The Best Bar and Bat Mitzvah-Themed books for young adults
From the Jewish Journal
While there are many excellent young adult novels with Jewish characters, some of which mention a bar or bat mitzvah, there are probably fewer than a dozen that tackle the subject directly. Those that do usually take the young protagonist on a journey of personal growth that mirrors his or her newfound knowledge of what it is to be a young adult with a Jewish identity. Here are five worth picking up.
- The Truth About My Bat Mitzvah, by Nora Raleigh Baskin – Simon and Schuster, 2008
- 13: Thirteen Stories that Capture the Agony and Ecstasy of Being Thirteen, edited by James Howe – Atheneum, 2006
- About the B’nai Bagels, by E.L. Konigsburg – Atheneum, 2008 (re-issue)
- My Basmati Bat Mitzvah, by Paula J. Freedman – Abrams, 2013
- Bar Mitzvah, Bat Mitzvah: The Ceremony, the Party, and How the Day Came to Be, by Bert Metter, , illustrated by Joan Reilly – Clarion, 2007
