Your PJ Our Way Books for December

Just Shy of Ordinary
By: A.J. Sass

Ages 10+

384 pages

Thirteen-year-old Shai Stern is an expert problem-solver. There’s never been something they couldn’t research and figure out on their own. But there’s one thing Shai hasn’t been able to logic their way through: picking at the hair on their arms. After reading that a routine can reduce anxiety, Shai makes a plan for a new normal that includes going to public school, coming out to their friends as nonbinary and pansexual, and mastering their picking once and for all.

When Shai is assigned a big project for English, they decide to focus on their Jewish heritage and the Jewish community's relationship to queer individuals. Over the course of the fall, Shai struggles to manage their new responsibilities and friendships. Luckily, they find support in others who share their queer identity, including their English teacher, their friend Millie, and their crush Edie -- who ends up reciprocating Shai's feelings! Each change brings more surprises. Eventually Shai learns that they can’t plan their way out of everything, but with the help of family and friends, they can make it through anything.

The Girl with the Secret Name
By: Yael Zoldan

Ages 9+

152 pages

Gracia Mendes Nasi was born in Portugal in the year 1510, and this book tells the story of her incredible life.

Gracia spent the first twelve years of her life thinking she was a Christian girl named Beatrice de Luna. On the eve of her bat mitzvah year, she learned that her parents were Jews who had fled from Spain and now had to practice their Judaism in hiding.

After marrying Francisco Mendes, a wealthy spice trader, Gracia learned that he and his family were using their resources and connections to save the lives of Jews being persecuted under the Inquisition. After Francisco died, Gracia became one of the wealthiest and most powerful women in Renaissance Europe. She spent the rest of her life moving from country to country, staying one step ahead of antisemitic persecution and doing whatever she could to save the lives of her fellow Jews.

Readers will be inspired by this action-packed story of a real-life historical figure who wasn’t afraid to stay true to her values and fight for the lives of others.

The Lemonade Crime
By: Jacqueline Davies

Ages 9+

165 pages

Fourth grade isn’t off to a great start for Evan Treski. His younger sister Jessie skipped a grade and is now in his class, and when he hears that Scott Spencer has a brand-new video game console, he’s certain that Scott bought it with money he stole from Evan. To make matters even worse, it seems like every single child in the class is going over to Scott’s house to play his video games!

Meanwhile, Jessie is trying to find her place as the youngest student in the fourth grade. How much should she speak up in class, and with whom should she hang out on the playground? At least Megan Moriarty, the friend she made over the summer, is still her friend at school! As Jessie becomes increasingly convinced that Scott stole the money from Evan, she decides to take matters into her own hands.

With the help of a legal booklet her mother wrote, Jessica writes up an arrest warrant for Scott Spencer and arranges a mock trial on the playground. The other students serve as judge, jury, and attorneys. But when the outcome of the trial doesn’t go the way Evan and Jessie had hoped, can they still find out the truth? This is the sequel to The Lemonade War but also works well as a standalone book.

Mendel the Mess-Up
By: Terry LaBan

Ages 9+

208 pages

Mendel is so accident-prone that when he tries to chop wood, he breaks the axe, and when he stands up in class to read, he ends up wrecking the room. When the Cossacks invade Mendel’s shtetl, all the villagers run away to hide. Certain his presence will only bring disaster, Mendel leaves his community in order to keep them safe. But to his own surprise, he is able to draw on his history of mess-ups and find a way to save the day.