Chanukah 2023 Releases

It’s an exciting release season, with a particular focus on twins, fantasy, and the Soviets. Far more robust than recent Chanuka seasons, there’s something for everyone, as well as great gifting options.

---

For the Littles

• Chanukah with Moishy, Sara Blau (ages 2-3)

• Middos Malka: Zehava Learns Zerizus, Esther Ornstein (ages 3-6)

• Shimon the Ship Shares the Sea, Rochel Burstyn (ages 3-6)

Read our conversation with Rochel Burstyn here.

• A Walk in the Woods, Chani Altein (ages 4-6)

• Big Book of Middos (ages 5-7)

For Boys and Girls Grades 3-7

• Fishy Business, 3rd grade - Twin siblings find a spooky cave full of questions, but the biggest puzzle of all is the baffling tunnels they find inside. Exciting and mysterious, for early readers in third grade. (In stores next week)

There’s just one new release for early readers - for more options, check out Searching for Gold, Penina Farina, and Mister Lister, all released for Sukkos. Reviews here.

• Mystery at Peasant’s Inn, Freidele Galya Soban Biniashvili - Lost in a Chanukah snowstorm, twin siblings arrive at an ancient inn that’s in trouble and chase an intriguing treasure. A suspenseful and humorous mystery for grade 4-5.

• The Burksfield Bike Club #6, Chaim Finkelstein - Four will do anything to do a mitzvah on wheels, but before they know it, they’re stuck in a web of fiascos. Goofy and fun adventures for grades 4-6. 

• Who is Coby Dubin, Dina Nueman - In his wild world of imagination Coby Dubin is a hero battling the bad guys, but in the real world he’s struggling to keep up with his class and younger brother. When the United Socialists brutally take over California, the real world starts to look like his spooky imaginative one, but things don’t go exactly as he’d daydreamed. After even the good guys and their underground plans turn out to be pretty bad too, it’s up to Coby and co to chart their own course. Enter an intriguing, chilling, and suspenseful universe: written for pre-teens (grades 5-7), but with the layers, nuance and laughs to keep any age entertained. (In stores next week.)

Read our conversation with Dina Nueman here.

• Defiance, Rochel Yaffe - The true story of a courageous girl fighting to keep her traditions under the oppressive Soviet Union and the harrowing journey she takes to freedom. With fascinating details and photos for history-minded readers, the story is intriguing and approachable for grades 5-7.

For Pre-Teen and Teen Girls

• The Starlight Sisters: Second Fiddle, Libby Lazewnik - Artscroll’s newest series features five girls experiencing every creative girl’s dream: a Jewish school of performing arts. Ora is mediocre and moody and is struck with jealousy as her older sister outdoes her in every way. With the chance to join the exciting new school opening, she’s delighted to get get a chance to shine for her voice, but when she finds herself with the second-best voice, she wonders if she’ll ever be good enough for anything. Relatable and imaginative as Ora navigates friends and siblings and comes to see what makes her truly special. (Grades 5-6)

• Catch a Rainbow, Rochel Samet - Shiffy’s starting her long-awaited eighth-grade year, and everything looks great on the outside. But when her father falls ill, she is determined to keep it from her friends and keep her school life as perfect as it was. When her suspicious behavior insults her friends and she starts losing everything she’s trying to protect, can she let go of perfect rather than lose it all? A relatable and touching teen drama for 7th-9th grade girls from the author of Stargazing.

There’s just one release for teens - for more options, check out Back of Mind and Infiltrator, released for Sukkos. Reviews here.

Adult Fiction

For the woman without much time to read - and the swiss army knife of book gifting

• Long Story Short, Esty Heller - A broad story collection about the threads that hold us together. Set against creative environments, trendy gimmicks, or unique dynamics, each story is light yet thoughtful and pushes against our assumptions about relationships, society, and ourselves.
  We haven’t had a short story release in 5 years (since Dov Haller’s Captive Audience) but we just got 2 within just a few months. Both Esty Heller’s Long Story Short and Esther Kurtz’s Second Thoughts are fantastic reads and make thoughtful gifting options. Though the differences are subtle, Esty’s focuses on relationships, attitudes, and society, while Esther’s focuses on self-knowledge and personality. 

Read our conversation with Esty Heller here.

For the adventurous teen or bold and imaginative adult

• The Trepid Trilogy #2: Forward March, A. Yarden – In the second of the enthralling Trepid trilogy, the complex and layered action quickens as Yechiel Trepid’s unit comes together and battle relentless evil. Multiple enemies are desperate for the mysterious Fangalas buried in Yechiel’s body, while its enigmatic power spreads. A deadly fire tears the group apart and they search for a way to move on after losing their closest friend. And when Yechiel finally takes his place leading a battalion, someone inside is working against him. Beneath the snappy banter and dramatic battlefield, character development deepens as the boys push past fears and trauma, and find their identities. (Series must be read in order - find #1 here.)

For the reader looking to be swept away in gossip and drama

• Hospital Corridors, Yael Mermelstein - A focused and fast-paced drama about a successful life coming undone, and the costs of rebuilding. Neil has worked hard for his image, so when all he’s built is threatened, he does everything he can to maintain a steady facade. But while the relationships around him are crumbling and his successful career is threatened, the secrets he keeps close to his chest are swiftly raising the costs of letting go. 

Other fiction releases: Crossroads by Chaya Gross, a sensationalist drama about loyalty and determination • Alone Together by Rachel Pomerantz, a standalone COVID novel about expectations and hope.

Adult Nonfiction

For the reader curious about Jewish history and the building of a generation

• B’Ahavah Benny, Yisroel Besser (memoir/biography combination)

• Rav Nota Greenblatt, Shmuel Botnick (biography)

For the woman who thinks and feels deeply

• Scrolls of Poetry, Cipi Schecter (poetry) - A first-of-its-kind frum poetry collection shared in a voice that is flawed and growing, profound and funny, touching but startling. Graceful verses capture penetrating ideas that resonate with our deepest selves. Tapping into the full spectrum of emotion, each poem takes us to a destination: some expected, some ironic, and some utterly surprising. Elegant and lyrical language allows the reader to slow down and immerse themselves in the thought, emotion, humor, and wisdom inherent in the ebb and flow of life. The book feels beautifully designed and crafted; a meaningful gifting option for the right person.

For the growing and thoughtful woman (& teacher)

• Which Way is Up?, Rebbetzin Feige Twerski (essays) - Rebbetzin Twerski reflects on growth, challenges, and relationships, seamlessly blending anecdotes from her life as a cherished great-grandmother and Rebbetzin with relatable snippets of hashkafa, divrei Torah, and psychology. Through a refreshing and down-to-earth writing style, she shares invigorating ideas that gently unfold into subtly profound insight, striking a balance between thoughtfulness and practicality.

For the reader curious about hashkafa and its development 

• Rebbi Meir Baal Haness, Rabbi Daniel Glatstein (hashkafa)

---

And I’ll leave you with some food for thought, excerpted from Scrolls of Poetry by Cipi Schecter (“Chanukah”, pg 14).

When You wanted 
To create 
A special light that would 
Permeate the dark 
You breathed into man 
And lit a candle 
Deep within him
...

With this 
Tiny 
Huge 
Yearning 
Burning 
Flame, 
He hopes 
He prays 
To live by 
Your word, 
And infuse life 
And love 
Into Your people, 
And illuminate Your world.