Jewish Heritage Month

5 stars

"An enthralling, picaresque tale of two Jewish sisters in late nineteenth-century Russia, filled with "boundless imagination, wit, and panache" (David Grossman), and enough intrigue and misadventure to stupefy the Cohen brothers. With her reputation as a vilde chaya, a wild beast, Fanny Keismann isn't like the other women in her shtetl-certainly not her obedient and anxiety-ridden sister, Mende, whose "philosopher" of a husband, Zvi-Meir, has run...

When freshman Declan Taylor hurts his pitching arm he becomes mad at the world, soon getting caught up with a group of white supremacists and turning against his Jewish former friend, Jake--but when things turn violent Declan must figure out what he actually stands for.

"Jude Stark is the bane of Molly Blum's existence. The former neighbors and complete opposites began a rivalry in grade school that continued all the way through high school, consisting of fights, pranks, and generally one upping each other-until one over-the-top prank changed everything. A decade later, their siblings have forced them to collaborate on a surprise co wedding anniversary celebration for their parents, and soon Molly and Jude are reverting...

As Jewish families were trying desperately to get out of Europe during the menacing rise of Hitler's Nazi party, some chose to send their young sons away to uncertain futures in America, perhaps never to see them again. As these boys became young men, they were determined to join the fight in Europe. Known as the Ritchie Boys, after the Maryland camp where they were trained, these army recruits knew what would happen to them if they were captured....

4.8 stars

Bullied and shamed her whole life for being fat, twelve-year-old Ellie finally gains the confidence to stand up for herself, with the help of some wonderful new allies.

4 stars

The discovery of a packet of old letters sends seventeen-year-old Abby Schoenberg to Nantucket to unravel a family mystery about her grandmother's past, but things get complicated when Abby meets the cute grandson of a prominent family who wants to stop her from investigating.

4 stars

"From award-winning novelist Idra Novey comes a "deft and surprising novel" with two unforgettable female voices. (Rumaan Alam) Set in the Allegheny Mountains of Pennsylvania, Take What You Need follows the estrangement and reconciliation of stepmother and daughter, Jean and Leah. Leah always felt her path diverged from Jean's and left her hometown without looking back, making a life for herself in the city as a young mother and academic. Now that...

4 stars

"In 1850, Fredericka Mandelbaum emigrated to New York from Germany and worked as a rag peddler on the streets of the Lower East Side. By the 1870s she was a widow with four children, a popular society hostess, and a philanthropist. What enabled a woman on the margins of nineteenth-century American life to ascend from tenement poverty to immense wealth? In the intervening years, Mrs. Mandelbaum had become the country's most notorious 'fence'--a receiver...

"Daniel Rosenberg and Liyah Cohen-Jackson's last conversation--fourteen years ago at summer camp--ended their friendship. Until they find themselves seated next to each other on a plane, and bitterly pick up right where they left off. At least they can go their separate ways again after landing. That is, until Daniel's marketing firm gets hired by the Chicago museum where Liyah works as a junior curator, and they're forced to collaborate, with potential...