During the final decades of the Soviet Union, the country’s Jewish population was stuck in an impossible situation, unable to practice their religion and also forbidden to leave. Shaul Kelner’s "A Cold War Exodus" shows how a... Read More

For those wondering why another book on Jerusalem is needed, Jodi Magness’s "Jerusalem through the Ages" provides an eloquent answer based in archaeology, from the biblical era through the crusades of the twelfth century. The book... Read More

In T. L. Simpson’s moving coming-of-age novel "Strong Like You", a high school student in Arkansas struggles to understand what happened to his missing father. When the book begins, Walker’s father is already gone without... Read More

Through the social justice-themed essays of "The Jail Is Everywhere", activists work against the expansion and normalization of jails. After decades of massive expansion in the United States’s carceral system, most counties now host at... Read More

Islam Issa’s "Alexandria" is an outstanding biography of a unique city, describing how the Egyptian locale changed from its founding by Alexander the Great into the modern day. “Despite its classical renown and enduring impact,... Read More

Memorable stories pair with beautiful artistic renderings in this effective graphic novel biography of the first president of the United States. Peter Dabbene, with illustrator Juan Carlos Colla Acland, introduces the events of George... Read More

Vaunda Micheaux Nelson’s excellent book "Small Shoes, Great Strides" covers how, in November of 1960, Leona Tate, Gail Etienne, and Tessie Prevost made history by going to first grade—as the first Black students at a public school in... Read More

In Alcy Leyva’s novel "the silent, subtle, ever-present perils of life", sixteen-year-old Maji’s New York world is falling apart, and he sets out to sea in search of a miracle. The book is miraculous in its own right, featuring... Read More