There's a Book for That: Jewish American Heritage Month
In May we honor centuries of Jewish contributions to American culture and society for Jewish American Heritage Month. We’ve also included this year’s two Jewish Book Award winners who were celebrated in March: Congratulations to our Penguin Random House authors and please enjoy our selection:
WINNER OF THE NATIONAL JEWISH BOOK AWARD FOR FICTION
A thrilling reimagining of the world of Charles Dickens, as seen through the eyes of the infamous Jacob Fagin, London’s most gifted pickpocket, liar, and rogue. Colorfully written and wickedly funny, Allison Epstein breathes fresh life into the teeming streets of Dickensian London–reclaiming one of Victorian literature’s most notorious villains in an unforgettable new adventure.
From the creator of the internationally acclaimed singer-songwriter project Girls in Trouble, a memoir following her journey from a secular Jewish childhood to becoming a modern queer woman owning ancient teachings and finding her own meanings in them, refracted through feminist interpretations of the lives of Biblical women.
The story of the legendary Random House founder, Bennett Cerf, whose seemingly charmed life at the apogee of the American Century featured a front-row seat on history, an epic cast, and left an enduring cultural legacy. With his best friend and lifelong business partner Donald Klopfer, and other young Jewish entrepreneurs like the Knopfs and Simon & Schuster, Cerf remade the book business. In 1925, he and Klopfer had bought the Modern Library and turned it into an institution, then founded Random House, which eventually became a home to Truman Capote, Ralph Ellison, Ayn Rand, Dr. Seuss, Toni Morrison, James Michener, and many more.
From the first Asian American to be ordained as a rabbi, a stirring account of one woman’s journey from feeling like an outsider to becoming one of the most admired religious leaders in the world.
Angela Buchdahl was born in Seoul, the daughter of a Korean Buddhist mother and Jewish American father. Profoundly spiritual from a young age, by sixteen she felt the first stirrings to become a rabbi. Despite the naysayers and periods of self-doubt—Would a mixed-race woman ever be seen as authentically Jewish or chosen to lead a congregation?—she stayed the course, which took her first to Yale, then to rabbinical school, and finally to the pulpit of one of the largest, most influential congregations in the world.
From the award-winning poet, dark comic microbursts of prose deliver a whole childhood, at the hands of an aspiring middle-class Jewish family whose hard-boiled American values and wit were the forge of a poet’s coming-of-age. Affectionate, deadpan, and exuberant, steeped in Yiddishkeit and Midwestern practicality, Hirsch’s laugh-and-cry performance animates a heartbreaking odyssey, from the cradle to the day he leaves home, armed with sorrow and a huge store of poetic wit.
WINNER OF THE NATIONAL JEWISH BOOK AWARD FOR FOOD WRTING & COOKBOOKS
Take a trip to Arthurs Nosh Bar, the family-owned luncheonette that has garnered international praise for serving Jewish classics with a twist. Named after the co-owner Raegan’s larger-than-life father, Arthur (who loved a good nosh!), the restaurant is regularly lined up around the block for their in-demand OTT breakfasts, brunches, and lunches. Like Arthurs itself, this cookbook is somewhere you’ll want to spend time in. It’s full of big restaurant energy, and the passion and commitment to Jewish cooking leaps off every page, all showcased in a joyful design, with gorgeous photography and playful illustrations. Open this book and you’ll be instantly giggling as you read through the authors’ hilarious stories.
When her own children were young, Nathan published the first version of this book, which covers nine Jewish holidays and includes step-by-step instructions for kids and their families to prepare accessible feasts. Now she updates a beloved go-to resource for her grandchildren’s generation.
Here also are personal essays on how Nathan’s family celebrates the holidays. For young chefs, recipes also specify the ingredients, equipment, and steps suitable for children to do both by themselves or with adults. This charming book is the comprehensive guide to Jewish holidays and celebrations, and it will help make memories that will last a lifetime.
FOR YOUNGER READERS
In celebration of the 100th anniversary of Jewish Book Week, this engaging biography introduces children to the influential librarian and immigrant who originated the event.
Fanny Goldstein immigrated to America from Russia when she was six. She loved the fact that in her new country she could borrow books for free and take part in all kinds of activities at the Saturday Evening Girls Club. Right away, her curiosity attracted the notice of the club’s founder, who was also the head of the Boston Public Library. It wasn’t long before Fanny was hired as the librarian’s assistant, and then at thirty-three, as the first Jewish director of a Boston branch library. And when Fanny noticed how rarely Jewish families checked out books about their own history, she had an idea that would influence libraries and readers for decades to come: She decided to host a week-long party to celebrate Jewish books and culture.
The fascinating lives detailed in this collection–more than thirty exemplary female role models–were chosen by Ruth Bader Ginsburg, or RBG, as she was lovingly known to her many admirers. Working with her friend, journalist Nadine Epstein, RBG selected these trailblazers, all of whom are women and Jewish, who chose not to settle for the rules and beliefs of their time. They did not accept what the world told them they should be. Like RBG, they dreamed big, worked hard, and forged their own paths to become who they deserved to be.
For more information on these titles visit the collection Jewish American Heritage Month
Click here for The Read Down which includes Jewish American Fiction
Click here for this year’s National Jewish Book Awards.
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