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2017 National Jewish Book Award Winners
The Jewish Book Council’s picks that celebrate Jewish history and culture.
Published on August 9, 2018
The Choice: Escaping the Past and Embracing the Possible
Edith Eva EgerThis memoir will change your life. Clinical psychologist Edith Eva Eger once dreamed of competing in the Olympics as a gymnast. Instead, she was sent to Auschwitz, the Nazi concentration camp, during the Holocaust, where her parents died. Much was taken from her, but she learned how to heal — and how to be empathetic to others who are suffering as well. A much-needed lesson in the 21st century.
Barren Island
Carol ZorefThis novel won the Goldberg Prize for best debut fiction and was longlisted for the National Book Award. Delve into the little-known history of Brooklyn’s Barren Island, once an industrial complex that housed a diverse immigrant community. A snapshot of America’s rich history told within the narrow confines of this tiny island.
A Horse Walks Into a Bar
David GrossmanA horse walks into a bar, sets off a stream of memories about comedy, Judaism, and life in Israel, then wins the Man Booker International Prize and receives many other accolades because the humor and the tragedy are just that good.
The Book Smugglers: Partisans, Poets, and the Race to Save Jewish Treasures from the Nazis
The Book Smugglers: Partisans, Poets, and the Race to Save Jewish Treasures from the Nazis
David E. FishmanThe Nazis were trying to do more than commit genocide — they wanted to eliminate Jewish culture and art, as well. As people feared for their very lives, they also put everything on the line to protect Jewish manuscripts and books from destruction. A haunting, heroic tale.
Confessions of the Shtetl: Converts from Judaism in Imperial Russia, 1817-1906
Ellie R. SchainkerFor anyone who wants to dig deep into Jewish history, this book won the Jewish Book Council award for writing based on archival material. Learn about subjects of imperial Russia who converted to Christianity from Judaism and the ways in which this shaped new identities.
Refugee
Alan GratzMany people have compared the current refugee crisis to Jewish people fleeing Nazi Germany, but few have linked the past and present (and in-between) so touchingly as Alan Gratz. Cross decades and borders as three kids seek a safe home in this novel.