Top New Jewish Book Picks for Pesach

With a three-day Yom Tov ahead, it’s a great time for a good read. Here’s our guide to the latest frum releases for every age range.

From intriguing novels to thought-provoking stories, this season’s lineup of new releases has a world of imagination waiting to whisk you away when you’ve finally sat down on that couch. While there’s a plethora of new fiction titles out for your choosing, there are less options for middle-grades readers – see this winter’s releases for more reading ideas.

KIDS

• Baylee’s Yellow Party
  You can purchase here.
  by Faygie Holt – Baylee’s favorite color is yellow, and everything at her party has to match. Can she find a way for her mismatched friends to join the party? A simple and engaging story for first graders.
• The Tooth Fairy
  You can purchase here.
  by Leah Cypess – Miriam is desperate to get her tooth to fall out so she could find out the truth of what really happens… but then things get confusing. A funny and imaginative story for grades 2-3 (published through a secular publisher by a frum author, available on Amazon)
• Hold on Tight
  You can purchase here.
  by Rochel Burstyn – Ashi just met his father for the first time, and has more questions than anyone can answer. But then he moves into a bewildering new house full of secrets left by a pair of missing siblings. When he meets Kevin, a motorbike with a mind of its own, no one quite believes him that a bike can fly. But what if Kevin knows what he’s doing? A hilarious, zany, and mysterious worldwide adventure for grades 4-7.
  [Read our conversation with Rochel Burstyn here]
• 23 Under 1 Roof #13: A Storm of Surprises
  You can purchase here.
  by R. Rappaport – The newest adventures of the chaotic and beloved family. Grades 4-6.

Not many options for kids this year – look back at Chanukah’s new releases for 12 more excellent reads for kids of all ages.

Editor’s Pick: If you liked previous editions of Zeidy’s Jokes, your kids will also love Zeidy’s Jokes: Pesach Edition, for lots of family fun all Pesach long.

YOUNG ADULT

• Mirror Effect
  You can purchase here.
  by Rochel Braverman – Meira’s family has moved close to her boarding school, Shaarei Shoshana, but she’s determined to keep them away from her friends. Mali and Lali’s grandmother’s necklace has gotten them a winning essay, but it’s also pulled them apart and invited unwanted eyes. The adventures of Shaarei Shoshana take a mysterious twist as the girls navigate a suspicious claim, evade followers, and discover what family truly means. A fun and suspenseful teen drama.
• Itzik
  You can purchase here.
  by Chavy Helfgott – As his family’s hopes for New York quickly fade, Itzik arranges for their fresh start among the gold-hunters in California. The journey through Panama is full of obstacles, and his parents and siblings face fears, traumas, and the unknown. But after caring for his family for so long, he finds there’s more he wants to do. Between the crowded streets of New York, a danger-filled journey through Panama’s rainforest, and backstabbing in the gold mines, Itzik is a fascinating, detailed, and colorful coming-of-age historical novel for grades 6-9. Originally serialized in the Bina, only available on Amazon.
• Wavelengths
  You can purchase here.
  by Adina Kagan – Atara is holding down the fort at her rambunctious home while her mother recovers from a stroke. No one around her seems to get it, but she can manage on her own just fine. But as her life starts to unravel, she finds that she’s not as alone out on her island. A touching teen drama about friendship and control.

Also released for teens: Ice Storms by Chaya Beer

CONTEMPORARY FICTION

• Power Tools
  You can purchase here.
  by Esty Heller – When a construction loan gets between sisters Riva and Lani, their once inseparable relationship unravels. A spreading bitterness soon infiltrates their marriages, work lives, and worst of all, their children. Fans of Esty Heller will recognize the familiar scenes and everyday banter; what’s new is the slower and more serious tone as Power Tools hones in on the barriers we erect between ourselves. From a rotten work culture to perplexing classroom bullying, the most familiar scenes hit us hardest – some of the passive-aggressive dialogue and thick tension will have you on the edge of your seat, willing it to stop. Fast-paced and suspenseful, Power Tools is a powerful portrayal of the complex relationships that enmesh themselves in the fabric of our lives.
• Breaking Open
  You can purchase here.
  by Adina Edelman – Plummeting from the height of excitement to the depths of despair, Zehava is left floundering after a broken engagement, with no idea of what comes next and what to do with the feelings roiling within her. What follows is a raw and immersive journey through healing and self-discovery. Strong emotion and subtle growth are masterfully balanced with humor and banter to form a slow-paced yet compelling read. As Zehava deepens her self-knowledge, grows her confidence, and takes inspiration from those around her, she comes to live with her grief and push beyond it. Breaking Open is a debut novel by the editor of some of your favorite titles from Israel Bookshop. True to her background, Breaking Open shines for its sentences, engaging pace, and ruthlessly honest exploration of the mess within us.
• Land of the Unfree
  You can purchase here.
  by Michal Boune – Fans of Ruti Kepler will be intrigued by a completely unique and nuanced drama about influence, forgiveness, and healing. Away from the bustle of the city, an enclosed farming community is led by a man who craves control, manipulating his followers into a religion centered around their “Abba”. While the rest sacrifice for their leader, only his son Yair has escaped his father’s clutches. When Noam catches the wind of the greatest scoop of his journalism career, he embarks on an exposé that will threaten his marriage and begin the community’s unraveling. When their only stability has fallen away, can traumatized families rebuild their lives? (Translated)
• House of Hope
  You can purchase here.
  by Menucha Chana Levin – A book about life, from the delicate pen of a beloved author. Adina and Dovid are waiting for their dreams to come true – and so are their cousins, friends, learning partners, and siblings. Everyone seems to need something, and they hope their long-awaited trip to Eretz Yisrael holds the answers. A light, expansive, and detailed tale of hope and friendship.

