Jewish Heritage Month

Celebrate Canadian Jewish Heritage Month by choosing one of our recommended reads. For all ages.

Updated April 27, 2026
W
Winnipeg Public Library
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1

La carte postale : roman
Berest, Anne
Paper Book

En 2003, l'ecrivaine recoit une carte postale anonyme sur laquelle sont notes les prenoms des grands-parents de sa mere, de sa tante et de son oncle, morts a Auschwitz en 1942. Elle enquete pour decouvrir l'auteur de cette missive et plonge dans l'histoire de sa famille maternelle, les Rabinovitch, et de sa grand-mere Myriam qui a echappe a la deportation.

Aussi disponible en format numerique.

2

The postcard
Berest, Anne
Paper Book
A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR TIME Magazine・NPR・Library Journal・The Globe and Mail・Lilith・Forward Magazine・Toronto Star・The New Yorker Winner of the Choix Goncourt Prize, Anne Berest...

Also available in eBook or eAudiobook formats.

3

Sisters of Fortune : a novel
Chehebar, Esther Levy
Paper Book
"Syrian Jewish culture gets the Jane Austen treatment, with sisters Nina, Fortune and Lucy--the rebel, the good girl and the baby of the family, respectively--all on the marriage market. What's Mama Cohen to do? Chehebar's witty debut dives deep into Brooklyn's Syrian Jewish community."--...

4

The Full Catastrophe: A Novel
Cook, Méira
Paper Book
Winner, 2023 Margaret Laurence Award for Fiction Finalist, 2023 McNally Robinson Book of the Year Award A compassionate and funny novel about defining yourself, the communities that support us, and the journeys that secrets propel. Charlie Minkoff, a thirteen...

Also available in eBook and Book Club Kit formats.

Canadian author.

5

Serge
Reza, Yasmina
Paper Book

« Chez ma mere, sur sa table de chevet, il y avait une photo de nous trois rigolant enchevetres l’un sur l’autre dans une brouette. C’est comme si on nous avait pousses dedans a une vitesse vertigineuse et qu’on nous avait verses dans le temps. »

6

All the shining people : stories
Friedman, Kathy
Paper Book
Finalist, 2023 Trillium Book Award Finalist, Writers Union of Canada 2023 Daunta Gleed Literary Award Finalist, 2023 ReLit Award for Short Fiction Twelve exquisitely written stories depicting the search for human connection and the attempt to fit in far from home. All...

Canadian author.

7

Léa
Freedman, Ariela
Paper Book
How do you change the world? Meet Léa, polyglot, labour activist, farbrente feminist. Born to a large Jewish family and raised in a French Catholic town, Léa moves fluidly between languages and cultures. Her search for meaning and her instinct for justice place her at the centre of the...

Canadian author.

8

Girl in the blue coat
Hesse, Monica
Paper Book
"A beautiful combination of heartbreak, loss, young love, and hope."―Kristin Hannah, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Nightingale   ★ NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER ★ Edgar Award Winner for Best Young Adult Mystery...
Also available in eBook and eAudiobook formats.

9

Une fille au manteau bleu
Hesse, Monica
Paper Book

Aussi disponble en format numerique.

10

Prairie Sonata
Rabin, Sandy Shefrin
Paper Book
Richly textured and lyrically written, Prairie Sonata is the story of Mira Adler and her journey from innocence to experience. Mira grows up in post-World War II Canada, in a close-knit Manitoba community founded by secular Jews from Eastern Europe. At the heart of her journey is the friendship that...

Canadian author.

11

Daughters of the Occupation: A Novel
Sanders, Shelly
Paper Book
NATIONAL BESTSELLER Shortlisted for Best Crime Novel by the Crime Writers of Canada Award Based on a true story, this powerful novel is set in Latvia's capital during the horrific Rumbula massacre when 30,000 Jews were slaughtered over two days in 1941 When Miriam and her...

Also available in eBook format.

Canadian author.

12

Girls Girls Girls
von Blanckensee, Shoshana
Paper Book
"Girls Girls Girls floored me. . . . It's completely extraordinary." --Catherine Newman, New York Times bestselling author of Sandwich A vibrant queer Jewish debut "teeming with heart, angst, love, and self discovery" (Emily Austin) about a young woman who, ...

13

The Most Charming Creatures: Poems
Barwin, Gary
Paper Book
With uncanny wit, inventive beauty, and numinous surprise, The Most Charming Creatures explores the contemporary and its language, considering our wonder, sorrow, bewilderment, anxiety, and tenderness. While these poems energize and connect and "turn the paren- / theses inside out so that /...

