Book of the Month highlights recent Kar-Ben releases that we think are extra-special. We'll let you know more about why we love these particular books. We'll also give you special extra content, like author interviews and book trailers. Make sure you check back each month to see our new featured book!
 
June 2014
 
 
As a child, David watches his grandfather, a Torah scribe or sofer, finish a Torah scroll for the synagogue. “A Torah is not something to be thrown away,” his Grandfather explains. David’s grandfather  carefully stores the old Torah his new one has replaced in his cabinet, hoping to one day repair the letters so the Torah can be used again.
 
David grows up and becomes a sofer just like his grandfather. Through the years, people bring him damaged Torahs they have saved from danger and disaster – one damaged by Nazi soldiers during World War II, one damaged in a fire in a synagogue, and one in flooding during Hurricane Katrina. David stores each of these precious Torahs in his cabinet, until his granddaughter Leah gives him the idea to make a recycled Torah from the salvaged Torah scrolls.
 
Why we love this book: Not only is The Patchwork Torah a sweet intergenerational story filled with many important historical tie-ins, it also has a unique and powerful message about recycling.
 
May 2014
 
 

“Always remember, you are the son of two proud nations,” Elan’s parents tell him in Elan, Son of Two Peoples. After turning 13 and celebrating his Bar Mitzvah in San Francisco, Elan, with his Jewish father and Native American mother, travels to New Mexico to visit his Indian family. There, he reads the Torah on the open mesa during Shabbat, goes exploring with his cousin, and takes part in the Pueblo ceremony of becoming a man.

 

Why we love this book: Elan, Son of Two Peoples tells a unique story of intercultural heritage. It's also based on a true story. In 1869, 16-year-old Solomon Bibo immigrated from Prussia to New Mexico. He opened a trading post atop a mesa and in 1885 married Juana Valle, the granddaughter of a former Acoma Pueblo chief. Later Bibo was appointed Pueblo governor. An outspoken advocate for Native American rights, he worked tirelessly to secure more land for the Pueblo. At the turn of the century, he and his wife moved to San Francisco to provide for the children’s Jewish education. In addition to becoming a Bar Mitzvah, their eldest son participated in the Acoma rituals of manhood. His life inspired this story.
 
April 2014
 
 

In The Whispering Town it is 1943 in Nazi-occupied Denmark. Anett and her parents are hiding a Jewish woman and her son, Carl, in their cellar until a fishing boat can take them across the sound to safety in neutral Sweden. With the help of the baker, the librarian, the farmer, and her neighbors, Anett keeps Carl and his mother safe even as Nazi soldiers search her street for hidden Jews. With the Nazis closing in, and worried about Carl’s safety, Anett thinks of a clever and unusual plan to get Carl and his mother safely to the harbor on a cloudy night without the moon to guide them.  

 

Why we love this book: The Whispering Town highlights a child's bravery and kindness in an often scary world. It's also based on a true story. On a moonless night in 1943, in the small Danish fishing village of Gilleleje, the town’s citizens stood in their doorways and whispered to their Danish neighbors directions to the harbor.

 

In 1943, the Nazis took over the Danish government; shortly after, they began to round up the approximately 8,000 Danish Jews and send them to concentration camps. The Danes, who viewed their Jewish neighbors as full Danish citizens, hid Jews in their homes, in warehouses, barns, hotels and churches. In secrecy, they secured boats to transport them across the sound to neutral Sweden. As a result, most of Denmark’s Jews were saved.

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