Jewish Heritage Month

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

Updated April 22, 2025
W
Winnipeg Public Library
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1

Nothing the same, everything haunted : the ballad of Motl the cowboy
Barwin, Gary
Paper Book
A middle-aged Jewish man who fantasizes about being a cowboy goes on an eccentric quest across Europe after the 1941 Nazi invasion of Lithuania in this wild and witty yet heartrending novel from the bestselling author of Yiddish for Pirates, shortlisted for the Scotiabank Giller Prize....

Also available in eBook format.

Canadian author

2

La carte postale : roman
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...

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.

3

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.

4

Immigrant city : stories
Bezmozgis, David
Paper Book
FINALIST FOR THE 2019 SCOTIABANK GILLER PRIZE Award-winning author David Bezmozgis's first story collection in more than a decade, hailed by the Toronto Star as "intelligent, funny, unfailingly sympathetic" In the title story, a father and his young daughter stumble into a bizarre...

Also available in eBook format.

Canadian author.

5

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.

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

You are not what we expected
Ludwig, Sidura
Paper Book
This stunningly intimate collection of stories is an exquisite portrait of a Jewish community--the secular and religious families who inhabit it and the tensions that exist there --that illuminates the unexpected ways we remain connected during times of change. When Uncle Isaac moves back...

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 Novel...
Also available in eBook and eAudiobook formats.

9

Une fille au manteau bleu
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 Novel...

Aussi disponble en format numerique.

10

The singing forest
McCormack, J. A.
Paper Book
A NYT Book Review Best Historical Fiction Book of the Year "The Singing Forest blends thought-provoking reflections on the moral reckoning of war crimes with ... a young woman's attempts to decode her eccentric professional and personal families."--Alida Becker, New York Times ...

Canadian author.

11

Daughters of the Occupation: A Novel
Sanders, Shelly
Audiobook

Also available in eBook format.

Canadian author.

12

Rue des Rosiers
Tregebov, Rhea
Paper Book
When Sarah is fired from her Toronto job, a chance stay in Paris opens her up to new direction and purpose. But when she reads the writing on the wall above her local Metro subway station, death to the Jews, shadows from childhood rise again. And as her path crosses that of Laila, a young woman...

Canadian author.

13

Room for one more
Polak, Monique
Paper Book
For twelve-year-old Rosetta Wolfson, the war in Europe seems very far off from her home in Canada. Then Mr. Schwartzberg comes to tea and asks Rosetta's parents if they will take in a young war refugee. Isaac joins the family and becomes a ready-made brother to Rosetta and her two sisters. ...

Canadian author.

14

Boy from Buchenwald : the true story of a Holocaust survivor
Waisman, Robert
Paper Book
It was 1945 and Romek Wajsman had just been liberated from Buchenwald, a brutal concentration camp where more than 60,000 people were killed. He was starving, tortured, and had no idea where his family was-let alone if they were alive. Along with 472 other boys, including Elie Wiesel, these teens...

Canadian author.

15

The power of teamwork : how we can all work better together
Goldman, Brian
Paper Book
The national bestseller from the host of CBC Radio's White Coat, Black Art--now in paperback! In the high-pressure and complex setting of health care, a new approach to teamwork is leading to healthier patients, happier staff and more efficient operations. Doctors are learning art...

Also available in eBook format.

Canadian author.

16

Who by fire : war, atonement, and the resurrection of Leonard Cohen
Friedman, Matti
Paper Book
The incredible never-before-told story of Leonard Cohen's 1973 tour of Israel during the Yom Kippur War.  "Who by Fire is a stunning resurrection of a moment in the life of Leonard Cohen and the history of Israel. It's the story of a young artist in crisis and a young...

Also available in eBook and eAudiobook formats.

Canadian author.

17

Anti-Semitism and the MS St. Louis : Canada's anti-Semitic immigration policies in the twentieth century
Arato, Rona.
Paper Book
"This story and the others in the "Righting Canada's Wrongs" series should be essential teaching in Canadian classrooms at all grades." -- CM: Canadian Review of Materials Prior to the Second World War, Canada's Jewish community was well established in many cities, including Toronto,...

18

Friends and enemies : a memoir
Amiel, Barbara
Paper Book
NATIONAL BESTSELLER Barbara Amiel's much-talked-about life has been a subject of endless fascination for the media, many unauthorized biographies, as well as screen depictions. An instinctive feminist and now a foe of feminism's political correctness, she covers a formidable array of...

Also available in eBook format.

Canadian author.

19

Dead mom walking : a memoir of miracle cures and other disasters
Matlow, Rachel
Paper Book
NATIONAL BESTSELLER SHORTLISTED for the 2021 Kobo Emerging Writer Prize SHORTLISTED for the 2021 Vine Award in Non-Fiction "A comedy for catastrophic times." --CBC "A hilarious memoir of effervescent misadventures." --Toronto Star...
Also available in eBook and eAudiobook formats.

20

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.

21

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.

22

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...

23

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.

24

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.

25

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.

26

Jew-ish : reinvented recipes from a modern mensch : a cookbook
Cohen, Jake
Paper Book
A New York Times bestseller! A brilliantly modern take on Jewish culinary traditions for a new generation of readers, from a bright new star in the culinary world. When you think of Jewish food, a few classics come to mind:...

Also available in eBook format.

27

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.

28

By Chance Alone: the Young Readers' Edition : A Remarkable True Story of Courage and Survival at Auschwitz
Eisen, Max
Paper Book
In the tradition of Elie Wiesel's Night and Primo Levi's Survival in Auschwitz comes a bestselling new memoir by Canadian survivor Finalist for the 2017 RBC Taylor Prize More than 70 years after the Nazi camps were liberated by the Allies, a new Canadian Holocaust memoir...

Also available in eBook format.

Canadian author.

29

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.

30

Heroines, rescuers, rabbis, spies : unsung women of the Holocaust
Swartz, Sarah Silberstein
Paper Book
Discover nine ordinary women who took extraordinary measures to save lives during the Holocaust, resisting terror and torture while undercover or in hiding, in concentration camps, in forests, and in exile. With compassion and admiration, author Sarah Silberstein Swartz paints portraits of...

Also available in eBook format.

Canadian author.


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