Canadian author.

14

Jewish literature : a very short introduction
Stavans, Ilan
Paper Book
The story of Jewish literature is a kaleidoscopic one, multilingual and transnational in character, spanning the globe as well as the centuries. In this broad, thought-provoking introduction to Jewish literature from 1492 to the present, cultural historian Ilan Stavans focuses on its multilingual...

15

Histoire des Juifs du Québec
Anctil, Pierre
Paper Book

Auteure canadienne.

16

Healing lives a century of Manitoba Jewish physicians
Wiseman, Eva, 1947-
Paper Book

17

The ever-dying people? : Canada's Jews in comparative perspective
Brym, Robert J.
Paper Book
Demise by assimilation or antisemitism is often held to be the inevitable future of Jews in Canada and other diaspora countries. The Ever-Dying People? shows that the Jewish diaspora, while often held to be in decline, is influenced by a range of identifiable sociological and historical...

Canadian author.

18

Seeking the fabled city : the Canadian Jewish experience
Levine, Allan
Paper Book
In this definitive and meticulously researched account of the Jewish experience in Canada, award-winning and critically acclaimed author Allan Levine documents a story that is rich, accessible, often surprising, and epic in its scope. Relying on an abundance of primary sources and first-hand...

Canadian author.

19

Living a Jewish life : Jewish traditions, customs, and values for today's families
Diamant, Anita
Paper Book
The classic guide to the cultural and spiritual treasures of Judaism is now updated for the first time in 15 years to reflect changes in the modern Jewish community. Living a Jewish Life describes Judaism as not just a contemplative or abstract system of thought but as a...

20

Arthurs: Home of the Nosh: A Big Personality Cookbook of Delicious Jewish Favorites
Steinberg, Raegan
Paper Book
A GLOBE & MAIL BESTSELLER . JEWISH BOOK AWARDS WINNER . CBC'S THE CURRENT RECOMMENDED COOKBOOKS OF 2025 A must-have breakfast, brunch, and lunch cookbook brimming with recipes for Jewish comfort food-co-authored by the husband-and-wife team behind Montreal's famous...

Canadian author.

21

Do Not Cry When I Die: A Holocaust Memoir
Salt, Renee
Paper Book
INSTANT NATIONAL BESTSELLER One of the oldest living Holocaust survivors recounts her family's imprisonment at Auschwitz and Bergen-Belsen--and the extraordinary bond with her mother that ultimately saved her life--in this moving memoir of love, loss, courage, and hope.

Also available in eBook and eAudiobook format.

22

None is too many : Canada and the Jews of Europe, 1933-1948
Abella, Irving M.
Paper Book
Today, we think of Canada as a compassionate, open country to which refugees from other countries have always been welcome. However, between the years 1933 and 1948, when the Jews of Europe were looking for a place of refuge from Nazi persecution, Canada refused to offer aid, let alone sanctuary,...

Canadian author.

23

The Casino Shift : Stories from an ER on the Edge
Goldman, Brian.
NATIONAL BESTSELLER For fans of The Pitt, a look at life on the front line in one of Canada's busiest ERs The Casino Shift is an hour-by-hour account of what a Canadian emergency room is like in these turbulent times when ER staff must be prepared to see,...

Also available in eBook and eAudiobook format.

Canadian author.

24

Can posters kill? : antisemitic propaganda and World War II
Faivish, Jerry
Paper Book
How did Hitler and the Nazi Party convince millions of people that the murder of Jews during the Holocaust was not only justifiable but correct? What can we learn from one of the most horrific times in history?  Can Posters Kill?uses rare, historical posters to take readers on a...

Also available in eBook format.

Canadian author.

25

A boy is not a bird
Ravel, Edeet
Paper Book
A young boy named Natt finds his world overturned when his family is uprooted and exiled to Siberia during the occupation of the Soviet Ukraine by Nazi Germany. In 1941, life in Natt's small town of Zastavna is comfortable and familiar, even if the grownups are acting strange, and his...

Canadian author.

26

Honey and me
Drazin, Meira
Paper Book
Fans of Judy Blume, The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street, and The Penderwicks will love this funny, charismatic story of a Jewish girl striving to forge her own identity in the shadow of her fearless best friend. **A 2023 Sydney Taylor Award Honor Book!** **A...

27

The Brass Charm
Polak, Monique
Paper Book
A young girl's grandmother gives her a brass charm, and passes along a story of hope and kindness during an unimaginable time. Tali is staying at her Oma's apartment after a storm demolishes their house. She is upset at losing everything. "People have survived worse," says her mother --...

Canadian author.

