Top Book Picks for Sukkos

We love to enjoy new reading material over Yom Tov – see what new books are available for every age and genre!

With long Sukkos afternoons ahead, prepare for some well-earned reading time. This season brings many reading options for kids and adults alike. Compelling new titles are ready to transport you – to mysterious London mansions, high-stakes international plots, and the quiet dramas unfolding in everyday homes. For every age range and interest, find your next great getaway here.

Young Readers

• Calamity Kalman
  You can purchase here.
  by Yael Mermelstein – Weird things happen when Kalman’s involved, but sometimes even chaos ends in fun. Whether it’s exploding soda cans, spilled blood samples, or stuck mustaches, even the worst disasters can end well. Hilarious and adventurous stories for grades 3-4.
• The Bike-a-Thon Disaster
  You can purchase here.
  by Bashie Lisker – The Berger kids want to use their powers of flight, super-strength, and speed for something good. An escaped tiger is the perfect mission. An imaginative and engaging story for grades 2-3.
• The Case of the Passul Mezuzah
  You can purchase here.
  by Ariella Lowenstein – When Class 4B is banned from the Mishnayos contest after their Rebbi’s mezuzah was tampered with,twins Pinny and Izzy get on the case. When none of their suspicious classmates admit to the crime, the twins start investigating. A fun mystery for girls and boys grades 3-4.

Middle Grade Girls

• The Four Chocolatiers
  You can purchase here.
  by Dassy Greenwald – Henny needs her own money quickly if she’s ever going to keep up with the new trend spreading through her class. Her friends agree to join her scheme, but when she finally hits on the perfect idea for their own business, the four friends can’t agree on much – including who’s in charge. As they race to prepare their very first order, chaos ensues. A fun drama for girls in 4th-6th grade.
• Determination
  You can purchase here.
  by Rochel Yaffe – The true story of a brave and selfless girl growing up in pre-Holocaust Czechoslovakia. From her chessed-filled childhood to her courage and emunah in the camps, and post-war survivors’ home, it’s a captivating and approachable read for history-curious girls in grades 5-6.
• Letterbox by the Lake
  You can purchase here.
  by Deborah Guttentag – In postwar London, Judith and Lottie move into their great uncle’s mansion after their mother goes away to recover from her mental illness. Aunt Lilly and her spoiled daughter treat the sisters like despised maids, and they’re kept away from the one person who cares, their kindly neighbor. When Lottie finds an intriguing locket in an old bomb site and later a matching painting, they know the mysterious girls in the painting must be important. Fans of Hide and Seek will love this exciting and complex historical fiction for girls grades 6-8.

Middle Grade Boys

• Dilemmas: The New Baker’s Dozen #1
  You can purchase here.
  by Sara Weiderblank – The Baker’s Dozen are back, all grown up for a new era. The quints are starting 8th grade, and some things have happened since book #17, but the beloved family is just as rambunctious, hilarious, and adventurous as ever. For boys and girls grades 4-6.
• Rubashkin: The Inside Story
  You can purchase here.
  by Chaya Sara Ben Shachar – The fascinating true story of Sholom Mordechai Rubashkin, the hashgacha he faced, the emunah he taught and practiced, and the achdus he inspired, with added reflections and memories from his wife and children. For grades 5-8.
• The Mysterious Journey (reprint)
  You can purchase here.
  by Moshe Weinberg – When Meir discovers an artist who’s willing to teach him how to paint, he’s fascinated by his work and drawn back to him day after day. But his art lessons become a nightmare when the artist traps him into a mysterious and dangerous journey. A suspenseful historical story for boys grades 4-5. (Slightly scary.)
• Rounding the Bend
  You can purchase here.
  by Chaya Hudie Moskowitz – WWI is raging, and the families of the Old Yishuv of Eretz Yisrael are left with little. Simcha’le loses everything that’s dear to him, until all he has is his search for Hashem’s hidden gifts. But when his new classmate Gavriel becomes set on reminding him about his terrible situation, he must find the strength to speak up. An absorbing and heavy historical drama, packed with information about the Old Yishuv for history-curious boys in grades 4-5.

