Posts Tagged Fiction

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The Jewish Bible: A JPS Guide. This new volume in the acclaimed JPS Guides series is an invaluable companion to the Jewish Bible, providing readers with ready access to important facts and Bible basics, including: summaries of all the Biblical books; a glossary of Biblical terms, places, and people; and colored maps, charts, tables, timelines and family trees. The Jewish Bible: A JPS Guide also includes articles about: how the Bible became “The Bible”: its origins, content, and organization; distinctions between the Jewish Bible and Christian Bibles; a short history of Bible translations and how the differ from one another; and popular methods of Bible study.

The JPS Illustrated Children’s Bible, by Ellen Frankel. Acclaimed storyteller and Jewish scholar Ellen Frankel has masterfully tailored 53 Bible stories that will both delight and educate today’s young readers. Using the 1985 JPS translation (NJPS) of the Hebrew Bible as her foundation, Frankel retains much of the Bible’s original wording and simple narrative style as she incorporates her own exceptional storytelling technique, free of personal interpretation or commentary. With his enticing, full-page color illustrations of each Bible story, award-winning artist Avi Katz ignites readers’ imaginations. His brush captures the vivid personalities and many dramatic moments in this extraordinary collection.

American Jewish Fiction: A JPS Guide, by Josh Lambert. This new volume in the JPS Guides series is a fiction reader’s dream: a guide to 125 remarkable works of fiction. The selection includes a wide range of classic American Jewish novels and story collections, from 1867 to the present, selected by the author in consultation with a panel of literary scholars and book industry professionals. The introduction is a fascinating exploration of the history of and important themes in American Jewish Fiction, illustrating how Jewish writing in the U.S. has been in constant dialogue with popular entertainment and intellectual life. Included in this guide are suggestions for further reading; lists of book award winners; recommended anthologies; title, author, and subject indexes; and more.

From Krakow to Krypton: Jews and Comic Books, by Arie Kaplan. Jews created the first comic book, the first graphic novel, the first comic book convention, the first comic book specialty store, and they helped create the underground comics (or “Comix”) movement of the late ’60s and early ’70s. Many of the creators of the most famous comic books, such as Superman, Spiderman, X-Men, and Batman, as well as the founders of MAD Magazine, were Jewish. From Krakow to Krypton: Jews and Comic Books tells their stories and demonstrates how they brought a uniquely Jewish perspective to their work and to the comics industry as a whole. Over-sized and in full color, From Krakow to Krypton is filled with sidebars, cartoon bubbles, comic book graphics, original design sketches, and photographs. It is a visually stunning and exhilarating history.

An Introduction to Islam for Jews, by Reuven Firestone. Firestone explains the remarkable similarities and profound differences between Judaism and Islam, the complex history of Jihad, the legal and religious positions of Jews in the world of Islam, how various expressions of Islam (Sunni, Shi`a, Sufi, Salafi, etc.) regard Jews, the range of Muslim views about Israel, and much more. He addresses these issues and others with candor and integrity, and he writes with language, symbols, and ideas that make sense to Jews. Firestone provides many original sources in translation, as well as an appendix of additional key sources in context. Most importantly, this book is readable and reasoned, presenting to readers for the first time the complexity of Islam and its relationship toward Jews and Judaism.

Jewish Choices, Jewish Voices: Power, Body, and Money, edited by Elliot N. Dorff and Louis E. Newman. This JPS ethics series deals with some of the most critical moral issues of our time. Each volume presents traditional and contemporary sources on specific topics, followed by hypothetical cases and study questions to provoke discussion. Supplementing these are brief essays, written by a diverse group of contributors of various ages, backgrounds, and viewpoints. These voices from the Jewish tradition and today’s Jewish community give us new questions and perspecitves to think about and encourage us to consider our moral choices in a new light.

Celebrating the Jewish Year: The Fall Holidays, The Winter Holidays, and The Spring and Summer Holidays, by Paul Steinberg. JPS’s new holiday books take us through the joys, spirit, and meaning of the seasons. As we move from season to season, Paul Steinberg shares with us a rich collection of readings from many of the Jewish greats, and he guides us in discovering for ourselves the many treasures within each text. The readings teach us about the history of each holiday, as well as its theological, ethical, agricultural, and seasonal importance and interpretation; others give us inspiration and much food for thought. These stories, essays, poems, anecdotes, and rituals help us discover how deeply Jewish traditions are rooted in nature’s yearly cycle, and how beautifully season and spirit are woven together throughout the Jewish year.

20th Century Jewish Religious Thought, edited by Paul Mendes-Flohr and Arthur A. Cohen. This outstanding volume presents 140 concise yet authoritative essays by renowned Jewish figures Eugene Borowitz, Emil Fackenheim, Blu Greenberg, Susannah Heschel, Jacob Neusner, Gershom Scholem, Adin Steinsaltz, and many others. They define and reflect upon such central ideas as charity, chosen people, death, family, love, myth, suffering, Torah, tradition and more. With entries from Aesthetics to Zionism, this book provides striking insights into both the Jewish experience and the Judeo-Christian tradition.

Rashi’s Daughter, Secret Scholar, by Maggie Anton. Set in 11th-century Troyes, France, Rashi’s Daughter, Secret Scholar tells the story of Joheved, eldest daughter of Salomon ben Isaac (known as Rashi), one of the great medieval Jewish Bible commentators. At a time when women traditionally were barred from studying Jewish texts, Rashi secretly teaches first Joheved, then her sister Miriam. As she nears marriageable age, Joheved finds her mind and spirit awakened by religious study, but she must keep her passion for learning and prayer hidden. When she becomes betrothed to Meir ben Samuel, she is forced to choose between marital happiness and being true to her love of the Talmud. Will she fulfill the expected role of a Jewish woman or pursue a path of Jewish learning? Ages 10 and up.

Checkpoints, by Marilyn Levy. Noa, an Israeli Jew, and Maha, a Palestinian Muslim, are two very different teenage girls–who may not be so different after all. They’ve become good friends, but after a tragic incident that changes Noa and her family forever, Noa’s beliefs about Palestinian and Israeli relations are put to the test. Shocking secrets are revealed that affect both Noa’s and Maha’s lives and test their blossoming relationship. Checkpoints brings to life the realities teenagers in the Middle East face today, as politics and prejudice threaten to tear lives and relationships apart. At the same time, it serves as a testament to the power of love and friendship in an often chaotic world. Ages 12 and up.