Every year, the Association of Jewish Libraries Fiction Award committee scours the book world for books with significant Jewish content. They look for extra-ordinary writing, accurate depictions of Jewish life in all its diversity, and contributions to the field of Jewish literature. This month I am excited to speak with Rena Citrin about the lastest winners of this award.

See the 2025 press release.

Winner: Songs for the Brokenhearted by Ayelet Tsabari (Random House, an imprint of Penguin Random House LLC)

Honor: The Hebrew Teacher by Maya Arad, translated by Jessica Cohen (New Vessel Press)

Honor: Displaced Persons: Stories by Joan Leegant (New American Press)

Honor: Rules for Ghosting by Shelly Jay Shore (Dell, an imprint of Penguin Random House LLC)

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Support the author, AJL, and independent book stores by buying their book here.

Thanks to:

• The Association of Jewish Libraries
• Heidi Rabinowitz, podcast mentor
• Dee Yan Key for use of their Freylekh (downloaded from https://freemusicarchive.org/home)
• Donate to support the podcast

If you enjoyed this podcast, you might also like the AJL sister podcast, The Book of Life, a podcast about Jewish kidlit, mostly.

When the Buddhist monk Xuanzang returned to China from India, bringing back precious Buddhist texts, he thought his traveling days were over. But then he finds an intriguing scrap with writing that he does not recognize. Finally connecting it with the Jewish community in Kaifeng he is implored by the community to go on another journey – this time even further west through Persia and Israel to find and bring back a teacher for the Kaifeng Jews. He is joined by his disciples, the magiFc Monkey and 8 rules Pigsy. Eventually a Jewish man known as Bear acts as a guide and interpreter as they encounter Jewish sages from the Talmud and Midrash. Join me for a conversation with Joel Bigman about this delightful mix of Chinese and Jewish folklore and wisdom  in his book, The Second Journey.

Follow along with the transcript.

Connect with him on Facebook.

Support the author, AJL, and independent book stores by buying their book here.

Thanks to:

• The Association of Jewish Libraries
• Heidi Rabinowitz, podcast mentor
• Dee Yan Key for use of their Freylekh (downloaded from https://freemusicarchive.org/home)
• Donate to support the podcast
•  

If you enjoyed this podcast, you might also like the AJL sister podcast, The Book of Life, a podcast about Jewish kidlit, mostly.

After her town is carpeted with antisemitic leaflets, ceramic artist Faye finds refuge in her studio and before she knows it, her hands have created the figure of a man. She enscribes all her wishes into the clay and buries it under her rose bushes. The next day she runs into a handsome stranger, knocking him unconscious and giving him amnesia. As she gets to know him, he seems more and more like the man of her dreams. But is he just too good to be true? Or could he be a golem that she created and who just might become dangerous? 

Find Jean on her website.

Follow along with the transcript.

Support the author, AJL, and independent book stores by buying their book here.

Thanks to:

• The Association of Jewish Libraries
• Heidi Rabinowitz, podcast mentor
• Dee Yan Key for use of their Freylekh (downloaded from https://freemusicarchive.org/home)
• Donate to support the podcast

If you enjoyed this podcast, you might also like the AJL sister podcast, The Book of Life, a podcast about Jewish kidlit, mostly.

For 100 years the Rosenfelds have been trapped in a time bubble in their tenement apartment on the lower East Side of New York. They can only catch glimpes of the outside world which has no idea that they are there. Until one day, Esther Luna, who works in the building which has now been turned into the Tenement Museum see a girl in the window who smiles and waves at her.

After exploring every reasonable explanation, Esther turns to Rabbi Meyer Poppers, a Jewish magician. While he finds the source of the curse, figuring out how to lift it is another matter entirely. And lifting it without killing the Rosenfelds will be even trickier. 

Follow along with the transcript.

Check out other works by Mickey Dubrow.

Support the author, AJL, and independent book stores by buying their book here.

Thanks to:

• The Association of Jewish Libraries
• Heidi Rabinowitz, podcast mentor
• Dee Yan Key for use of their Freylekh (downloaded from https://freemusicarchive.org/home)
• Donate to support the podcast

If you enjoyed this podcast, you might also like the AJL sister podcast, The Book of Life, a podcast about Jewish kidlit, mostly.

