National Network for Equitable Library Service

Just the thought of Eid makes Amira warm and tingly inside. From wearing new clothes to handing out goody bags at the mosque, Amira can't wait for the festivities to begin. But when a flier on the fridge catches her eye, Amira's stomach goes cold. Not only is it Eid, it's also school-picture day. If she's not in her class picture, how will her classmates remember her? Won't her teacher wonder where she is? Although the day's celebrations at the mosque are everything Amira was dreaming of, her absence at picture day weighs on her.

Millie Fisher may be widowed, but she leads a full life in her Amish hometown of Harvest, Ohio. There's her quilting circle, her Boer goats, her gift for matchmaking-and the occasional murder . . . Millie is happy that her childhood friend, Uriah Schrock, has returned to Harvest after decades away. He was sweet on Millie in their school days, but she only had eyes for her future husband. Now, there's a new spark between them, so Millie is concerned when Uriah doesn't show up at the Harvest concert series-or for his job as the Village square's groundskeeper.

Three charming stories of new school years and new romance. A Class for Laurel by Amy Clipston Adventurous Laurel Weaver leaves Pennsylvania to answer a newspaper ad for a teaching position in Colorado. She stays with handsome Glen Troyer's family, and they become close. However, she never intended to stay in Colorado, and his family worries Glen may choose to follow her back to Pennsylvania or be left with a broken heart. Now she can't bear to think of leaving Glen and her beloved students, but she's beginning to feel like she's out of options.

What would happen if we called on God for help and God actually appeared? In Mitch Albom's profound new novel of hope and faith, a group of shipwrecked passengers pull a strange man from the sea. He claims to be "the Lord." And he says he can only save them if they all believe in him. Adrift in a raft after a deadly ship explosion, nine people struggle for survival at sea. Three days pass. Short on water, food and hope, they spot a man floating in the waves. They pull him in. "Thank the Lord we found you," a passenger says. "I am the Lord," the man whispers.

A most anticipated book selected by Popsugar, Bustle, Buzzfeed, Goodreads members. "The Matzah Ball had me laughing out loud...an all-around terrific read." - Debbie Macomber, #1 New York Times bestselling author Oy! To the world Rachel Rubenstein-Goldblatt is a nice Jewish girl with a shameful secret: she loves Christmas. For a decade she's hidden her career as a Christmas romance novelist from her family. Her talent has made her a bestseller even as her chronic illness has always kept the kind of love she writes about out of reach.

Set in the Orthodox Jewish community in North West London, The Marrying of Chani Kaufman is the poignant and humorous story of nineteen-year-old Chani Kaufman and the lead-up to her wedding night. Nineteen-year-old Chani lives in the ultra-orthodox Jewish community of North West London. She has never had physical contact with a man, but is bound to marry a stranger. The rabbi’s wife teaches her what it means to be a Jewish wife, but Rivka has her own questions to answer.

Set in the tumultuous 1970s when women, African Americans, and the gay and lesbian community fought for equality while a "New Right" mobilized in defense of political conservatism and traditional family values, Memory's Shadow is the story of a family that survived the Holocaust and their ongoing engagement with that legacy long after World War II has ended. The novella deals with memory and mourning through the lens of the adult sisters in the Berk family.

Bird Shadows is a playful tale of eccentricities, misconceptions, and misogyny. While working on a personal spiritual project, an irreverent artist encourages her religious sister to rethink the marriage that seems to be killing her soul. The people in the quaint little Bay of Fundy fishing village of Brood Bay will not soon forget the events of 1995. It was an outrage! A good Christian family was torn apart by the wicked influence of a mentally unbalanced, morally challenged artist.

When Beverly Overholt's beloved Orange Blossom Inn is broken into, she's shaken to her core. As she puts the inn back together with the help of it's owner, Eric Wagler, and prepares for Christmas, the trust between them grows. Will Christmas bring a second chance at love for Beverly? And if it does, will she be brave enough to take it?

Edmund is a good man, and will make a decent husband, just not for Leona. The more time she spends with him and his overbearing ways, the less she wants to be his wife. But when a chance encounter with a wayward cat brings her face-to-face with a handsome, fun-loving Amish man named Zachary Kauffman, Leona's faced with two vastly different futures.