Langley-Adams Library Recommendations

" A Jewish boy falls in love with a fellow counselor at summer camp. A group of Jewish friends take the trip of a lifetime. A girl meets her new boyfriend's family over Shabbat dinner. Two best friends put their friendship to the test over the course of a Friday night. A Jewish girl feels pressure to date the only Jewish boy in her grade. Hilarious pranks and disaster ensue at a crush's Hanukkah party. From stories of confronting their relationships with Judaism to rom-coms with a side of bagels and lox,  It's a Whole Spiel  features one story after another that says yes, we are Jewish, but we are also queer, and disabled, and creative, and political, and adventurous, and anything we want to be. You will fall in love with this insightful, funny, and romantic Jewish anthology from a collection of diverse Jewish authors." (Goodreads.com) Short story books always charm me, it is so cool how every author is given the same prompt and come up with such different stories

Pulga, Chico, and  Pequeña are three teenagers who all have reasons to escape their neighborhood in Guatemala and run to the freedom of the United States. Pequeña has just given birth to a baby born of violence that she doesn’t want, and Pulga and Chico are running from gang violence. Except the trip from Guatemala to the United States is not easy, and it is dangerous. Throughout the book, Pulga, Chico, and Pequeña encounter obstacles that stand in their way, attempting to prevent them from making the trip that many are unable to make. Along the way, they will see people who are also trying to make the trip who are unable to go on, and they will have to face just how much they really want to do this, and if they can even continue. This book is a brutal, honest, and important look at migration. Even though it is a young adult book, I believe it is necessary for everyone to read to understand that migration is truly an act of courage. The three teenagers in this book are fictional, but t

"We are in crisis today. Our modern technological society has left too many of us—no matter our ages—feeling isolated and bereft of purpose. Previous frameworks for building community and finding meaning no longer support us. Yet ter Kuile reveals a hopeful new message: we might not be religious, but that doesn’t mean we are any less spiritual.  In  The Power of Ritual , ter Kuile invites us to deepen these ordinary practices as intentional rituals that nurture connection and well being. With wisdom and endearing wit, ter Kuile’s call for ritual is ultimately a call to heal our loss of connection to ourselves, to others, and to our spiritual identities.  T he Power of Ritual  reminds us that what we already do every day matters—and has the potential to become a powerful experience of reflection, sanctuary, and meaning." (Amazon.com) This book was a very approachable guide about how to practice spirituality without religion, it comes in at under 250 pages, making it a quick re