Adas Library Reviews

By Robin Jacobson

It’s the stuff of family lore and American history.  In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, over 10 million European immigrants crossed the Atlantic Ocean to America.  These included 2.5 million Jews, many of them fleeing pogroms, persecution, and poverty in the Czarist Russian Empire.  Courageous and determined, they built new...Read more...

By Robin Jacobson

Near the turn of the 20th Century, the Dreyfus Affair thrust France into turmoil.  In 1894, the French army falsely accused and convicted Jewish military captain Alfred Dreyfus of treasonously selling military secrets to Germany.  In a humiliating public ceremony, Dreyfus was stripped of his military insignia and his sword broken while crowds shouted, “Death to the...Read more...

By Robin Jacobson

Some adult book clubs choose one “young adult” title a year to read, simply to sample from the many excellent books in that category.  This year, two outstanding young adult historical novels illuminate lesser-known Jewish experiences in Romania and the United States during World War II:  The Blood Years by Elana Arnold and We Are Not Strangers by Josh Tuininga.  Teens...Read more...

By Robin Jacobson

The great German poet-playwright Goethe had a deep fondness for a grand oak tree in the woodlands near Weimar.  One autumn morning in 1827, he famously picnicked beneath its shade.  A century later, when prisoners were felling trees in the area to make way for a concentration camp, the guards told them to be sure to spare that particular tree.   Soon, Buchenwald buildings...Read more...

By Robin Jacobson

“Pa pleaded. "We can get a hundred and sixty acres out west, just by living on it . . . If Uncle Sam's willing to give us a farm . . . I say let's take it.”  Laura Ingalls Wilder (By the Shores of Silver Lake)

In 1862, Congress enacted the Homestead Act, hoping to encourage settlement of America’s Western territories.  This...Read more...

By Robin Jacobson

The Postcard by French author Anne Berest is a remarkable true story of a Jewish family told in the form of a novel. It opens with the arrival of a mysterious postcard at Berest’s childhood home in the Paris suburbs in 2003. The front of the postcard shows the Opéra Garnier, a famous Paris landmark, and the back has four handwritten names – “Ephraïm, Emma, Noémie, Jacques.”...Read more...

By Robin Jacobson, Library & Literary Programs Director

Early in 2020, Julian Künstler receives an unexpected phone call from his 93-year-old grandmother, Salomea (“Mamie”) Künstler. Mamie invites Julian to stay with her in California for a few weeks while she recovers from a broken wrist. She and her elderly housekeeper-companion, Agatha, need a short-term...Read more...

By Robin Jacobson, Library & Literary Programs Director

The Times of Israel calls it “the great whodunnit of Zionist lore.” In 1933, Chaim Arlosoroff was murdered in Tel Aviv. Only 34 years old, Arlosoroff was head of the political department of the Jewish Agency in Palestine and a prominent lead­er in David Ben Gurion’s Mapai Par­ty. Who killed him?  And why?  The...Read more...

By Robin Jacobson, Library & Literary Programs Director

During an unwelcome visit from Covid-19, I dosed myself with soup, lemon drops (good for masking that metallic Paxlovid taste), and three novels:  The Cost of Living by local author Saul Golubcow (detective fiction), Atomic Anna by Rachel Barenbaum (science fiction), and Eternal by Lisa Scottoline (historical...Read more...

By Robin Jacobson, Library & Literary Programs Director

With 20/20 historical hindsight, it can be unbearable to read stories of European Jews in the 1930s who turned down opportunities to flee Europe.  If only we could reach back in time and insist that they start packing. Tragically, they didn’t know then what we know now about the danger, destruction, and death that lay ahead. 

Even...Read more...

By Robin Jacobson, Library & Literary Programs Director

Israeli author Omer Friedlander, only 28 years old, made a stunning entrance onto the literary stage this past spring. Big-name publisher Random House published his debut short story collection, The Man Who Sold Air in the Holy Land, and announced that it would also publish Friedlander’s upcoming novel. To add to the excitement,...Read more...

By Robin Jacobson, Library & Literary Programs Director

On October 6, 1973, air raid sirens shattered the solemn quiet of Yom Kippur afternoon in Israel. Egypt and Syria had launched a two-front surprise attack. Within a few days, Israeli casualties were skyrocketing, and the state had lost alarming numbers of planes and tanks. Fearing for Israel’s survival, Minister of Defense Moshe Dayan...Read more...

By Robin Jacobson, Library & Literary Programs Director

Here are two unusual – and terrific – crime thrillers to jumpstart your summer. For a comic, warmhearted romp, try The Prison Minyan by Jonathan Stone. Want a darker, more complex tale? Read How to Find Your Way in the Dark by Derek Miller.

The Prison Minyan

This delightfully original, witty novel opens in Otisville Correctional, a...Read more...

By Robin Jacobson, Library & Literary Programs Director

When it comes to Passover children’s books, you could cover a Seder table many times over with wonderful choices. Here are five favorites, a mix of new and older titles, starting with ones for the youngest Pesach celebrants.

This exuberant sing-along board book presents four...Read more...

By Robin Jacobson, Library & Literary Programs Director

The Jewish book world is celebrating a bumper crop of excellent nonfiction picture books for children. My three personal favorites are: Dear Mr. Dickens by Nancy Churnin, The Singer and the Scientist by Lisa Rose (both for ages 5-10), and No Steps Behind: Beate Sirota Gordon’s Battle for Women’s Rights in Japan by Jeff Gottesfeld...Read more...