Jewish
Yes No Maybe So
Author: Becky Albertalli & Aisha Saeed
Description: Yes No Maybe So is a contemporary novel about two teens, one who is a Jewish boy and one who is a Muslim girl. The book is told through alternating perspectives over the course of one summer as they become more politically active, campaigning for a liberal candidate during a special election in Georgia. The two are spurred to action when the existing politician tries to pass a law banning Muslim women from wearing hijab and his constituents start plastering cars with anti-semitic bumper stickers. As they campaign they become closer, caring more about the issues and each other.
Includes: #muslim #jewish #judaism #islamophobia #antisemitism #contemporary #femaleprotagonist #maleprotagonist #youngadultliterature
Citation: Albertalli, B. & Saeed, A. (2020). Yes No Maybe So. Balzer + Bray.
Image retrieved from: Goodreads.
Little & Lion
Author: Brandy Colbert
Description: Little & Lion is about a bisexual Jewish Black girl coming to terms with her identity and her white step brother who is dealing with his recently diagnosed bipolar disorder. Both are falling for the same girl. This book also has lesbian characters, a prominent biracial Korean/Black character who wears a hearing aid, interracial relationships, references to abortion, and discussions around what it means to be loyal and what it means to care.
Includes: #bisexual #LGBTQIA #africanamerican #black #femaleprotagonist #contemporary #mentalhealth #bipolar #judaism #jewish #youngadultliterature
Citation: Colbert, B. (2017). Little & Lion. Little, Brown.
Image retrieved from: Goodreads.
Color Me In
Author: Natasha Diaz
Description: Color Me In is a contemporary novel about a biracial Black and white Jewish teen who is white passing. When her Black mom and Jewish dad split up, she moves to Harlem where she has a hard time fitting in with her family and her new community. She is stuck between two cultures, that of her new Black community and that of her posh private school. When her dad decides to throw her a belated bat mitzvah instead of a Sweet 16, she doesn’t know where she belongs.
Includes: #africanamerican #black #biracial #femaleprotagonist #contemporary #judaism #jewish #youngadultliterature
Citation: Diaz, N. (2019). Color me in. Delacorte.
Image retrieved from: Goodreads.
My Basmati Bat Mitzvah
Author: Paula J. Freedman
Description: My Basmati Bat Mitzvah is a contemporary novel about a Jewish Indian teen who is trying to find the balance between her Indian culture and being Jewish, all while preparing for her bat mitzvah.
Includes: #asianamerican #femaleprotagonist #contemporary #judaism #jewish #mittlegradeliterature
Citation: Freedman, P.J. (2013). My Basmati Bat Mitzvah. Harry N. Abrams.
Image retrieved from: Goodreads.
What I Like About You
Author: Marisa Kanter
Description: What I Like About You is a contemporary rom-com that follows a Jewish teen girl who leads a double life. Online she is an instagram famous bookstagrammer who recreates book covers on the tops of cupcakes. In real life she is a quiet teen who has never really lived in one place long enough to make close in person friends. When she moves to a new town and meets her virtual best friend who doesn’t know what she really looks like, she hides her online identity from him. But she can’t escape him! He is everywhere: at her Friday night shabbat with her grandfather, in her same classes, and sitting at the same table as her in the cafeteria.
Includes: #femaleprotagonist #contemporary #judaism #jewish #youngadultliterature
Citation: Kanter, M. (2020). What I like about you. Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers.
Image retrieved from: Goodreads.
It’s A Whole Spiel: Love, Latkes, and Other Jewish Stories
Edited by: Katherine Locke and Laura Silverman
Description: It’s A Whole Spiel: Love, Latkes, and Other Jewish Stories is an anthology of short stories about Jewish teens written by own voices Jewish young adult authors.
Includes: #anthology #contemporary #jewish #judaism #femaleprotagonist #maleprotagonist #youngadultliterature
Citation: Locke, K. & Silverman, L. (2019). It’s A Whole Spiel: Love, Latkes, and Other Jewish Stories. Knopf Books for Young Readers.
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Girl With The Red Balloon
Author: Katherine Locke
Description: Girl With The Red Balloon is a historical time travel novel about a Jewish teen girl. On a high school trip to Berlin, she sees a stray balloon and grabs on to it and is transported back to East Berlin in 1988, a year and a half before the fall of the Berlin wall. Through the course of the book, she fights to protect a group of Jews in East Berlin who face persecution and learns of the original time travel balloon makers who helped Jews escape from concentration camps during World War II.
Includes: #femaleprotagonist #historical #fantacy #timetravel #magic #judaism #jewish #youngadultliterature
Citation: Locke, K. (2017). The Girl With The Red Balloon. AW Teen.
Image retrieved from: Goodreads.
Recommended For You
Author: Laura Silverman
Description: Recommended For You is an enemies to lovers contemporary novel about a Jewish teen who is a book worm. She loves working at her favorite local bookstore until a new hire joins the team. When the two find out that there will be a huge holiday bonus for whoever makes the most sales, the race is on.
Includes: #femaleprotagonist #contemporary #judaism #jewish #youngadultliterature
Citation: Silverman, L. (2020). Recommended For You. Margaret K. McElderry Books.
Image retrieved from: Goodreads.
Cursed
Author: Karol Ruth Silverstein
Description: Cursed is a contemporary novel about a Jewish teen girl with chronic pain from juvenile arthritis. When during her 9th grade year she gets diagnosed with juvenile arthritis, her parents get divorced, and she has to transfer to a school district where 9th graders are still in middle school instead of high school, she feels cursed. After hiding her disability from her friends and cutting school, she is found out and forced to return back to middle school so that she doesn’t have to repeat 9th grade.
Includes: #femaleprotagonist #contemporary #disability #chronicpain #juvenilearthritis #judaism #jewish #youngadultliterature
Citation: Silverstein, K.R. (2019). Cursed. Charlesbridge.
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Today Tonight Tomorrow
Author: Rachel Lynn Solomon
Description: Today Tonight Tomorrow is an enemies to lovers love story between two Jewish teens that all takes place in one day. The book follows two teens who have been enemies throughout high school, but on the last day of high school the two connect while participating in a senior class game that takes them on an adventure all over the city.
Includes: #femaleprotagonist #contemporary #judaism #jewish #youngadultliterature
Citation: Solomon, R.L. (2020). Today Tonight Tomrrow. Simon Pulse.
Image retrieved from: Goodreads.