Your PJ Our Way Books for December 2025

How to Find What You’re Not Looking For
By: Veera Hiranandani

Ages 11+

384 pages

It’s 1967, and 12-year-old Ari Goldman’s life has just been turned upside down. Her parents are no longer speaking to her beloved older sister, Leah, after Leah eloped with an Indian Hindu man, Raj. The family’s bakery isn’t doing well, and her parents are considering selling it. And, as one of the few Jewish families in their small town in Connecticut, Ari and her family face antisemitism on a regular basis. To top it all off, Ari was just diagnosed with dysgraphia – a writing disability that her parents are unwilling to accept.

Set against the backdrop of the civil rights movement, the Vietnam war, the assassination of Martin Luther King, and a landmark Supreme Court decision outlawing bans on interracial marriage, this award-winning novel explores one girl’s struggles to understand what’s right, what’s wrong, and what she believes in when everything around her is changing.

Pickled Watermelon
By: Esty Shachter

Ages 10+

144 pages

Molly is nervous about leaving her friends and her beloved Bubbe to spend a month in Israel with her mom’s family. She doesn’t like change, so at first she tries to avoid adapting to Israeli life, but slowly the country and its people win her over. By the end of the trip she has bonded with her Israeli family and is sad to leave. This is a sweet book, full of warm family relationships and appealing detail about life in Israel in 1986.

Chunky
By: Yehudi Mercado

Ages 9+

208 pages

This is a fictionalized graphic memoir about Yehudi Mercado’s experience as a Jewish Mexican boy growing up in Texas in the 1980s. He's fat and funny, but his super-athletic father wants him to be an athlete. We see Hudi try multiple sports without much luck, before finally turning to football, where his size is an advantage. However, Hudi is clearly giving up a part of himself – his humor and kindness – when he follows the coach’s instructions to intentionally injure players on the other team. Ultimately, Hudi finds his way back to his true self and his true passion, the stage. Adding humor and pathos is Chunky, Hudi’s imaginary friend and mascot. Both text and art are amusing in this fast-paced story featuring a very relatable protagonist.

Zevi Takes the Spotlight
By: Carol Matas

Ages 9+

128 pages

More than anything, Zevi Fredriks wants to be an actor. But he’s not your typical 7th grader. Zevi can see the future, hear people's thoughts, and talk to dead people. When Zevi’s secret gets out, he’s worried that the publicity will ruin his career aspirations. But things turn around when Zevi and his best friend Nir learn that a famous actor is coming to town to film a movie – and they want to film in Zevi's house! Will Zevi’s premonitions ruin the movie or save a life?

This fun mystery is a Hi-Lo (high-interest, low-reading level) book for middle-grade readers who are building reading skills, want a quick read, or struggle to get into a book!