28

Le Trésor D'Oma
Polak, Monique
Paper Book
See below for English description. Tali vit dans l'appartement d'Oma, car une tempête a démoli sa maison. Elle est triste d'avoir tout perdu. « Des gens ont survécu à pire que ça,Tali », lui rappelle sa mère. Oma a vécu la Deuxième Guerre mondiale, mais elle n'en parle jamais. Cette...

Auteure canadienne.

29

Two pieces of chocolate
Kacer, Kathy
Paper Book
In 1945, young Francine and her maman are sent to the Bergen-Belsen Nazi prison camp, where life is gray and hopeless. Determined to lift Francine's spirits, Maman shares a secret: hidden inside her bag are two pieces of chocolate. They're the first sweets Francine has seen in years, but Maman...

Canadian author.

30

Le goût de l'espoir
Kacer, Kathy.
Paper Book
See below for English description. En 1945, la petite Francine et sa mère sont envoyées dans le camp nazi de Bergen-Belsen. La vie y est triste et sans espoir pour les prisonniers. Soucieuse de préserver le moral de sa fille, la mère de Francine lui confie un secret : elle a deux...

31

We Belong Here
Wishinsky, Frieda.
Paper Book
In troubling times, two very different children find power in friendship and solidarity. Eve Bloom doesn't like being taunted at school for being a newcomer. This is her home. When Eve notices the same children bullying Mark Nakamura for his Japanese culture, she jumps in to defend him. A...

Canadian author

32

I Am Jewish
Silver, Erin.
Judaism is an old religion, and has many important factors. Erin Silver discusses being Jewish and how she celebrates her religion everyday.

Canadian author.

33

By Chance Alone: the Young Readers' Edition : A Remarkable True Story of Courage and Survival at Auschwitz
Eisen, Max
Paper Book
The moving, award-winning Canada Reads book from Holocaust survivor Max Eisen, now adapted for young readers Tibor "Max" Eisen was born in Czechoslovakia into an Orthodox Jewish family. He lived in a compound with his parents, his two younger brothers, his baby sister, his paternal...

Also available in eBook format.

Canadian author.

34

The promise : a story of two sisters, prisoners in a Nazi concentration camp
Bat-Zvi, Pnina
Paper Book
The night that Rachel and Toby's parents are taken away by the Nazis, they give their young daughters three gold coins with the instructions to "use these wisely to help save your lives." They also ask the girls to promise that they will always stay together. This compelling true story follows the...

Canadian author.

35

La promesse : l'histoire de deux sœurs prisonnières d'un camp de concentration nazi
Bat-Zvi, Pnina.
Paper Book
See below for English description. Basé sur la vraie histoire de deux soeurs courageuses qui ont survécu au camp d'Auschwitz après avoir fait la promesse à leurs parents de toujours rester ensemble, quoi qu'il arrive. La nuit où les parents de Toby et Rachel ont été emmenés...

Auteure canadienne.

36

A struggle for hope
Matas, Carol
Paper Book
A gripping story of survival and hope from acclaimed author Carol Matas. Ruth survived the Holocaust and the long journey to Palestine. Now she finds herself once again in a war zone as Israel battles for its existence. Her brother is on the front lines. Ruth and her boyfriend are injured...

Canadian author.

37

She's a mensch! : ten amazing Jewish women
Dublin, Anne
Paper Book
From the poorest neighborhoods in Kenya to the halls of the Canadian Supreme Court, the Jewish women found in these pages have accomplished remarkable feats. Some survived the horrors of the Holocaust while others had more peaceful childhoods, but all of them saw unfairness in their world and...

Canadian author.

38

Rising
Ludwig, Sidura
Paper Book
An Association of Jewish Libraries Sydney Taylor Honor Book A quiet, joyful story celebrating a Jewish mother's tradition of making challah with her child merges a lyrical text with stunning illustrations--and includes the author's favorite recipe. Melt into the...

Canadian author.

39

Last Known Address: The Stumbling Stones of Europe
Kacer, Kathy
Paper Book
Embedded into the cobblestones of Europe are Stolpersteine--stumbling stones. Carefully hand-chiseled with names and dates, these small, brass plaques make up the largest monument to the Holocaust in the world. Today, you can find over 100,000 stones across Europe. The Stumbling...

Canadian author.

40

The light keeper
Baslaw, Sheila
Paper Book
Shmuel is eager to help support his poor family, but no one in his shtetl is interested in hiring a ten-year-old boy. One day, the village installs new electric lamps, bringing light to their square and dazzling away the dark. Until a lamp breaks during a storm--and Shmuel is the only one who can...

Canadian author.


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