More contemporary fiction releases: A”H by Devorah Rand • Hit and Run by Lea Smilanski • Wind Chimes 1 by Pnina Paksher – sequel to the Silent Mobiles duology.

SHORT STORIES

• On Paper
  You can purchase here.
  by Rivka Streicher – A short story collection featuring imaginative stories about contemporary characters discovering themselves and finding unexpected connection. The stories are compelling and atmospheric and feature unique settings that transport the reader on a journey through the soul. My favorites: “Scion”, an intriguing story about a new father coming to terms with his hidden lineage • “On Paper”, an immersive story about a fake divorce and an off-the-grid reassessment • “Veiled Truth”, an atmospheric story about a dance that encapsulates a forgotten world and bridges generations.
• House of Cards
  You can purchase here.
  by Chani Spira – Light and familiar stories about family and community that hold up a mirror to our everyday and push us to look beyond the surface. My favorites: “Lily”, about a young girl and her autistic twin sister in the ‘60’s, and “Forgotten Facets”, about a young man stuck in the emotional desert of his childhood. Both feature the world of survivors, stories about the memory and trauma of the past shaping the inner worlds of our grandparents and passing on for generations.

THRILLER

• Heart of Ice
  You can purchase here.
  by M. Kenan – A new historical thriller brings the sophisticated suspense of Wildlands to the frozen Finnish-Soviet border, with a cast of Khazar-style intriguing and nuanced characters pushing down barriers at the ends of the world. A teen wakes up in a cold institution with no memory and only a binder of information with which to rebuild his mind and fulfill a mission. Can a missing past be disentangled from a vibrant future? Far from a last-chapter reveal, the fast-paced story loops through an international plot, ignored kidnapping, and isolated holocaust survivors, drawing the reader into a puzzle of subtly planted clues right along with the bewildered characters. (Translated)
• Last One Standing
  You can purchase here.
  by Menucha Ceitlin – An English-first Agent for Hire (Yonah Sapir) takeoff, with all of the high-speed action and behind-the-agent humanity that teen boys have come to love. The Golans are a family of warriors, complete with the trauma, absences, memories, and secrets that come with a life of service. When Lior’s former victim lures him into a web of danger and alliances to protect his family, his brothers step up. There are befuddling connections and suspicious cover-ups, but the answers lie within the family.
• Human Shield 1 and 2
  You can purchase here.
  by Yonah Sapir – In the newest two-part Agent for Hire miniseries, Eyal has been cast out of the Israeli security establishment and is on the run. On the end of the world on a private investigative job, he’s sucked into a web of mind-bending deceit with no agency behind him and no one to trust. But as he wades into the depths of treachery, the secrets within can tear down shadows within his own life – but not without consequence. Tense, high-speed action meets agonizing dilemmas for a heart-stopping read. (Translated)
• Lethal Blow
  You can purchase here.
  by Yisroel Feller – The Israeli Prime Minister is losing his family as he fights to hold on to political power. Rav Velvel Scheinerman’s grandfather’s diary threatens to upend his influential family’s reputation. His grandson Lipa chafes against his renowned lineage, blind to the decades of mirrored struggles his relatives have faced for generations. When he’s caught in the crosshairs of a terrorist plot, the families are finally forced to look within. Part dynastic family drama, part classic thriller, and part cynical commentary on the frum political scene, Lethal Blow is an intriguing and action-packed start to a new thriller series. (Translated)

HISTORICAL FICTION

• Sisters of the Snow
  You can purchase here.
  by Ruti Tanenwald – A familiar post-war story is wrapped in the colorful and human writing of Ruti Tanenbaum, author of Serina and Once a Bride. A young girl survives the war in a Swiss sanatorium, and her father’s on the way to retrieve her. But then there’s a terrible accident and a desperate adoption, and she spends her childhood with an Austrian baron who wishes Hitler had completed his plans and a beloved ‘sister’ eager to protect her. When she finally has a chance to learn about her heritage, she reluctantly follows her excited sister further into Judaism. But when their estranged Aryan grandmother meets her end, a once-simple adoption becomes far more complex. (Translated)

NONFICTION

• Everyone’s Menahel: The Legacy of Rabbi Yosef Chaim Klein
  You can purchase here.
  by Rabbi Akiva Fox (biography)
• Miracles, Missles, and Mesiraas Nefesh
  You can purchase here.
  by Nachman Seltzer (current events/inspiration) – Following Angels in Orange’s stories of one horrific day at the start of a long war, Nachman Seltzer and Yisroel Katzover of The Insider bring an account of Israel’s astonishing triumphs against its enemies as well as heroic stories of hostages, soldiers, grieving families, and volunteers. Part inspirational stories, part political and military episodes that will be entered into the pages of history.
  [Read our 2023 conversation with Nachman Seltzer here]
• One for the Books
  You can purchase here.
  by Yechiel Spero (short stories)
• Tanzania, Timber, and Torah
  You can purchase here.
  by Ayalah Caspi (memoir)