Luna Levi may have graduated high school, but she is far from any kind of path to success. She works part time at a motel in Ottowa to help support her family since neither parent seem capable of it. Luna's mother has dreams of being a theater star and takes off for weeks at a time to perform in regional productions and her father, suffering from PTSD after serving in the Israel army, lives on the streets. 

Luna watches her mother try one "get rich quick" scheme after another; each one bring the family further into debt. Her brother Ronen is an eternal optimist who tries to encourage her mother in her various ventures. It is Luna's desperate wish is to lead a responsible life; but will she be able to find her own path? or will she spiral into her mother's schemes?

Follow along with the transcript and check our Gila's website.

Support the author, AJL, and independent book stores by buying their book here.

Thanks to:

• The Association of Jewish Libraries
• Heidi Rabinowitz, podcast mentor
• Dee Yan Key for use of their Freylekh (downloaded from https://freemusicarchive.org/home)
• Donate to support the podcast

If you enjoyed this podcast, you might also like the AJL sister podcast, The Book of Life, a podcast about Jewish kidlit, mostly.

Sharon is surrounded by secrets. It is 1968 and she has been recruited to clandestinely bring Israel sailors, soldiers, and engineers to the French port of Cherbourg. She needs to help support them until the last 5 ships which were promised to Israel were fully constructed. Since France has instituted an embargo against Israel, the men would have to smuggle to ships out for the Israeli Navy. On a smaller scale, she learned that her supervisor Daniel had been taken out of Israel as a young child as part of the youth aliyah program. Although Daniel only had thoughts of Israel's future, Sharon became obsessed with learning about his past. The information Sharon discovers could have major consequences on Daniel's life. Join me for a conversation with Talia Carner about her latest book,  The Boy with the Star Tattoo.

Learn more about Talia on her website.

Follow along with the transcript.

Support the author, AJL, and independent book stores by buying their book here.

Thanks to:

• The Association of Jewish Libraries
• Heidi Rabinowitz, podcast mentor
• Dee Yan Key for use of their Freylekh (downloaded from https://freemusicarchive.org/home)
• Donate to support the podcast

If you enjoyed this podcast, you might also like the AJL sister podcast, The Book of Life, a podcast about Jewish kidlit, mostly.

Genevra Ex is a best-selling mystery author with a major quirk. Instead of inventing new characters, she hires a real-life person to be the main character of her book. The latest hire is a young woman named Rory. After an intensive three months of interviewing, Genevra gifts Rory with a ticket on the newly refurbish Orient Express. After boarding the train, Rory is shocked to find her brother Max, her best friend Caroline, and her ex-fiance Nate. She also finds a manuscript of Genevra's latest novel and a letter with secrets that rock Rory's life. although the trip takes them through gorgeous Italian country-side, tension among the passengers magnifies until it explodes into murder.

Follow along with the transcript.

Connect with Jaclyn through her website.

Support the author, AJL, and independent book stores by buying their book here.

Thanks to:

• The Association of Jewish Libraries
• Heidi Rabinowitz, podcast mentor
• Dee Yan Key for use of their Freylekh (downloaded from https://freemusicarchive.org/home)
• Donate to support the podcast

If you enjoyed this podcast, you might also like the AJL sister podcast, The Book of Life, a podcast about Jewish kidlit, mostly.

Heidi Rabinowitz and I both saw a cartoon from the New Yorker in which one spouse was trying to move a pile of tottering books off the other spouses night-stand. The other spouse yelled in alarm (something like) "don't move those - they are my emotional support books!" We were inspired to ask our fellow attendees at the 2024 Association of Jewish Libraries conference to speak about their emotional support books!

Follow along with the transcript.

Enter the drawing for your own personal emotional support book bag! Share a review on social media (such as Facebook or Instagram) or post a review on your podcast platform (such as  Apple podcasts, Spotify,  Amazon, etc.) Take a screen shot of the review and email it to [email protected] by Oct. 24 2024 (the ultimate Jewish reading holiday, Simchat Torah)

If you can't wait for the drawing or you want to buy one for your friends and family you can get one (or many) at our Zazzle shop.

