Fan­ny’s Big Idea: How Jew­ish Book Week was Born by Richard Michelson

“This col­or­ful­ly and sen­si­tive­ly illus­trat­ed book teach­es not only about Fan­ny’s expe­ri­ences, but also about her impact on Amer­i­can soci­ety as a whole. It is both touch­ing and elo­quent.” ‑Michal Hoschan­der Malen

What Emma Wrote: The Woman Behind the Words on the Stat­ue of Lib­er­ty by Ann D. Koff­sky and illus­trat­ed by N. Tarcan

“The Stat­ue of Lib­er­ty is an icon­ic sym­bol of wel­come to immi­grants through­out the Unit­ed States and the world. It became a sign of inclu­sion and accep­tance due to the words of a poet, Emma Lazarus, whose immor­tal lines are inscribed upon its base.” ‑Michal Hoschan­der Malen

Judah Touro Didn’t Want to Be Famous by Audrey Ades and illus­trat­ed by Vivien Mildenberger

“Touro did not for­get either his own peo­ple or his neigh­bors as he per­son­i­fied the Amer­i­can ide­al of self-real­iza­­­tion. As the book’s title implies, humil­i­ty remained a core val­ue for this shop­­keep­­er-turned-bene­­fac­­tor, whose Jew­ish tra­di­tion taught him that wealth con­ferred oblig­a­tion.” ‑Emi­ly Schneider

Sav­ing Lady Lib­er­ty: Joseph Pulitzer’s Fight for the Stat­ue of Lib­er­ty by Clau­dia Frid­dell and illus­trat­ed by Sta­cy Innerst 

“In Sav­ing Lady Lib­er­ty, Clau­dia Frid­dell tells the sto­ry of Pulitzer’s inde­fati­ga­ble com­mit­ment to fund­ing the stat­ue. Sta­cy Innerst’s incom­pa­ra­ble artistry paints a vivid pic­ture of both the pub­lish­er as an indi­vid­ual and the times in which he lived, an era when the idea of the Unit­ed States as a nation of immi­grants became a real­i­ty.” ‑Emi­ly Schneider

As Good As Any­body: Mar­tin Luther King Jr. and Abra­ham Joshua Hes­chel’s Amaz­ing March Toward Free­dom by Richard Michelson

“The life sto­ries of Mar­tin Luther King Jr. and Abra­ham Joshua Hes­chel are art­ful­ly woven togeth­er here to make their meet­ing seem inevitable. Par­al­lels are drawn, such as the frus­tra­tion of grow­ing up among insti­tu­tion­al­ized prej­u­dice, and the strong val­ues instilled by fam­i­ly.” ‑Bar­bara Bietz

A Mitz­vah for George Wash­ing­ton by Rachelle Burk and illus­trat­ed by Chiara Fedele

“Appeal­ing­ly illus­trat­ed in soft col­ors that evoke a time gone by, A Mitz­vah for George Wash­ing­ton tells a tale based on a his­tor­i­cal event, George Washington’s vis­it to New­port, Rhode Island in 1790.” ‑Michal Hoschan­der Malen

Emma’s Poem: The Voice of the Stat­ue of Lib­er­ty by Lin­da Glaser and illus­trat­ed by Claire A Nivola

“When asked to con­tribute a poem to an anthol­o­gy being put togeth­er to raise mon­ey for the Stat­ue of Lib­er­ty pedestal, Emma wrote her now-famous words to wel­come all immi­grants to our coun­try, words so pow­er­ful they were even­tu­al­ly etched on a plaque attached to the pedestal itself.” ‑Mar­cia Berneger

Haym Salomon: Amer­i­can Patri­ot by Susan Gold­man Rubin and illus­trat­ed by David Slonim

“Haym Salomon has become the icon­ic Jew­ish per­son­al­i­ty of the Rev­o­lu­tion­ary War. Born in Poland, he was a suc­cess­ful mer­chant, patri­ot, and spy who risked his life, home, and for­tune for the Rev­o­lu­tion. His dar­ing activ­i­ties have become a source of pride to lat­er gen­er­a­tions, plac­ing Jews in the com­pa­ny of our hero­ic Found­ing Fathers.” ‑From the Publisher

Hanukkah at Val­ley Forge by Steven Kren­sky and illus­trat­ed by Greg Harlin

“Based on some his­tor­i­cal evi­dence, this inspir­ing sto­ry relates how, in the mid­dle of win­ter at Val­ley Forge, Gen­er­al George Wash­ing­ton meets a Jew­ish sol­dier; an immi­grant from Poland who is cel­e­brat­ing the first night of Hanukkah.” ‑Diane Levin Rauschwerger

I Dis­sent: Ruth Bad­er Gins­burg Makes Her Mark by Deb­bie Levy and illus­trat­ed by Eliz­a­beth Baddeley

“From her ear­ly life grow­ing up in Brook­lyn to becom­ing the first Jew­ish woman appoint­ed to a spot on the Supreme Court and beyond, I Dis­sent: Ruth Bad­er Gins­burg Makes Her Mark depicts the empow­er­ing life sto­ry of Supreme Court Jus­tice Ruth Bad­er Gins­burg.” ‑Jil­lian Bietz

Dis­senter on the Bench: Ruth Bad­er Ginsburg’s Life and Work by Vic­to­ria Ortiz

“In Dis­senter on the Bench, Vic­to­ria Ortiz uses her per­spec­tive as an attor­ney and an edu­ca­tor to weave Ginsburg’s life and work togeth­er into one seam­less nar­ra­tive. Each chap­ter focus­es on one legal case in which Gins­burg was involved — as a judge or a Supreme Court jus­tice — clear­ly explain­ing both the facts and the sig­nif­i­cance of the issues pre­sent­ed.” ‑Emi­ly Schneider

The Boston Choco­late Par­ty by Tami Lehman-Wilzig and Deb­o­rah R. Prinz, illus­trat­ed by Fede Combi

“Tami Lehman-Wilzig, Rab­bi Deb­o­rah R. Prinz, and Fede Com­bi invite read­ers to imag­ine a con­nec­tion between the Mac­cabees’ rebel­lion and the hero­ic upris­ing of Amer­i­can colonists against Great Britain. Indeed, The Boston Choco­late Par­ty fol­lows Sephardic Jews as they seek free­dom and pros­per­i­ty in their new home. When unfair British tax­a­tion poli­cies gal­va­nize patri­ots to protest, the lives of Jews and their neigh­bors inter­sect in a sur­pris­ing way.” ‑Emi­ly Schneider

Rebec­ca­’s Prayer for Pres­i­dent Lin­coln by Jane Yolen and illus­trat­ed by Lau­ra Barella

“Dur­ing one Sat­ur­day prayer ser­vice, their rab­bi emo­tion­al­ly announces that the pres­i­dent has been assas­si­nat­ed. The con­gre­ga­tion ris­es up as one to recite the Mourn­er’s Kad­dish, acknowl­edg­ing Pres­i­dent Lin­col­n’s last­ing impact on the cause of free­dom from bondage.” ‑Michal Hoschan­der Malen