Thank you so much for joining YABC as we team up with Penguin Random House in honor of the 350+ year history, culture, and contributions of Jewish Americans with a fantastic giveaway!
Check out our favorites listed below! Plus enter the giveaway where you could win them all!
“When you feel in your gut what you are and then dynamically pursue it… don’t back down and don’t give up – then you’re going to mystify a lot of folks.” – Bob Dylan
Title: YASHA’S AMAZIN’ BAR MITZVAH
Author: Margaret Gurevich
Publisher: Penguin Workshop
Release Date: 3/17/26
A Russian American boy searches for his identity, true friends, and above all, tickets to see the Mets win the World Series in this heartfelt novel from Margaret Gurevich.
It’s 1986, and thirteen-year-old Yasha Reznik doesn’t understand why his parents moved them all from his Russian community of Brighton Beach to the suburbia of Rockwood, New Jersey. Sure, it may be their “American Dream,” but it’s not his. Yasha’s dream is to make it through his Bar Mitzvah, watch the New York Mets make it to the playoffs, and fit in at his new school.
But fitting in may be harder than he thinks, when he’s one of only two Russian families in town and all the kids he meets keep calling him Drago (thanks Rocky movies), even after he starts going by “Jake” instead of “Yasha.” The only person who seems to really get him is Bernie, his pal from the senior citizen home where Yasha is doing community service for his Bar Mitzvah project.
Then Bernie says his dream is also to see the Mets win the World Series. And Yasha may not know his Torah portion yet, or why he feels alone even with his new “friends,” but he does know one thing: somehow, someway, he’s going to get those tickets.
Title: WHEN YOU’RE BRAVE ENOUGH
Author: Rebecca Bendheim
Publisher: Viking Books for Young Readers
Release Date: 4/7/26
A heartfelt, gorgeously written debut middle grade novel about best friends, first crushes, and coming out—perfect for fans of Kyle Lukoff and Jake Maia Arlow.
Before she moved from Austin to Rhode Island, everybody knew Lacey as one half of an inseparable duo: Lacey-and-Grace, best friends since they were toddlers. Grace and her moms were practically family. But at school, being lumped together with overeager, worm-obsessed, crushes-on-everyone Grace meant Lacey never quite fit in—and that’s why at her new middle school, Lacey plans to reinvent herself. This time, she’s going to be cool. She’s going to be normal.
At first, everything seems to go as planned. Lacey makes new friends right away, she finds a rabbi to help her prepare for the bat mitzvah that got deprioritized by her parents in the chaos of the move, and she even gets cast in the lead role of the eighth-grade musical. Which is when things start to get stressful, because it turns out the students at her new school have a long-standing, unofficial tradition: No matter what the show is, in the final performance, the leads always kiss for real.
Lacey’s never kissed anyone before—she’s not even sure she’s ever had a crush. And in Bye, Bye, Birdie, there are a few different co-lead kiss possibilities for Lacey to choose from. There’s confident, cocky Andre. There’s sweet, friendly Jaden. And then there’s the other new girl at school: dryly funny, impossibly cool Violet.
But while her new friends and older sister create whiteboard wall charts and botched field trip schemes to help her decide, suddenly Lacey can’t stop thinking about Grace, who she was so sure she wanted to leave behind. When Grace comes back into her life, Lacey needs to decide if she’s brave enough to be who she really is, in front of the person who matters most.
Title: BECCA & BUBBE’S BUCKET LIST
Author: Laura Gehl
Illustrator: Sarah Lynn Baker
Publisher: Rocky Pond Books
Release Date: 5/19/26
Becca helps her grandmother fulfill a lifelong dream during a vacation packed with “bucket list” fun in this endearing and lively summertime picture book.
After Becca learns the term “bucket list” from her grandmother, she decides to make her own summer bucket list, packed with everything from swimming in the ocean for the first time to baking turtle-shaped challah. But in between a water-balloon fight and a rooftop sleepover, she also has a plan to help Bubbe check an item off her bucket list.
Peppered with Yiddish and Hebrew words and full of affection, this is a joyful and inspiring story that’s perfect for family sharing.
Title: FANNY’S BIG IDEA
Author: Richard Michelson
Illustrator: Alyssa Russell
Publisher: Rocky Pond Books
Release Date: 11/4/25
In celebration of the 100th anniversary of Jewish Book Week, this engaging biography introduces children to the influential librarian and immigrant who originated the event.
Fanny Goldstein immigrated to America from Russia when she was six. She loved the fact that in her new country she could borrow books for free and take part in all kinds of activities at the Saturday Evening Girls Club. Right away, her curiosity attracted the notice of the club’s founder, who was also the head of the Boston Public Library. It wasn’t long before Fanny was hired as the librarian’s assistant, and then at thirty-three, as the first Jewish director of a Boston branch library. And when Fanny noticed how rarely Jewish families checked out books about their own history, she had an idea that would influence libraries and readers for decades to come: She decided to host a week-long party to celebrate Jewish books and culture. It was such a success that it launched a national event which has continued for 100 years!
*GIVEAWAY DETAILS*
Use the Rafflepress Form below to enter
*be sure to include complete mailing address for the second entry question to qualify to win*
Four (4) winners will receive a copy of each title from the Jewish Heritage Month 2026 Bundled Giveaway ~ US ONLY!
All of these will be a joy to read.
Such great books!
Such a great selections!!