Jewish American Heritage Month - Teens

"This growing up business isn't always what it's cracked up to be: it can be complicated and scary and seem impossibly hard. With all the choices and challenges before her, how does a girl become a young Jewish woman? The JGirl's Guide is a first-of-its-kind book of practical, real-world advice using Judaism as a compass for the journey through adolescence. This newly updated and expanded survival guide for coming of age explores the wisdom and experiences...

"As World War II raged, millions of young Jewish people were caught up in the horrors of the Nazis' Final Solution. Many readers know of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi state's genocidal campaign against European Jews and others of so-called "inferior" races. Yet so many of the individual stories remain buried in time. Of those who endured the Holocaust, some were caught by the Nazis and sent to concentration camps, some hid right under Hitler's nose, some...

"Fourteen unforgettable true stories of children hidden away during World War II Jaap Sitters was only eight years old when his mother cut the yellow stars off his clothes and sent him, alone, on a fifteen-mile walk to hide with relatives. It was a terrifying night, one he would never forget. Before the end of the war, Jaap would hide in secret rooms and behind walls. He would suffer from hunger, sickness, and the looming threat of Nazi raids. But...

"Hoodie Rosen's life isn't that bad. Sure, his entire Orthodox Jewish community has just picked up and moved to the quiet, mostly non-Jewish town of Tregaron, but Hoodie's world hasn't changed that much. He's got basketball to play, studies to avoid, and a supermarket full of delicious kosher snacks to eat. The people of Tregaron aren't happy that so many Orthodox Jews are moving in at once, but that's not Hoodie's problem. That is, until he meets...

"Alma's life is a constant of halfways: She's half-Chinese, half-Jewish; her parents spend half the time fighting, and the other half silent; and, at thirteen, she's halfway through becoming a woman. Then comes the year when everything changes, and her life is overtaken by constant endings: friends move away, romances bloom and wither, her parents file for divorce, and just like that her childhood seems to be over. Among this world of confusing beginnings,...

The Breakfast Club meets We Are the Ants in this timely story for a generation of young activists. If you knew the world was going to end tomorrow, what would you do? This is the question that haunts Amina as she watches new and horrible stories of discord and crisis flash across the news every day. But when she starts at prestigious Gardner Academy, Amina finds a group of like-minded peers to join forces with-fast friends who dedicate their year...

Isabel Perez is a sixteen-year-old who dreams of writing poetry, love, and being with the young nobleman Diego Altamirano; but in Trujillo, Spain in 1481 such a love is forbidden by the boy's family because Isabel's families are conversos, new Christians, but in the privacy of their home they still practice Judaism--a secret that could destroy them all when the Inquisition reaches Trujillo and they are forced to flee to the uncertain safety of Portugal,...

Based on the experience of real-life Auschwitz prisoner Dita Kraus, this is the incredible story of a girl who risked her life to keep the magic of books alive during the Holocaust. Fourteen-year-old Dita is one of the many imprisoned by the Nazis at Auschwitz. Taken, along with her mother and father, from the Terezín ghetto in Prague, Dita is adjusting to the constant terror that is life in the camp. When Jewish leader Freddy Hirsch asks Dita to...

Csilla has felt protected by the Duna river her entire life, and especially during the Holocaust of World War II, but that magic seems to have broken when Communists took control of Hungary. When her parents are killed by the secret police, Csilla's deep feelings of betrayal and disconnection cause her to plan her escape from her unrecognizable homeland. They are posthumously exonerated, however, sparking a series of protests that make her reconsider...

Summer vacation quickly becomes complicated for Felicity Becker as she tries to plan a perfect wedding for her mom, figure out her feelings for her friend Nancy, and wonder what dating will look like for her as an asexual person.--