List of winners of the National Jewish Book Award

This is a list of the winners of the National Jewish Book Award by category. The awards were established in 1950 to recognize outstanding Jewish Literature. They are awarded by the Jewish Book Council, a New-York based non-profit organization dedicated to the support and promotion of Jewish literature since 1944. American Jewish History The awards in the American Jewish History category, Celebrate 350, are presented to authors or editors of non-fiction books about the Jewish experience in North America. +American Jewish History Award winners Year Title Author 20052006Emma Lazarus2007Spiritual Radical: Abraham Joshua Heschel in America, 1940-19722008Exiles on Main Street: Jewish American Writers and American Literary Culture2009We Remember with Reverence and Love: American Jews and the Myth of Silence after the Holocaust, 1945-1962201020112012Messianism, Secrecy and Mysticism: A New Interpretation of Early American Jewish Life2013FDR and the Jews and Allan J. Lichtman20142015Beyond Sectarianism: The Realignment of American Orthodox Judaism2016Kosher USA: How Coke Became Kosher and Other Tales of Modern Food 2017Jews on the Frontier: Religion and Mobility in Nineteenth-Century America2018201920202021 and Michael Casper2022 American Shtetl: The Making of Kiryas Joel, a Hasidic Village in Upstate New York and David N. Myers2023 Walkers in the City: Jewish Street Photographers of Midcentury New York20242025

Anthologies and Collections The awards in the Anthologies and Collections category are presented to editors of books of essays, biographies, short stories, or other collected works by one or more authors. The National Jewish Book Award in the Anthologies and Collections category was not awarded in 2014, 2017, 2018 and there was only one winner for the 2002-2003 period. +Anthologies and Collections award winners Year Title Author 2002 - 2003Cultures of the Jews: A New History2004I Am Jewish: Personal Reflections Inspired by the Last Words of Daniel Pearl2005Who We Are: On Being (and Not Being) a Jewish American Writer2006Writing a Modern Jewish History: Essays in Honor of Salo W. Baron2007Antisemitism: The Generic Hatred: Essays in Memory of Simon Wiesenthal2009Rethinking European Jewish History20102011Gender and Jewish History2012Jewish Jocks: An Unorthodox Hall of Fame20131929: Mapping the Jewish World2015Dear Mendl, Dear Reyzl: Yiddish Letter Manuals from Russia and America2016Makers of Jewish Modernity: Thinkers, Artists, Leaders, and the World They Made2019What We Talk about When We Talk about Hebrew and Nancy E. Berg