Teens

• Home Ground
  You can purchase here.
  by Rochel Samet – Back in India, Ashira had everything a girl could want: flexible classes, loving family, and entertaining guests – everything except for friends. When she moves to London to board with her grandparents, the social scene quickly gets complicated. Her cousins ignore her, and her classmates treat her like a tourist attraction, but Ashira stays above it – she’s managed without friends until now. Battling homesickness and a strange environment, she discovers just how much her mother can relate to her loneliness. But when the political climate in India turns dangerous and crisis hits her family, she discovers what the people around her really mean to her.
• Beinoni
  You can purchase here.
  by Mari Lowe (pen name of Bashie Lisker) – Written for and about teens, with depth and world-building that will be appreciated by adults. For a 180-degree change from your usual frum-fiction roster, dive into an imaginative world that challenges assumptions and forces us to define our values. Ezra’s always known he’s the Nivchar, the one kid in his generation who will fight the Gurya on his bar mitzva night to maintain the world’s equilibrium. As he nears his Bar Mitzvah and prepares for the battle of a lifetime, cracks begin appearing in his perfectly stabilized world. As he struggles to adapt to the changes and find his place among the ordinary, the battle that once held his heroic destiny becomes a dreaded burden with a terrible decision. [Full-length review here]
• Priceless
  You can purchase here.
  by Rochel Samet – Desperate to fit in at her new high school, Batsheva embarks on a project to remake her image. The glamour she wants comes with a heavy price, but she’s willing to pay it, no matter what her sisters think. As she gets deeper into the world of glitz, her dreams seem closer than ever when she’s offered the opportunity of a lifetime. But an unexpected new friend holds secrets that unveil a new perspective.

Also released for teens:

• Step Offstage
  by Miri Segal
  You can purchase here.

Contemporary Fiction

• The Past is Never Past
  You can purchase here.
  by Esther Katz Silvers – When Hannah’s mother Pearl visits her Beit Menachem settlement, 90 years of memories join her family’s day-to-day routine. Pearl’s budding relationship with her granddaughter Ilana reopens decades of unanswered questions, and Ilana is determined to close the bridges before it’s too late. As Operation Protective Edge begins, Hannah and her daughters find themselves on the home front, facing questions, doubts, and fears. Relationships are challenged, convictions questioned, and faith wavers. For fans of Rachel Pomerantz, this low-key and delicate novel will draw you in and teach you something new.
• The Maybe Last Year
  You can purchase here.
  by Suri Epstein – Dini Saks is sure she’s dying at 47 and she’s going to make her last year count. She throws herself into finding the perfect causes: something she needs, something she wants, and something she’d like. Suddenly, her staid and predictable life is thrown awry and she’s introduced to a whole new way of operating. Meanwhile, Dini’s BFF Shira is planning for a long-awaited simcha. But it’s nothing like she imagined, and brings her face-to-face with a bitter past. Their friendship is the one thing keeping their heads afloat – until Dini’s new helpline brings her head-to-head with her closest relationship. A humorous and funky read about friendship and fresh starts.
• Landscape Girl
  You can purchase here.
  by Ruti Kepler – Ruti Kepler’s vivid writing brings life, color, and unique insight to the most everyday and mundane scenes. That’s why Landscape Girl, a reflective diary-like novel about motherhood and potential, is so intriguing. The narrator, Batya, becomes instantly relatable and compelling as she shares her raw and unfiltered thoughts about the chaos her daughter Libby brings to her life. Though there’s little drama or action, every chapter brings new perspective to the kaleidoscope of emotion that is motherhood and the isolating experiences of kids like Libby.
• Always There
  You can purchase here.
  by Libby Klein – The fifth in the If Only series follows a familiar cast of characters through COVID and its intense restrictions. Readers have followed the characters rising above overwhelming challenges – but even battles won leave scars and bring new struggles in their wake. For Shulem, whose reputation ignores his genuine return. For Leiby, whose medical history puts him at severe risk. For Yishai, whose grieving mother throws a lifetime of growth into question. For Sheiny, whose selfless overtures are rejected. And so many more. In a detailed and slow-paced read, dozens of vivid characters grapple with deep emotions and emunah. [Best read after “I Lift My Eyes”]
• Picture This
  You can purchase here.
  by Ariella Schiller – Marriage isn’t as simple as newlywed Estee thought it would be. Yonah isn’t living up to her expectations, her in-laws are not her type, and her husband is dragging his feet about her new creative career. At least she has her mother, who’ll drop everything to help her in crises big or small. Why does that irritate her husband? Her mother-in-law, Golda, feels the itch to move on as she faces her newly emptied nest. But once she’s left her fulfilling career and chessed behind, all that’s left are the unfamiliar walls around her. A sensational and contemporary novel about growing up.

