Diverse Books: Religion, Culture

Ordinary citizens risk everything to save a young Jewish girl in wartime Holland.

Five-year-old Beatrix looks on in horror as the soldier forces her mother off the tram. It is 1942 in Amsterdam, and everyone knows what happens to Jews who are taken away by the Nazis. The soldier turns his attention to Beatrix, when suddenly, the ticket-taker, Lars Gorter, blurts out that she is his niece. With his brother Hans, the tram conductor, they manage to rescue the child from the same fate as her mother.

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When 16-year-old Raina Resnick is expelled from her Manhattan private school, she’s sent to live with her strict aunt — but Raina feels like she’s persona non grata no matter where she goes. Her sister, Leah, blames her for her broken engagement, and she’s a social pariah at her new school. In the tight-knit Jewish community, Raina finds she is good at one thing: matchmaking! As the anonymous “Match- Maven,” Raina sets up hopeless singles desperate to find the One. A cross between J …

Razia is excited when her grandfather tells her there's a school for girls being built in their Afghan village. At last, girls will have the same opportunity to be educated as boys. “Every night I fell asleep dreaming about going to school like my brothers,” she says. Her grandfather wants Razia to enroll in the school. He remembers a time, before the wars and the Taliban, when educated women in Afghanistan became doctors, government workers and journalists, and how this made families and th …

Zoe is in a wheelchair and it bugs her that some kids think she’s not smart because her body doesn’t always do what she wants. Then, Zoe learns about the diverse cultures of her friends at school, and realizes she’s not the only different one.

In this enchanting tale set in the Middle East, all the stories are woven into a magic carpet waiting to be told. When young Aziz learns that he is to become the new storyteller, he is forced to make a decision that will change his life forever.

Here you'll find Yolen's dynamic, enchanting retellings of Jewish tales from around the world paired with Stemple's recipes for everything from challah to matzo brei to pomegranate couscous, tzimmes chicken, and rugelach, in creative versions of classic dishes that any family will delight in cooking together. And Jewish Fairy Tale Feasts is filled with fun facts and anecdotes, about the creation of the stories and the history of the dishes, designed to encourage future cooks and storytellers to …

“Weber writes with a light touch and a keen ear for teen dialogue and concerns.” —CM Magazine

Before her plane even touches down in Newfoundland, Cheryl is already plotting her escape. She knows life on this rock will be no better than it was in the other places she’s been forced to live ever since her parents launched their cross-Canada tour. The unwilling spectator of her father’s morbid fascination with “dying cultures,” Cheryl has seen more than her fair share of towns so depre …

During Passover, Jews are reminded of how, more than three thousand years ago, their ancestors emerged from slavery to become free men and women.

Bestselling author Monique Polak explores her own Jewish roots as she tells the Passover story, which reminds us that the freedom to be who we are and practice our religion, whatever it may be, is a great gift. It also teaches us that if we summon our courage and look out for each other, we can endure and overcome the most challenging circumstances. Enl …