As the school year winds down and you prepare to set your students up for a summer of learning and adventure with great summer reads, our collection of books exploring Jewish history and featuring diverse Jewish characters is a great place to start! Whether building a formal summer reading list or just passing along some recommendations, you will find books to captivate readers and spark their curiosity at every grade level. And because educators deserve to enjoy wonderful summer reading too, scroll to the bottom for picks you can enjoy on your own, beyond the classroom.
Lower Elementary
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This vibrantly illustrated picture book tells the story of Moses and Mohammad, two boys of different faiths, who bring their families together through friendship and shared experiences.
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A picture book that explores the experiences of a young girl navigating multiple identities within her family and community.
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Follow the ancient Bene Israel community as they are forced to flee Israel to find a new home in India.
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Follow Leah, an Indian Jew, as she travels with her close-knit community in Cochin, India, to move to the newly formed country of Israel.
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This story about blending families and building connections helps students explore problem-solving and appreciation for different kinds of relationships.
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Inspired by a true story, this is a tale of a community that banded together to spread light when the window of a Jewish home is smashed in the middle of the night.
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Read this heartwarming exploration of the beauty of Shabbat, the Jewish sabbath, and the wonderfully diverse fabric of Jewish life and experience it brings to different people.
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Chik Chak Shabbat introduces K-2 readers to Shabbat traditions through a story about neighbors, kindness, and shared cultures within a community.
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Explore the Jewish tradition of a naming ceremony through this story about family and community.
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A picture book that follows a young Jewish Cuban girl as she helps her aunt adjust to a new home and navigates questions of identity, belonging, and change.
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Young readers will learn about how classmates and community come together to fight intolerance when a synagogue is vandalized in this richly illustrated picture book that sings with hope.
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A picture book that introduces students to klezmer music and its roots in Eastern European Jewish culture through a lively, story-driven narrative.
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Interactive Activity
Based on real-life stories, this digital book introduces students to survivors of traumatic events and emphasizes how individuals use the power of art and creativity to build resilience. Narration is provided for young, emerging readers to listen and follow along.
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Experience this retelling of a folktale with Jewish and Arab origins, that teaches us that differences are not always causes for conflict, and friendship can overcome any obstacle.
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Explore how a Jewish approach to charity, expressed through small acts of giving, can strengthen community and make a meaningful impact.
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On a mission to find a missing a favorite shabbat treat, babka, two brothers search their neighborhood and discover kindness, tradition, and community along the way.
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A story of choices, and belonging, Yosef’s Dream blends dream imagery and history to tell of a young Ethiopian Jewish boy’s journey to Israel, the land of his ancestors.
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Introduce students to the traditions of Shabbat while highlighting Jewish diversity and the many ways Shabbat can be observed.
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In this picture book, students follow a young boy’s journey from Yemen to Jerusalem and learn how memories can travel with us wherever we go.
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The true story of how a nearly 100-year-old synagogue and its elderly congregation found new life, hope, and community in New Orleans.
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In 16th-century Portugal, even Doña Gracia’s Jewish name was a secret. But she and her merchant husband helped other secret Jews, by persuading the king to protect them during the Inquisition.
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Readers will laugh along as, instead of battling enemies, these golems tackle an even stronger foe: Hebrew lessons!
Upper Elementary
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Discover the story of Osnat, a 16th-century Jewish Torah scholar who challenged expectations and became the world’s first female rabbi.
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This beloved Middle Eastern folktale introduces students to themes of generosity and empathy through a story of brotherly love.
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A children’s picture book biography that introduces Emma Lazarus and explores the origins and meaning of her poem “The New Colossus.”
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A picture book that tells the true story of a friendship between a Jewish musician and a Black scientist, highlighting collaboration across cultural and racial differences.
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A picture book that traces a Jewish family’s history through a handmade quilt passed down from Eastern Europe to the United States.
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Set in a Jewish village in Uganda, this picture book introduces K-5 students to the meaning of the holiday of Sukkot through a story of teamwork, kindness, and resilience.
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Enjoy the story of an unexpected friendship between an elderly Jewish woman and a young African-American boy, highlighting shared experiences of hardship, resilience, and connection across cultures.
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Enjoy this lyrically told, exquisitely illustrated picture book biography of influential Jewish artist and activist, Ben Shahn.
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Discover the tale of two boys living in the Jewish Quarter and the Muslim Quarter of Jerusalem, who develop an unexpected friendship.
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Explore how ancient history, archaeology, and science intersect in this graphic novel about the revival of a 2,000-year-old Judaen date palm tree in modern day Israel.
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Read about the true story of one man’s mission to preserve Yiddish books; Yiddish was the language of many European Jews that nearly disappeared after the Holocaust.
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In a richly illustrated picture book, discover the story of Jewish activist, Henrietta Szold, whose humanitarian work transformed lives in the U.S. and Israel.