Autobiography and Memoir The awards in the Autobiography and Memoir category, the Krauss Family Awards in Memory of Simon & Shulamith (Sofi) Goldberg, are presented to authors of a family history, autobiography, personal memoir either of a Jew or family of being significantly related to the Jewish experience. There was no winner of the National Jewish Book Award in the Autobiography and Memoir category for 1987, 1988, 2002 to 2006. +Autobiography and Memoir award winners Year Title Author 1984Ben-Gurion: Prophet of Fire1985Martin Buber's Life and Work: The Later Years, 1945-19651986Chaim Weizmann, The Making of a Zionist Leader1989Fear No Evil1990From That Place and Time: A Memoir, 1938-19471991Daydreams and Nightmares: Reflections on a Harlem Childhood1992Mostly Morganthaus: A Family History1993On Clowns: The Dictator and the ArtistNorman Manea1994A Spy in Canaan: My Life As a Jewish-American Businessman Spying for Israel in Arab Lands1995In This Dark House: A Memoir1996Fragments: Memories of a Wartime Childhood1997Miriam's Kitchen: A Memoir1998Jacob, Menachem und Mimoun. Ein Familienepos1999King David's Harp: Autobiographical Essays by Jewish Latin American Writers2000200120072008Marie Syrkin: Values Beyond the Self200920102011MetaMaus: A Look Inside a Modern Classic, Maus2012Howard Fast: Life and Literature in the Left Lane201320142015After the Holocaust the Bells Still Ring2016But You Did Not Come Back: A Memoir20172018My Country, My Life: Fighting for Israel, Searching for Peace2019Inheritance: A Memoir of Genealogy, Paternity, and Love2020When Time Stopped: A Memoir of My Father’s War and What Remains20212022Chosen: A Memoir of Stolen Boyhood2023 Happily: A Personal History-with Fairy Tales20242025 Biography The awards in the Biography category, In Memory of Sara Berenson Stone, are presented to authors of a biography that is significantly related to the Jewish experience. There were no winners of the National Jewish Book Award in the Biography category between 1986 and 2018. +Biography award winners Year Title Author 1984Ben-Gurion: Prophet of Fire1985Martin Buber's Life and Work: The Later Years, 1945-19651986Chaim Weizmann, The Making of a Zionist Leader2018Witness: Lessons from Elie Wiesel’s Classroom2019Touched with Fire: Morris B. Abram and the Battle against Racial and Religious Discrimination2020From Left to Right: Lucy S. Dawidowicz, the New York Intellectuals, and the Politics of Jewish History2021To Repair a Broken World: The Life of Henrietta Szold, Founder of Hadassah2022 2023 Bruno Schulz: An Artist, a Murder, and the Hijacking of History2024Leonard Cohen: The Man Who Saw the Angels Fall2025 Biography and Autobiography +Biography and Autobiography award winners Year Title Author 2005Ester and Ruzya: How My Grandmothers Survived Hitler's War and Stalin's Peace2006 Book Club Award The awards in the Book Club Award category, the Miller Family Awards in Memory of Helen Dunn Weinstein and June Keit Miller, are presented to authors of an outstanding work of fiction or nonfiction that inspires meaningful conversation about Jewish life, identity, practice, or history. +Book Club Award winners Year Title Author 2016And After the Fire201720182019202020212022Shayna2023 20242025, Yardenne Greenspan (trans.)

Children's and young adults' literature +Children's and young adults' literature award winners Year Title Author 2004Wonders and Miracles: A Passover Companion2005Real Time20062007Homeland: The Illustrated History of the State of Israel200820092010Under a Red Sky: Memoir of a Childhood in Communist Romania2011Deadly2012Meet at the Ark at Eight20132014Spinoza: The Outcast Thinker Children's Literature The awards in the Children's Literature category are presented to authors (or editors) and illustrators of a Jewish-themed children book (age 0 to 11 years old).

The name the awards were known by changed on several occasions over the years: 1952 - 1955: Issac Sigel Memorial Award 1958: Pioneer Women's Hayim Greenberg Memorial Award 1957 - 1967: Issac Sigel Memorial Award 1970 - 1980: Charles and Bertie G. Schwartz Juvenile Award 1981 - 1986: William (Zev) Frank Memorial Award Presented by Ellen and David Scheinfeld 1987 - 1991: Anita and Martin Shapolsky Award 1992: The Once Upon A Time Bookstore Award 1993 - 1994: The Barbara Cohen Memorial Award 1995 - 2019: No specific name for the award in the category There was no National Jewish Book Award for the Children's Literature category in 1956, 1957, 1968, 1969 and for the years 2004 to 2014. In 1970, there were two winners of the National Jewish Book Award in the Children's Literature category and only one winner for the 2002-2003 period. +Children's Literature award winners Year Title Author Illustrator 1952All-of-a-Kind Family1953Stories of King David19541958 and Hayim Leaf1959Border Hawk: August Bondi1960Keys to a Magic Door: Isaac Leib Peretz1961Discovering Israel1962Ten and a Kid1963Return to Freedom19641965Worlds Lost and Found: Discoveries in Biblical Archeology and Dov Peretz Elkins196619671970Martin Buber: Wisdom in Our Time; The Story of an Outstanding Jewish Thinker and Humanist19701971Journey to America197219731974Uncle Misha's Partisans1975 and Morrison David Bial1976Haym Salomon Liberty's Son1977Rifka Grows Up1978Never to Forget: The Jews of the Holocaust1980Dita Saxova198119821983King of the Seventh Grade19841985Good If It Goes and Gail Levine-Friedus1986In Kindling Flame: The Story of Hannah Senesh, 1921-19441987Monday in Odessa198819891990Number the Stars1991Becoming Gershona and Seymour Simckes (trans.)1992 and Hillel Halkin, (trans.)1993Letters from Rifka1994Golden Windows and Other Stories of Jerusalem1995Under the Domim Tree and Hillel Schenker1996Next Year in Jerusalem: 3000 Years of Jewish Stories19971998Heeding the Call: Jewish Voices in America's Civil Rights Struggle1999With All My Heart, With All My Mind: Thirteen Stories About Growing Up Jewish (ed.)20002001Forged in Freedom: Shaping the Jewish-American Experience2002-2003Jewish Holidays All Year Round: A Family Treasury2015Oskar and the Eight Blessings and Richard Simon2016I Dissent: Ruth Bader Ginsburg Makes Her Mark20172018All Three Stooges2019Gittel’s Journey: An Ellis Island Story

