Jewish Asian/ Asia (Far East) KidLit

This is an ongoing list that I will continue to update, but a topic that comes up often in my community. This list is part of a larger conversation about what qualifies as Jewish literature and what qualifies as Asian literature and where these topics intersect. With Asian Jewish Life this was also a reoccurring conversation and not one that was easy to define. I do, however, consider books about Israel (without a Far East connection) to be outside the scope of this discussion as they thematically are very different.

There have also been adult fiction novels that also qualify. The majority of these focus on the Shanghai Jewish refugees during the Holocaust, but the Kaifeng Jewish community is also a topic that has also been visited.

1. Chicken Soup Chicken Soup (PB) by Pamela Mayer 


2. Queen of the Hanukkah Dosas (PB) by Pamela Ehrenberg 


3. Rebecca's Journey Home (PB) by Brynn Olenberg Sugarman


4. This Is Just a Test (MG) by Wendy Wan-Long, Madelyn Rosenberg


5. Reyna and the Jade Star (MG) by Robin K. Levinson


6. Orchards (YA) by Holly Thompson


7. Someday We Will Fly (YA) by Rachel DeWoskin


8. Chloe Leiberman (sometimes Wong) (YA) by Carrie Rosten


9. Not Your All-American Girl (MG) by Wendy Wan-Long, Madelyn Rosenberg


10. Whole Story of Half a Girl (MG) by Veera Hiranandani


11. My Basmati Bat Mitzvah (MG) by Paula J. Freedman


12. Mira in the Present Tense (MG) by Sita Brah­machari


13. Shanghai Sukkah (PB) by Heidi Smith Hyde

Additional titles for discussion on what qualifies as Jewish Asian stories: A Jewish Girl in Shanghai (GN) by Wu Lin, Mystery of the Kaifeng Scroll (MG) by Harriet Feder