Love List: Jewish Lit for All Your Passover Needs

(Actually just fun books with Jewish main characters in different genres)

As an observant Jew, I know the importance of having your books lined up when big holidays are just around the corner, so now’s one of the biggest times of the year Jewish readers look for book recs, and I thought I’d very neatly help with that by sharing some of my faves!

This Rebel Heart by Katherine Locke - this brand-new historical (1956 Hungary) fabulist YA pairs perfectly with Passover, and I just recently wrote about it for Buzzfeed, so I’m just gonna share that blurb here:

The Intimacy Experiment by Rosie Danan - maybe my favorite romance novel with Jewish leads? Don’t let the fact that there’s a rabbi hero throw you; trust me, I was definitely having a hard time wrapping my head around that despite my having multiple friends who are rebbetzins! But anyway, it’s super sexy and super Jewish, like way more than I expected, and just really delightful. And for even more fun and sexy Jewish romance novels, definitely check out Rachel Lynn Solomon’s romances - both her YAs and Adult all have Jewish main characters - and Amanda Eliot’s recent Sadie on a Plate! Or, for a YA rom-com, I adored Marisa Kanter’s What I Like About You.

I know I’ve already talked about it ad nauseam so I’m not even gonna say anything additional about The City Beautiful by Aden Polydoros except that it’s one of my favorite YAs of ever and it’s so incredibly dark and wonderful and so Jewish and has a dybbuk and is set at the 1893 World’s Fair and I don’t think I’ve found a single reader yet who hasn’t loved it.

From Dust, a Flame by Becca Podos - also recently blurbed this contemporary Sapphic YA fantasy for Buzzfeed, so once again gonna just be lazy and share!

The Orchard by David Hopen - this contemporary reimagining of the Talmudic story of Pardes was billed as a Modern Orthodox The Secret History, and while I didn’t quite get that from it, it was definitely the high school experience I’ve read that most closely mirrored my own, despite being set in Miami, which is obviously a very different world from the UES. (Want to try Modern Orthodox YA? Grab yourself a copy of The Last Words We Said by Leah Scheier and peep that kippah on the cover!)

The Dovekeepers by Alice Hoffman - There’s a ton of Jewish historical fiction set during the Holocaust, but I’m always on the lookout for other time periods. This is a personal fave set at Masada, and yes, obviously it’s incredibly tragic and heartbreaking. There’s also a relatively new YA I haven’t read yet that’s about Jerusalem in 70 CE that I must mention called Rebel Daughter by Lori Banov Kaufman. Back to adult historical, I really enjoyed The Fruit of Her Hands by Michelle Cameron, which is set in Medieval Europe.

More of a fantasy reader? I am admittedly waaaay underread in that regard, so the one I can mention that I’ve read and loved (but which is very bleak and requires all the trigger warnings) is Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo, whose Jewish rep I particularly love for including Ladino. I’ll also mention Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik and The Light of the Midnight Stars by Rena Rossner. (The latter has a Jewish YA fantasy as well!)

Of course I can’t talk about Jewish books without mentioning the all-Jewish YA anthology It’s a Whole Spiel, ed. by Katherine Locke and Laura Silverman, to which I contributed a story. Lots of variety in there, perfect for teen readers.

Book shopping for middle grade readers, i.e. around 8-13yo? For your fantasy fans, grab Anya and the Dragon by Sofiya Pasternak; for historical, A Ceiling Made of Eggshells by Gail Carson Levine, and for contemporary, bar/bat mitzvah stories are definitely a growing little subgenre, like Turtle Boy by M. Evan Wolkenstein and It’s My Party and I Don’t Want to Go by Amanda Panitch. And there’s always the Hereville series by Barry Deutsch for your graphic novel lovers!

Oh, and you know who else has a Jewish YA book out? ME. Just making sure you know!

And not that you can get them in time for the holiday, but if you’re interested in upcoming books for all your preorder needs, I’m extremely psyched for Ballad & Dagger by Daniel Jose Older (May 3 - this is the book you’re gonna wanna get for your kids who loved and aged out of Percy Jackson), The Ghosts of Rose Hill by R.M. Romero (May 10), The Life and Crimes of Hoodie Rosen by Isaac Blum (September 13, so treat yourself for Rosh HaShana?), How to Excavate a Heart by Jake Maia Arlow (which I blurbed and loved and comes out on November 1), Eight Nights of Flirting by Hannah Reynolds (releasing in time for Chanukah on October 25), and A Shot at Love by Victoria Lee (January 3, 2023, which is way sooner than it sounds)!