Children's picture book The awards in the Children's Picture Book category are presented to authors and illustrators. The award was known as the Marcia and Louis Posner Awardfrom 1989 to 1993 and as Louis Posner Memorial Award from 1994 to 2001 There were no winners of the National Jewish Book Award in the Children's Picture Book category in 1984, 1995 and 1996. +Children's Picture Book award winners Year Title AuthorIllustrator 1983Yussel's Prayer: A Yom Kippur Story1985Mrs. Moskowitz and the Sabbath Candlesticks1986Brothers: A Hebrew Legend1987Poems for Jewish Holidays1988Exodus1989Just Enough Is Plenty: A Hanukkah Tale1990Berchick1991Hanukkah!1992Chicken Man1993Elijah's Angel: A Story for Chanukah and Christmas19941997Marven of the Great North Woods1998You Never Know: A Legend of the Lamed-vavniks1999Joseph Had a Little Overcoat2000Moishe's Miracle: A Hanukkah Story20012023Two New Years2024Sharing Shalom

Contemporary Jewish life and practices The awards in the Contemporary Jewish Life and Practices category are presented to authors of a non-fiction book about current tools and resources for Jewish living. The award was known as the Mimi Frank Award In Memory of Becky Levythe in 2002-2003 and as the Myra H. Kraft Memorial Awards since 2011. +Contemporary Jewish Life and Practices award winners Year Title Author 1988Mixed Blessings: Overcoming the Stumbling Blocks in an Interfaith Marriage1989Broken Alliance: The Turbulent Times Between Blacks and Jews in America1990Prayer & Community: The Havurah in American Judaism1991Maintaining Consensus: The Canadian Jewish Polity in the Postwar World1992Tradition in a Rootless World: Women Turn to Orthodox Judaism1993Against All Odds: Holocaust Survivors and the Successful Lives They Made in America19942002To Do the Right and the Good: A Jewish Approach to Modern Social Ethics200420052006FRAGMENTED FAMILIES: Patterns of Estrangement and Reconciliation2007Inventing Jewish Ritual2008Conscience: The Duty to Obey and the Duty to Disobey2009Saving Israel: How the Jewish People Can Win a War That May Never End2010Walking Israel: A Personal Search for the Soul of a Nation20112012Davening: A Guide to Meaningful Jewish Prayer2013Kaddish: Women's Voices2015All Who Go Do Not Return: A Memoir2016Changing the World from the Inside Out: A Jewish Approach to Personal and Social Change201720182019How to Fight Anti-Semitism2020Judaism for the World: Reflections on God, Life, and Love2021People Love Dead Jews: Reports from a Haunted Present2022On Repentance And Repair: Making Amends in an Unapologetic World2023 Loving Our Own Bones: Disability Wisdom and the Spiritual Subversiveness of Knowing Ourselves Whole2024 Contemporary Jewish thought and experience The awards in the Contemporary Jewish thought and experience category, the Maurice Amado Foundation Award, are presented to authors of books about the contemporary Jewish experience. +Contemporary Jewish thought and experience award winner Year Title Author 2002-2003A Jew in America: My Life and A People's Struggle for IdentityArthur Hertzberg Debut fiction