Donna and Richard Harris Jewish Libraries, Archives, & Collections Around the World Explore The Sydney Taylor Portal Explore Happening this month Find out about our current events Read More Annual Conference Annual Conference Read More AJL News The latest news about AJL Read More Need Information? Contact Us The Leading Authority on Judaic Librarianship. The Association of Jewish Libraries supports Judaic librarianship and Jewish literacy around the world. Learn more about our work and how we...| jewishlibraries.org
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE August 12, 2025 Contact: Heidi Rabinowitz & Susan Kusel Co-Chairs, AJL Holiday Highlights Committee holidayhighlights@jewishlibraries.org AJL ANNOUNCES HOLIDAY HIGHLIGHTS TITLES FOR FALL 2025 For immediate release, August 12, 2025 — The Association of Jewish Libraries is pleased to announce that ten titles have been selected for its seasonal AJL Holiday Highlights list, celebrating Shabbat, Rosh Hashanah/Yom Kippur, and Hanukkah. These titles are AJL’s picks for the ...| Association of Jewish Libraries
Step into the world of mystery, memory, and meaning with author Saul Golubcow. In this compelling interview, Golubcow discusses his gripping works, The Cost of Living and Who Killed the Rabbi’s Wife?—this collection of three novellas and a novel feature Frank Wolf, a Holocaust survivor turned private investigator. Once a philosophy professor, Frank now solves crimes within the Orthodox Jewish neighborhoods of 1970s New York City. Joined by his inquisitive grandson Joel and later his sh...| jewishlibraries.org
LISTEN TO THE PODCAST | READ THE TRANSCRIPT | BUY THE BOOKLast July, Adam Gidwitz was on the podcast talking about his middle grade Holocaust historical fantasy novel, Max in the House of Spies, and he told us it was part of a duology. Well, now the second book is out, and I think it's even more powerful than the first one.Max in the Land of Lies continues Max's page-turning, hair raising adventures... AND continues the profound exploration of prejudice that we found i...| Association of Jewish Libraries
Michel may not be the big man on campus, but he definitely rules his 2nd grade classroom in Tehran and all is well in his world. That is, until his family decides to uproot him and brother Saeed and move the family to Los Angeles. Newly minted as "Mike" he struggles to navigate a new language, new customs, new foods, and most importantly new heirarchies on the playground. Join me for a conversation with Michael Shokrian about his new book American Playground.Follow along with the transcript....| jewishlibraries.org
In March, Rena Citrin, chair of the Association of Jewish Libraries fiction award, told me (not quite in these words) to get my tush in gear and read Joan Leegant’s excellent short story collection, Displaced Persons. It took two months for it to percolate to the top of my “to be read” pile but I’m thrilled that it did. Her stories are full of relatable people, situations, and humor, not to mention delicious sentences. Follow along with the transcript.Check out Joan's website an...| jewishlibraries.org
Terry LaBan is an alternative cartoonist, a graphic recorder (we'll talk about what that means later), and now he's written his first graphic novel, called Mendel the Mess Up. I'm going to borrow the description from the starred review in Publishers Weekly. They said "Put Fiddler on the Roof and A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum in a blender, add a jigger or two of Seinfeld, and the result is this boisterous and affirming graphic novel." Doesn't that sound amazing? Listen to the...| jewishlibraries.org
