It’s that time of year again – when Jews across the world try to explain to their employers that they need to take off a ridiculous amount of time from work because actually Hanukkah isn’t our major holiday. Rosh Hashana – the Jewish New Year, Yom Kippur – the day of atonement or judgement depending on if you’re a glass half full or half empty type of person, and Sukkot – which many people think of as a Fall harvest holiday but also commemorates our ancestors journey through the dessert – are our big block of holidays, and they don’t occur anywhere near December 25. Sorry not sorry.
This year is particularly rough on those of us forced to use our vacation days to celebrate, since most of the holidays fall out in middle of the week. Bright side? Tons of days for reading! Check out some books that either feature the holiday or are good fits for reflection and repentance.
Middle Grade Fiction
Forgiveness and reparation is a common theme for middle grade books, which makes them a great pairing for Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur. REPAIRING THE WORLD by Linda Epstein features a young lady getting over grief, and gives readers a window into Reconstructionist Judaism while also including both Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur. THE MANY MYSTERIES OF THE FINKEL FAMILY by Sarah Kapit has an autistic main character learning important lessons about family secrets during the High holidays and THE DUBIOUS PRANKS OF SHAINDY GOODMAN by Mari Lowe features an Orthodox girl getting it all wrong and then trying to make it all right again on Yom Kippur. For our young poets, THE MAGICAL IMPERFECT by Chris Baron is a novel in verse that features both holidays as does HOW TO FIND WHAT YOU’RE NOT LOOKING FOR by Veera Hiranandani which is told in second person narration.
Finally, one of my favorite books, ANYA AND THE NIGHTINGALE by Sofiya Pasternack, actually begins with Anya building a sukkah – the ceremonial hut Jews build for the holiday of Sukkot. Then she takes off on some madcap adventures with a dragon and the tsar’s fool before everyone can actually sit and enjoy the sukkah.
Find These Books:
Anya and the Nightingale: Bookshop | Amazon| BookishlyJewish Review
The Dubious Pranks of Shaindy Goodman: Bookshop | Amazon | BookishlyJewish Review
How To Find What You’re Not Looking For: Bookshop | Amazon | BookishlyJewish Review
The Magical Imperfect: Bookshop | Amazon | BookishlyJewish Review
The Many Mysteries of the Finkel Family: Amazon | BookishlyJewish Review
Repairing the World: Bookshop | Amazon | BookishlyJewish Review
Young Adult Fiction
If you want the full spectrum of emotion, try reading Leah Scheier’s poignant story of grief and friendship THE LAST WORDS WE SAID, followed by Brianna Shrum’s hilarious KISSING EZRA HOLTZ AND OTHER THINGS I DID FOR SCIENCE which features and incredibly sexy sukkah scene. Then throw in some super hero Jewish witch adventures in Suzanne Walker and Wendy Xu’s sukkot graphic novel MOONCAKES.
For the younger YA set, we have D.J. ROSENBLUM BECOMES THE G.O.A.T. by Abby White in which D.J. sets out to solve the mystery of her cousins death and has a real wallop of a Yom Kippur scene.
Fine These Books:
D.J. Rosenblum Becomes the G.O.A.T.: Amazon | Bookshop | BookishlyJewish Review
Kissing Ezra Holtz, and Other Things I Did For Science: Amazon | Bookshop | BookishlyJewish Review
The Last Words We Said: Amazon | Bookshop | BookishlyJewish Review
Mooncakes: Amazon | Bookshop | BookishlyJewish Review
Adult Fiction:
While it won’t be out until May, I’m going to open The adult section with Dahlia Adler’s Modern Orthodox romance SOON BY YOU because this book is one the years most hotly anticipated Jewish releases. Nope, I haven’t gotten my hands on a copy yet, and I’m totally cheating because per the author it has Passover, Lag La’Omer, and Chanukah but NOT the high holidays, but I’m including it anyway because seriously I want this book and think it would have been fun to read over the holiday. Or next year over the holiday if anyone is reading this post then (people usually do dig these up in a seasonal fashion). I’ll include it in those posts too when we get to the actually included holidays.
Want a romance right now with the appropriately timed holiday? We’ve got you. Check out Home for the Challah Days by Jennifer Wilck for a small town tale of forgiveness and Meredith Schorr’s AS SEEN ON T.V. for a tale of small town disappointment in which a journalist from the big city realizes life is not a Hallmark movie, and LATE NIGHT LOVE by Chayla Wolfberg which features TV writers and a third act grovel scene in the middle of High Holiday services.
Find These Books:
As Seen on T.V.: Bookshop | Amazon | BookishlyJewish Review
Home the Challah Days: Bookshop | Amazon | BookishlyJewish Review
Late Night Love: Bookshop | Amazon | BookishlyJewish Review
Soon By You: Bookshop | Amazon
Picture Books:
There’s actually much more out there for kids than grown ups when it comes to Jewish holiday literature. it would be impossible to go through all the available picture books, but I’d like to point out MIXED UP MOONCAKES by Christina Matula and Erica Lyona illustrated by Tracy Subisak, as a stand out for sukkot literature that talks about both Sukkot and the Mid-Autumn Festival.
Find It: Mixed-Up Mooncakes: Bookshop | Amazon
Nonfiction:
ON REPENTANCE AND REPAIR by Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg is pretty much a must read for anyone looking to learn about forgiveness and repentance from a Jewish lens. Spolier Alert: It’s very different from the Christian view on these topics. FOOD FOR THE SPIRIT by Rabbi Shmuel Herzfeld has lessons gleaned from the high holiday services. Another hot release this year – AS A JEW by Sarah Hurwitz, while not specifically themed on the high holidays, felt really appropriate for holiday reading to me. Within the first ten pages she mentions the epic disconnect of living in a secular world where everyone thinks Hanukkah is our major holiday because it’s Christmas adjacent. It’s a thought provoking read.
Find These Book:
On Repentance and Repair: Bookshop | Amazon | BookishlyJewish Review