Our teen book spotlight this week is focused on books that feature Jewish characters! Many times, Jewish characters seem limited to just World War II fiction books but that is not the case and we are taking a look at some titles that are anything but that time period. We have a mix of historical and realistic (and some are a little intense--just be warned!) fiction this week and I can promise you that they are amazing!!! These books and more can be found by searching the catalog using the search tag #yajewishcharacters as well as on Libby and Hoopla. Check back next week for a new teen book spotlight and if you have any book suggestions, please let us know!!
Color Me In by Natasha Diaz--Fifteen-year-old Nevaeh Levitz is torn between two worlds, passing for white while living in Harlem, being called Jewish while attending her mother's Baptist church, and experiencing first love while watching her parents' marriage crumble.
Yes No Maybe So by Becky Albertalli--Childhood friends Maya Rehman, a Pakistani American Muslim, and Jamie Goldberg, a white Jewish boy, both seventeen, are thrust together while canvassing door-to-door for a progressive Senate candidate. As the two realize they may have feelings for each other, they face not only challenges at home but also a political bill that calls for "a partial ban on head and facial coverings while participating in certain public activities."
Without Tess by Marcella Pixley--Tackling topics such as anorexia and toxic relationships this is the story of 15-year-old Lizzie Cohen, who still grieves the death of her older sister, Tess, who drowned five years ago. Lizzie and Tess were inseparable, often retreating together to their make-believe world of winged horses, magical toads and selkies. Feeling immortal, Tess traveled deeper and deeper into this fantastical world, refusing to eat food and live in the real world, and condemned Lizzie for not joining her. Lizzie tries to cope with feelings of guilt and betrayal. Now, she must use her sister's journal and the advice of a school psychologist to navigate her way out of darkness and release herself from Tess' tight grip.
Orchards by Holly Thompson--Sent to Japan for the summer after an eighth-grade classmate's suicide, half-Japanese, half-Jewish Kana Goldberg tries to fit in with relatives she barely knows in a land she's never seen. Amidst these struggles, Kana also reflects on the guilt she feels over the tragedy back home, contemplating the role she and others played in excluding the deceased girl through their actions. Gradually, by reconnecting with her family and gaining a new sense of purpose while working in their mikan orange groves, Kana realizes she cannot change the past but has the power to transform the future. It is this state of mind that helps her when a new tragedy strikes and she becomes the only one who can do anything about it.
Hush by Eishes Chayil--Growing up in a Hasidic Brooklyn neighborhood in 2009, 17-year-old Gittel is preparing to be married, hoping that she will be paired with a suitable husband. As this turning point in her life draws closer, however, she remains unable to forget everything that happened to her seven years ago, setting the stage for alternating chapters that portray Gittel first as a teenager and then as a child. Eventually, readers discover than 10-year-old Gittel was forced to learn of the abuse and then suicide of her best friend, an event swept under the rug by her community in an attempt to avoid negative attention. All these memories result in Gittel's breakdown seven years later, launching her on a journey of redemption that brings her darkened past into the light.
The King of Mulberry Street by Donna Jo Napoli--When the mother of nine-year-old Beniamino, a Jewish boy from Napoli, places her son on a ship bound to America, he believes that she is on board with him. He soon realizes that she did not come with him and sets out following her instructions to survive. His up-beat, first-person narrative recalls the traumas of separation and his dangerous struggle to survive on the streets of New York. Hiding his Jewish identity, he assumes the name Dom Napoli and through intelligence and high work ethic, Dom finds friends and starts to make a living by selling sandwiches to Wall Street workers.