Sharon Elswit

2 months ago | jewishbookcouncil.org | Sharon Elswit

Skip to main content Jewish Book Council, founded in 1943, is the longest-running organization devoted exclusively to the support and celebration of Jewish literature. Get the latest reviews, news, and more in your inbox. Review By – January 29, 2025 With delightful depth, suspense, and humor, Vishny swoops readers into a fantastical version of the early twentieth century, when New York City is filled with both mortals and mythological creatures.

Aug 5, 2024 | jewishbookcouncil.org | Sharon Elswit

Review By – August 5, 2024 Inspired by hints about a dis­tant cousin in her own fam­i­ly who was pulled into Mur­der, Inc., nov­el­ist Flo­rence Reiss Kraut has writ­ten a book imag­in­ing what effects vio­lent crime syn­di­cates in Brook­lyn might’ve had on one poor Jew­ish immi­grant fam­i­ly in the first half of the twen­ti­eth cen­tu­ry. Her nov­el fol­lows the indi­vid­ual hopes, dis­ap­point­ments, chal­lenges, and suc­cess­es of two adults and two chil­dren from 1914 to 1942.

Jul 9, 2024 | jewishbookcouncil.org | Sharon Elswit

Review By – July 9, 2024 Lori Dubbin’s graph­ic biog­ra­phy cel­e­brates two sin­gles ten­nis play­ers who leapt over racial and reli­gious bar­ri­ers in the 1950s by becom­ing an inter­na­tion­al, award-win­ning dou­bles team. Dubbin’s well-cho­sen details, com­bined with Aman­da Quartey’s expres­sive illus­tra­tions, make Per­fect Match an upbeat sto­ry of inter­ra­cial friend­ship and triumph. Back in the fifties, ten­nis was all-white and racist.

Jun 11, 2024 | jewishbookcouncil.org | Sharon Elswit

Review By – June 17, 2024 The third nov­el in Han­nah Reynold’s Gold­en Doors series is a rom-com set on Nan­tuck­et with sexy and brainy sur­pris­es. Jor­dan has vowed she will enter no new rela­tion­ships this sum­mer before col­lege, giv­en how bad­ly all of her oth­ers end­ed. She looks for­ward to help­ing her father out with his nav­i­ga­tion­al research, and she jeal­ous­ly hopes to replace Ethan Bar­banel, the young assis­tant he keeps prais­ing.

May 14, 2024 | jewishbookcouncil.org | Sharon Elswit

Leah Hager Cohen’s new nov­el dances with lyri­cal play­ful­ness and emo­tion­al depth. It fol­lows the par­al­lel jour­neys of two young pro­tag­o­nists who both feel lone­ly in dif­fer­ent ways. On the Fro side of the book, high­ly lit­er­ate Anna­mae is grow­ing up in present-day Man­hat­tan. She’s loved by her moth­er, her broth­er, and her nana, but none of them under­stands her ache to con­nect with oth­er peo­ple. ​“A Friend. A Friend. A Friend. A Friend,” she blurts, frus­trat­ed.