OUR EMOTIONAL SUPPORT BOOKS

Sheryl Stahl: He, She, and It by Marge Piercy

Heidi Rabinowitz: When the Angels Left the Old Country by Sacha Lamb

Heidi Rabinowitz: Joyful Song: A Naming Story by Lesléa Newman 

Dara Henry: On All Other Nights: A Passover Celebration in 14 Stories ed. by Chris Baron, Joshua Levy, and Naomi Milliner

A.R. Vishny: Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik 

David Schlitt: Teitelbaum's Window by Wallace Markfield 

Sally Weiner Grotta: Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl 

Sally Weiner Grotta: The Golden Dreidel by Ellen Kushner 

Lies Meerboom: The Promise by Chaim Potok 

Aden Polydoros: A Far Wilder Magic by Allison Saft 

Rifka Yerushalmi: What a Beautiful Morning by Arthur A. Levine

Sidura Ludwig: Starry Sally J. Freedman as Herself by Judy Blume 

Elysa Keshen: All Rivers Run to the Sea by Elie Wiesel 

Susan Dubin: Sisters at Sinai by Jill Hammer and other books about women in the Bible

Richard Ho: Happy Hanukkah, Curious George by H.A. Rey 

Shoshana Traum: The Beekeeper's Apprentice by Laurie R. King 

Shoshana Traum: Jewish Futures: Stories from the World's Oldest Diaspora by Michael A. Burstein 

Henry Woodall: Maimonides' Commentary on the Mishnah 

Dina Herbert: The Baby-Sitters Club by Ann. M. Martin 

Olga Potap: the works of Sholem Aleichem 

Daniel Scheide: the works of William Morris 

Jane Rothstein: All-of-a-Kind Family by Sydney Taylor 

Sally Stieglitz: Sandwich by Catherine Newman 

Michal Babay: the works of Harlan Coban 

Xandra O'Neill: Golemcrafters by Emi Watanabe Cohen 

Bette Stahl: Jewish Cookbooks

David Stahl: A Torah Commentary for Our Times by Harvey J. Fields

Thanks to:

• The Association of Jewish Libraries
• Heidi Rabinowitz, podcast mentor
• Dee Yan Key for use of their Freylekh (downloaded from https://freemusicarchive.org/home)
• Donate to support the podcast

If you enjoyed this podcast, you might also like the AJL sister podcast, The Book of Life, a podcast about Jewish kidlit, mostly.

Whether you play the lottery or not, I think that all of us dream about what we would do if we won a major jackpot. This is what happened to three out of the four Jacobson siblings. Matthew, Laura, Sophie, and Noah were gathered to pack up the family summer house on Long Beach Island, when Noah announced he was going out and would be buying a lottery ticket. Laura and Sophie jumped to go in on the tickets, while Matthew flatly refused. They were all completely shocked to find that one of their tickets was a winner. The three winning siblings quickly set about spending the money. They found that becoming overnight millionaires brought more complications into their lives than they possibly could have projected. Join me for a conversation with Ellyssa Friedland about her latest work, Jackpot Summer.

Follow along with the transcript. Check out her website.

Support the author, AJL, and independent book stores by buying their book here.

Thanks to:

• The Association of Jewish Libraries
• Heidi Rabinowitz, podcast mentor
• Dee Yan Key for use of their Freylekh (downloaded from https://freemusicarchive.org/home)
• Donate to support the podcast
•  

If you enjoyed this podcast, you might also like the AJL sister podcast, The Book of Life, a podcast about Jewish kidlit, mostly.

Eve is only looking for some shelter from the rain, but what she finds will change her work, her heart, and her life. In a small cave in the Scottish highlands, Eve finds a journal written in as a series of letters from a woman named Shira to her lover Benjamin. Eve realized that the letters contain secrets about the family of her new love Mac. What secrets are revealed and can Eve and Mac's love survive? Join me for a conversation with Lynne Golodner about her latest book, Cave of Secrets. 

Find the author at her website, her substack, and her social media Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn

Follow along with the transcript.

Support the author, AJL, and independent book stores by buying their book here.

Thanks to:

• The Association of Jewish Libraries
• Heidi Rabinowitz, podcast mentor
• Dee Yan Key for use of their Freylekh (downloaded from https://freemusicarchive.org/home)
• Donate to support the podcast

If you enjoyed this podcast, you might also like the AJL sister podcast, The Book of Life, a podcast about Jewish kidlit, mostly.