Jewish American Literature

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Rosemary’s Baby is a Gothic horror novel by American writer Ira Levin. Published in 1967, it was a bestseller that was adapted into a critically acclaimed 1968 film starring Mia Farrow and directed by her husband, Roman Polanski. The novel is known for its focus on themes like women’s liberation and reproductive freedom, urban paranoia and fears of surveillance, and the relationship between conservative Christianity and the occult in the 20th century. Critics have also... Read Rosemary's Baby Summary

Sabbath’s Theater by Philip Roth, published in 1995, is a work of literary fiction that follows the titular character Mickey Sabbath, an aging yet lustful man, as he navigates life after the passing of his long-time mistress, Drenka. As Sabbath runs from his loss and his unhappy marriage, he finds himself in New York City, confronting the pain of his first wife’s disappearance and the death of his older brother, Morty, during World War II... Read Sabbath's Theater Summary

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One night, a husband and his wife are washing dishes in their kitchen. The couple talks about interracial relationships. The husband does not believe Black Americans and white Americans should marry. His wife, Ann, is upset by this and asks why he doesn’t support interracial marriage. He claims he doesn’t have anything against Black Americans, but he feels that white Americans can never understand Black people fully, claiming statistically most interracial marriages end in divorce... Read Say Yes Summary

Scrawl (2010) is a young adult novel by American author Mark Shulman, who has written more than 200 books for young readers. Scrawl follows a young teenage bully, Tod Munn, and his experience in detention where he is required by a guidance counselor to write about himself in a journal. In the journal, Tod describes his struggles with coming from a low-income family, low self-esteem, and his problematic behavior at school. The novel was a... Read Scrawl Summary

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Small Steps was written by internationally acclaimed American author Louis Sachar. The novel was first published in 2006 by Delacorte Press (US) and Bloomsbury (UK). Louis Sachar is an award-winning young adult mystery and comedy writer, best known for his Wayside School series (1978-2020), and his novel Holes (1998), which won the John Newbery Medal and the National Book Award. Small Steps is a sequel to Holes and focuses on Theodore “Armpit” Johnson, a supporting... Read Small Steps Summary

“Solitude and Leadership” is a speech by William Deresiewicz delivered in October 2009 to the freshman class of the United States Military Academy at West Point. Deresiewicz is an author, essayist, and former professor of English at Yale University. The lecture was published in The American Scholar in spring 2010, and this guide refers to the version hosted on the periodical’s website.Deresiewicz opens by acknowledging the apparent contradiction in the title of his speech, given... Read Solitude and Leadership Summary

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Steve Jobs (2011) is an authorized biography written by Walter Isaacson about the life of the late Apple founder and tech revolutionary. Based on more than forty interviews with Jobs, the book is an in-depth exploration of who Jobs was, from the story of his birth and subsequent adoption to his massive success at the helm of Apple. Jobs himself personally requested that Isaacson write his biography on a phone call in 2004. By the... Read Steve Jobs Summary

Sugar Changed the World: A Story of Magic, Spice, Slavery, Freedom, and Science is a non-fiction history book written for young adults that was first published in 2010. It is primarily about how the cultivation of sugar has impacted societies across the world socially, economically, and culturally. The book is written by historian Marc Aronson and novelist Marina Budhos. It was a finalist for both the Los Angeles Times Book Award and the YALSA Excellence... Read Sugar Changed the World Summary

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Summer of My German Soldier (1973) is a young adult novel by American author Bette Greene. The book is heavily based on Greene’s own childhood in Arkansas and Tennessee during World War II and her experiences growing up Jewish in the conservative Christian South. A made-for-TV film adaptation starring Kristy McNichol was released in 1978. The sequel to the novel, Morning Is a Long Time Coming, was published in 1978. Summer of My German Soldier... Read Summer of My German Soldier Summary

Superfudge is a children’s novel written by Judy Blume first published in 1980. Blume is an author of children’s novels that have won several awards. Superfudge won the Children’s Choice Award in 1981 and the Early Readers Award in 1991. It was adapted into a television series which ran from 1995-1997. Superfudge is the third book in the Fudge series. This guide utilizes the 1988 publication of this novel.Plot SummaryAt the beginning of the novel... Read Superfudge Summary

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Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing, an episodic children’s book by Judy Blume, is a first-person narrative recounted by nine-year-old protagonist Peter Hatcher. A work of realistic fiction, this book is divided into 10 chapters and directed at young readers from the third- to fifth-grade levels. Originally published by Dutton Children’s Books in 1972, Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing is the first of five books in a series. The book received a number of... Read Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing Summary