The author has turned the intriguing but sparely detailed story of the Sarajevo Hagaddah into an emotionally rich, thrilling fictionalization that retraces its turbulent history. A complex love story, thrilling mystery, vivid history lesson, and celebration of the enduring power of ideas.

Away by Amy Bloom.

An epic and intimate story of young Lillian Leyb whose family is destroyed in a Russian pogrom. After she comes to America alone, she learns that her daughter, Sophie, might still be alive and embarks on a search from the world of the Yiddish theater on the Lower East Side, to Seattle, Alaska and Siberia to find her. This brilliant novel is at once heartbreaking, romantic, and completely unforgettable.

Mistress of the art of death by Ariana Franklin.

In medieval Cambridge Henry II summons a female forensics expert to investigate gruesome murders that wrongly implicate the Jewish community. She investigates behind the closed doors of English churches in a desperate attempt to save the Jews.

Marne wants to spend the summer in Hawaii with her Aunt and family. But Aunt Carole is now Aunt Chaya, married to a Chasidic rabbi and deeply religious. Fitting into this foreign culture is a challenge for Marne, but the family’s daily routine causes her to think about spirituality, identity, and her role in life. This rich novel is a window into a different lifestyle and gets to the very heart of faith, identity, and family ties.

A brief chapter in my impossible life by Dana Reinhardt.

In infancy Simone was adopted into a close and supportive family. When she is sixteen her birth mother Rivka, a self-exiled Hasidic Jewess dying of cancer, asks to meet her. After some resistance, Simone agrees, and their shared story is told with skill and poignancy. Some sexual content and strong language may make this inappropriate for younger teens. Gr. 9-12.

Penina Levine is a hard-boiled egg by Rebecca O’Connell.

Jewish sixth-grader Penina is annoyed when her public schoolteacher asks her to create a letter from the Easter Bunny for a kindergartner. Her parents learn about the assignment during a Passover Seder, and their call to the principal results in a quickly arranged unit on diversity, and, eventually, detente for all.

The Hebrew kid and the Apache maiden by Robert Avrech.

Set in the Wild West, a Jewish family in search of security they cannot find in their native Russia, struggles to make a life for themselves. Their son forms a fast friendship with the sister of a great Apache warrior chieftain. The boy and the girl each hold different beliefs, customs, and ways of life sacred - yet it is the differences that make the world they live in whole.

Confessions of a closet Catholic by Sarah Littman.

Don’t be put off by the title. Eleven year old Justine, the only Jew in her class, wants to be just like her Catholic best friend. This leads to an exploration of religion and faith. With the help of her Bubbe, she learns to appreciate her Judaism.

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