By Rabbi Rachel Esserman
My plan had been to review two fantasy novels. Although some fantasy novels take place in totally make-believe worlds, others alternate between this world and alternate realms. I knew that was what I would find in “The Kingdom of Almonds” by Ariel Kaplan (Erewhon Bo…
By Rabbi Rachel Esserman
When contemplating writing this review, I wondered how to define the thriller genre, as opposed to other genres that also feature murders. One definition I found noted that these works fall somewhere between a traditional murder mystery and a horror novel. I certain…
By Rabbi Rachel Esserman
What if you could change one thing in your life? You could prevent an illness or an accident and save the life of someone you love. Or make a different decision about who to marry or what job to take. The catch is that you only have one do-over. That means you have …
By Rabbi Rachel Esserman
The wide range of novels for Jewish teens and tweens in the 21st century feels amazing to those of us who grew up when there were little to no works for this age group that featured Jewish characters. The novels in this review focus on three different time periods: …
By Rabbi Rachel Esserman
During the past decade, an increasing number of books – fact and fiction – have been published that offer information about the Nazi movement in the United States during the 1930s and early 1940s. Several discuss how Germany hoped these groups would sabotage the Ame…