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The true story of the lifelong friendship between President Harry Truman and salesman Eddie Jacobson and its impact on the founding of Israel. This 48-page early chapter book biography for ages 6-8 shows the importance of friendship even in the face of difficulties.
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Over the course of his lifetime, Judah gave away more money than any other American of his time.
But he was not famous. And that's just the way he wanted it.
Middle School
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Dive into this story of a young girl traveling to visit her family in Israel in the 1980s and the surprises she faces.
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Take middle school readers through a story of hope as an adopted, pre-Bat Mitzvah girl searches for her biological family and finds connections to the past in the process.
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Follow four generations of Sephardic Jewish girls from the same family across centuries and continents as they navigate displacement, resilience, and the search to belong.
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In this complex and compelling mystery, older middle school readers will explores serious themes – the Holocaust, trauma, mental health, and poverty – with nuance, a lightness of touch, and a cast of compelling young characters.
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A suspenseful novel that explores friendship, community, grief, and healing through the lens of Jewish tradition.
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In the coming-of-age novel, The Six Day War, students gain insight into this pivotal moment in Israel's history and explore resilience and moral courage through the eyes of a young boy.
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With unexpected twists and compelling characters, Don’t Feed the Lion explores how young people grapple with antisemitism, prejudice, allyship, and the courage to speak up.
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Told in alternating perspectives among three girls--Valentina and Oksana in 1986 and Rifka in 1941--this story shows that hatred, intolerance, and oppression are no match for the power of true friendship.
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The first book in a duology, Max in the House of Spies is a thought-provoking World War II story as only acclaimed storyteller Adam Gidwitz can tell it—fast-paced and hilarious, with a dash of magic and a lot of heart.
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Ripped Away is based on real historical events, including the Ripper crimes, the inquests, and the accusations against immigrants.
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Link, Michael, and Dana live in a quiet town. But it's woken up very quickly when someone sneaks into school and vandalizes it with a swastika. With Linked, Gordon Korman, the author of the acclaimed novel Restart, poses a mystery for all readers where the who did it? isn't nearly as important as the why?
High School
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This graphic novel, inspired by a true story, explores injustice during World War II and how it brought together two families, one of Jewish immigrants and the other of Japanese Americans.
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Discover the history, faith, and culture that have shaped the modern Jewish world, understanding what it means to be Jewish and examining the immense contributions of Jewish people to the arts and sciences.
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Inspired by a true story, People of the Book is a novel of sweeping historical grandeur and intimate emotional intensity by an acclaimed and beloved author.
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Set against the backdrop of World War II and the creation of the state of Israel, The Chosen is a poignant novel about transformation and tradition, growing up and growing wise, and finding yourself—even if it might mean disappointing those you love.
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The first book in a duology, Max in the House of Spies is a thought-provoking World War II story as only acclaimed storyteller Adam Gidwitz can tell it—fast-paced and hilarious, with a dash of magic and a lot of heart.
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Her name is Alicia. She was thirteen when she began saving the lives of people she did not know—while fleeing the Nazis through war-ravaged Poland.
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Steeped in history and the experiences of immigrant families, especially Jewish families, each carefully-chosen word of this magical verse novel casts a spell.
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Written by a respected Hebrew scholar, cultural historian, noted author, and rabbi, A Short History of the Jewish People carefully describes the story of a people as varied as the many cultures in which they have lived.
Picks for Educators
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A nonfiction book that examines contemporary antisemitism and outlines approaches for recognizing and responding to it in modern society.
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With antisemitism raging worldwide, Hurwitz’s defiant account of reclaiming the Jewish story and learning to live as a Jew, without apology, has never been timelier or more necessary.
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This collection of strategies aims to equip educators to help students navigate civic engagement in polarized times.
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Set in London of the 1660s and of the early twenty-first century, The Weight of Ink is the interwoven tale of two women of remarkable intellect: Ester Velasquez, an emigrant from Amsterdam who is permitted to scribe for a blind rabbi, just before the plague hits the city; and Helen Watt, an ailing historian with a love of Jewish history.
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The Golem of Brooklyn is an epic romp through Jewish history and the American present that wrestles with the deepest questions of our humanity—the conflicts between faith and skepticism, tribalism and interdependence, and vengeance and healing.
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Baddiel argues that those who think of themselves as on the right side of history have often ignored the history of anti-Semitism. He outlines why and how, in a time of intensely heightened awareness of minorities, Jews don’t count as a real minority: and why they should.
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Written by a respected Hebrew scholar, cultural historian, noted author, and rabbi, A Short History of the Jewish People carefully describes the story of a people as varied as the many cultures in which they have lived.
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The Chosen provides a lens through which to examine some of the main events and movements of America in the twentieth century—from immigration restriction and the Great Depression to the dropping of the atomic bomb and the launching of Sputnik, from the Cold War to the triumph of the market ethos.