. “Lynne Golodner’s enchanting romance is a captivating tale that beautifully captures the delicate dance between mending the past and embracing the promise of the future.” Midwest Book Review.

A groundbreaking, action-packed, and ultimately uplifting adventure that intertwines elements of Jewish mythology with an unflinching examination of the impacts of transphobia, from Newbery Honor-winner Kyle Lukoff. “Rare and beautiful . . . [this] page-turning adventure is nothing short of magic.”—Rick Riordan, bestselling author of Percy Jackson and the Olympians.

Shabbat Shalom: Let’s Rest and Reset introduces the Jewish day of rest, validating the varied experiences of Jewish readers, and informing and entertaining Jews and non-Jews alike! Author and artist Suzy Ultman melds her own Jewish upbringing with her current trendsetting aesthetic to create a much-needed series of gorgeous, appealing, and perfectly simple books.

Follow Sarah as she escapes the Jewish ghetto in Rome, determined to honor her father’s wish: “You have to do something good for the world.” This request motivates her to become the research director of a team working to cure childhood leukemia at Rockefeller University in NYC. After two successful trial treatments, President Gerald Ford asks Sarah to treat the grandson of the Nazi criminal who sent over 1,000 Italian Jews, including her family, to Auschwitz in 1943. Sarah’s decision—and the surprising conclusion of her journey—underscore the irony and significance of one life.

Jews and Christians use the same words, but they have different meanings to Jews than they do to Christians. To understand the word, “messiah” in the Christian way, one has to hold certain assumptions. These foundational Christian beliefs must be rejected as unbiblical, and more than the many other reasons, this is why Jews don’t believe in Jesus.

With stories from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe, this collection of intimate personal testimonies will surprise and inspire. A Jewish wedding after conversion in Madagascar, a reunion of Holocaust survivors in Sweden, a shipboard romance initiated by a celebrity: These stories from 83 countries describe Jewish wedding traditions, some familiar and others eye-opening, in a multitude of cultures and settings, past and present.

Jacob believes there’s an answer to any problem. That conviction propelled him to a successful engineering career. But following retirement and his wife’s death, Jacob suffers an existential crisis. The man who believed anything was solvable becomes consumed with uncovering the role of a higher power in his crumbling world. Plagued with prophetic visions, he travels to Lake Paradise to find his coveted answer to life’s mysteries. Joined by a rabbi who has lost his faith, an unruly professor, and a powerful CEO, the friends embark upon a philosophical pursuit for the ages. But a political scandal might destroy everything.

Daniel, a young American, is recruited by Israel’s Mossad. During his mission, he discovers the mysteries behind his own beginnings: from a baby found under the body of his dead mother toward the end of WWII, in the back of a destroyed SS staff car, to adoption by a US Army Medical Corps colonel. Explore the training methods of Mossad agents, and the role of former Nazi scientists in Arab capitals. Discover the horrors faced by German Jews through the eyes of a Jewish lawyer, and their brutal treatment in the Nazi concentration camps, and their fight to create the State of Israel.

From the opening vignette in which a photograph is a silent witness to history to the powerful coda “Miracles,” a novella set against the vibrant panorama of the Yiddish theater in America, the fifteen memorable narratives in The Girls of Jerusalem and Other Stories span continents and eras as they chronicle love and loss, piety and heresy, mysticism and rationality to reinterpret ancient tropes of exile, dislocation, and profound change, revealing a new understanding of Jewish history and memory. “Luminous tales of exile and loss that bequeath new life” Kirkus Reviews (starred review). A best book of the year selection.

A cartoon haggadah that follows the traditional steps of the seder. Written in a concise, contemporary style, it includes songs, games, recipes and prayers in English, Hebrew and transliterated Hebrew. It makes the seder fun and meaningful for family, guests and even for those “who don’t know how to ask.”

A biography of Henny Fletcher Aronson who survived the German invasion of Lithuania, the Kovno Ghetto, the Stutthof concentration camp and a death march. Be with Henny as she lives through the German atrocities and see her loved ones destroyed by the Lithuanians as well as the Germans. Henny’s story is one of courage, hope and the will to live. Hopefully, her story will inspire those in dire conditions and remind us of what we as humans are capable of doing.