More contemporary fiction releases:

• High Rhode (Rhode series #4)
  by Bina Scharf
  You can purchase here.
• Longing and Belonging (Sequel to No One’s Child)
  by Tamar Mor
  You can purchase here.
• Un/Happy
  by Sara Malovitzky
  You can purchase here.
• Wind Chimes 2
  by Penina Paksher
  You can purchase here.
• Walls of Glass
  by Chaya Loberbaum
  You can purchase here.
• Genesis
  by Debbie Strom
  You can purchase here.

Short Stories

• Designer Garden
  You can purchase here.
  by Henye Meyer – An enchanting collection of novelettes and short stories about the social oddities that hold us together. Childhood fairytales meet Abie Rottenberg’s Journeys in imaginative, hilarious, but authentic stories where anything can happen. Whether it’s rags to riches or the devil himself, each story hides powerful ideas and social commentary behind a world of color, miracles, and happily ever after.
  My favorites: “Five Silver Coins”, a satisfying story about a pauper’s costly trade with a wealthy Kohen, and “We Help Make it Happen”, an otherworldly story about a mother’s daring trade to ensure her son’s respectable future.
• Double Take
  You can purchase here.
  by Rochel Samet – A collection of paired stories about our closest relationships, the people hurt, wronged, or upset – and the people on the other side with stories of their own. They’re stories about friends, coworkers, and families who’ve left much unsaid. Everyday disagreements take on new life once both sides are laid side by side, transformed into fascinating case studies of human nature.

Mystery and Thriller

• The Guy Next Door
  You can purchase here.
  by Ruthie Pearlman – When a wealthy non-Jewish Russian bachelor purchases Nachman’s neighbor’s home in a hurry – a shabby home on a cloistered frum block – Nachman convinces himself there’s nothing suspicious about that. But when he starts getting threatening messages and his son Avi goes missing, it’s too much to ignore. When it turns out they’ve been looking at the mystery from the wrong direction, it’s no time before the Feld family jumps onboard as a team of international agents. An engaging and fast-paced mystery-turned-thriller with biting humor and twisting action to keep you on your toes.
• Execution of Justice
  You can purchase here.
  by Yonah Sapir – The action of Agent for Hire, repackaged in a tight mystery that starts with a murder and ends with a surprise revelation and grand showdown. A man is murdered in an Italian amusement park, and an ambitious detective has one question to answer: which of his four suspects is the murderer? But as he begins collecting testimony, he discovers that nothing is as it seems. As the case slowly grinds its gears, the suspects languish in stifling cells – but ex-Mossad suspect Yoav Feld is determined to bring the truth to light before it’s too late. [Standalone novel] [Full-length review here]

More thriller releases:

• Final Reckoning
  by Raz Lev Ari
  You can purchase here.
• Death Trap
  by Chavi Bar
• Dual Deception
  by Avi Zohar
  You can purchase here.
• Vanished
  by Rochel Gurkow
  You can purchase here.

Nonfiction

• Chessed Under Fire: As told by Shai Graucher
  You can purchase here.
  by Nachman Seltzer – The stories behind the videos, and the man behind the chessed.
• Flashes of Inspiration
  You can purchase here.
  by Rabbi Shlomo Landau

Bio

• Rav Mattisyahu
  You can purchase here.
  by Avrohom Birnbaum
• I’m Not Alone
  You can purchase here.
  by Riva Pomerantz – TA compelling memoir that brings new style and voice to a well-trodden genre. Told through Cyla Zobin’s spirited voice, the narrative pulls readers directly into her world, from Soviet Russia to distant shores. Like hearing a story from your very own grandmother, each episode is filled with reflection and timeless wisdom earned through sacrifice and faith. [Full-length review here]
• Ronnie Greenwald
  You can purchase here.
  by Suri Cohen
• In the Rebbe’s Room: The Imrei Chaim of Vizhnitz
  You can purchase here.
  by Yisroel Besser