Best Books to Read for Jewish American Heritage Month

This fantastic picture book biography is the perfect title to teach your littlest one about the life of Ruth Bader Ginsberg. From her most famous disagreements on inequality, unfair treatment, and standing up for human rights, this is a must-read for families! 

This incredibly silly story is the perfect giggle inducing book to read together! It follows hopeful detective, Lena, who’s working on The Case of the Mysterious Rabbi. As Rabbi Max goes about his regular rabbi duties (and of course, slurps spaghetti), with her loyal dog by her side, Lena tries to figure out how one person can do so many different things in different places!  

Chokecherry, Colorado is a relatively small and quiet town, until one day, swastikas begin appearing around the school. Told from multiple points of view, Linked explores how the symbols of hate affect the students, and how they come together to fight back against who is behind them. Gordon Korman deftly weaves in serious topics with his trademark levity, giving young readers an engaging and thought-provoking story they will not soon forget. 

Terri Libenson is the queen of wonderful and relatable stories of friendship and being yourself, and Becoming Brianna is no exception. This story takes place in the eight months leading up to Brianna’s bat mitzvah. She’s a smart girl who hates the spotlight. So of course, preparing for her bat mitzvah is less than ideal as she has to learn a new language, give a speech, help organize a party, and so much more.  

Two Jewish teens who are also booksellers, a bookselling competition for a holiday bonus, and an intense rivalry?! Count us in! While this book does take place over the holiday season, it’s the perfect read any time of year as fierce competition and muddled feelings take the center stage in Recommended for You.

Speaking of intense rivalries, Today, Tonight, Tomorrow is the perfect read if you love rivals to lovers. Even better—their relationship changes entirely over the course of just 24 hours! This fast-paced read follows Rowan and Neil as they compete in a senior class game that takes them all over Seattle, and when they become reluctant allies, they begin to realize that maybe there’s more to them than just the rivalry that’s spurred them on throughout their high school years.

Intense pranks, an art department budget cut, and a student-written play-turned musical to convince all programs, other than the band (which never lost its funding), to regain their funding makes As If On Cue the YA romance of your dreams! Natalie and Reid will capture your heart with their witty banter and their love of the arts! 

This romance novel is perfect for fans of The Roommate and it follows Naomi Grant, co-founder of a sex-positive start-up that became an international hit and Ethan Cohen, one of the city’s hottest bachelors according to LA Mag and rabbi of his own synagogue. When the two team up to host a seminar series on Modern Intimacy, they discover something they never counted on—that they’d be attracted to each other.  

If you love it when romance is cooked up in the kitchen, then you’ll love Sadie On a Plate! Sadie’s dream is to have her own restaurant and create twists on traditional Jewish recipes, but when she has a very public breakup with her boss (who’s also a famous chef), Sadie’s pretty sure her career is over. When she lands a spot on Chef Supreme, her favorite tv show, she also ends up meeting Luke on the plane ride to New York. The two immediately find that they have chemistry and spend a whirlwind of an evening together before parting ways for six weeks … or so they thought. 

Rachel Lynn Solomon has taken the adult romance world by storm, and Weather Girl is no exception! This book is a delightful story following Ari and Russel, coworkers at a Seattle news station who team up after a particularly disastrous holiday party in order to resolve their bosses’ relationship issues. When their meddling ends up with the real chemistry happening between the two of them, they must learn to open up in ways they weren’t expecting.