10 Authors Who Capture What It’s Like to Grow Up in an Interfaith Family

Growing up, I struggled to find my place in the Jewish community as an interfaith Jew. By some people’s standards, I am not Jewish enough, despite having an American Jewish mother, because I have a Swiss Calvinist father. Celebrating Hanukkah and Christmas growing up was my norm, but discussing my holidays and family interfaith traditions sometimes made me feel isolated. 

I didn’t know other interfaith Jews growing up, so the first ones I met were through books. Specifically, Margaret in Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret was the first modern-ish Jewish interfaith girl I encountered. What I’ve found is that many of these characters, like myself, merge traditions from different faiths and have trouble navigating their blended identity. 

Today, I continue to enjoy reading books and other pieces of work that capture what it’s like to grow up in an interfaith family. Here are 10 authors, including interfaith Jews, parents of interfaith Jews, and authors who write characters from interfaith families that nail what it’s like to come from a mixed religion family

1. Are You There God, It’s Me Margaret by Judy Blume 

I first came across this book when I was in fifth grade while binge-reading Judy Blume’s young adult novels. The main protagonist of this story is Margaret, an 11-year old who has a Christian mother and Jewish father. Margaret, who was raised without a religious affiliation, chooses to study people’s religious beliefs in order to try and figure out her own religious identity.

It’s wild to think that this book came out more than 50 years ago. From a subplot about girls wondering when they’re going to get their periods to navigating one’s religious identity, this book is still incredibly relevant and worth a re-read as an adult. 

Get it here.

2. Good Talk: A Memoir in Conversations by Mira Jacobs 

When I was younger, I asked my parents a lot of questions about my religious identity and identity in general, much like Mira Jacob’s son Z, who has an Indian American mother (Jacob) and a Jewish father. In her graphic novel Good Talk: A Memoir in Conversation, Jacob showcases the dialogue that her and her son have had, from his questions about race to her in-laws (and Z’s grandparents) being avid Trump supporters. 

Get it here.

3. Forest with Castanets by Diane Mehta 

Born to an American Jewish mother and an Indian Jain father, Diane Mehta’s debut book of poetry, Forest with Castanets, explores her cultural identity. Mehta, who was born in Germany and moved to her father’s home country of India shortly thereafter, revealed that she didn’t know that she was Jewish until moving to the United States, when her mother signed her up for “school at the local synagogue in New Jersey.” Mehta writes about a complicated subject — religious interfaith identity — in a beautiful way through her poems. 

Get it here.

4. Long Live the Tribe of Fatherless Girls by T Kira Madden 

If you haven’t heard of Long Live the Tribe of Fatherless Girls, you may have been living under a rock. T Kira Madden, whose late father was Jewish and whose mother is Chinese and Hawaiian, said that her parents allowed her to learn about “every different religion, every culture.” 

Madden, who also chronicles her experience growing up with parents who struggled with addictions in her book, says she hopes that people who feel like outsiders can “recognize some version of themselves, or some element of themselves” in her book. 

Get it here.

5. The Whole Story of Half a Girl by Vira Hirandandi

Born to an American Jewish mother and a Hindu Indian father, Vira Hirandandi said she “grew up feeling not quite enough of one or the other” in an interview with Publisher’s Weekly. In her novel The Whole Story of Half a Girl, the protagonist, Sonia Nadhamuni — who also has a Jewish American mom and an Indian dad — faces pressures from her peers to define her identity, which is a pressure that I felt from my peers, too. Like Blume’s Are You There God, It’s Me Margaret, The Whole Story of Half a Girl is a young adult novel that captures what it’s like to navigate one’s interfaith identity as a young girl. 

Get it here.

6. I Wanna Be Your Shoebox by Cristina Garcia 

In I Wanna Be Your Shoebox, the main character Yumi Ruíz-Hirsch has a Jewish-Japanese father and a Cuban mother. I don’t have fond memories of eighth grade, and Yumi’s experience is going similarly poorly: Her family is losing their house, her school is cutting her beloved orchestra program, and her grandfather Saul is dying. This novel is refreshingly realistic and one of my favorite parts of the book is when Yumi’s mother calls her a poster child for the 21st century because of her mixed heritage. 

Get it here.

7. Queen of the Hanukkah Dosas by Pamela Ehrenberg 

In the children’s picture book Queen of Hanukkah Dosas, little Sadie and her multicultural family — her mom is Indian and her dad is Jewish — celebrate Hanukkah while mixing in some of her mother’s Indian traditions, like eating dosas. 

While I do enjoy reading novels which tackle the complexity which can often come from being in an interfaith family, it’s nice to read simple stories of how different religions and cultures can complement each other. 

Get it here.

8. Half/Life: Jew-ish Tales from Interfaith Homes by Laurel Synder 

Born to an Irish Catholic mother and a Jewish father, Laurel Snyder has written a plethora of young adult novels and children’s picture books. My favorite of hers is Half/Life: Jew-ish Tales from Interfaith Homes, which is an anthology she edited. Half/Life contains a series of essays which showcase different experiences that Jews had while growing up in Jew-ish homes. It’s a great read if you want glimpses into just how different interfaith Jewish families can be. 

Get it here.

9. Sonora by Hannah Lillith Assadi 

Novelist Hannah Lillith Assadi is Jewish and Palestinian and published her debut novel Sonora in 2017. In an interview with Jewish Boston, Assadi said that she identifies “with both identities” and “grew up celebrating the High Holidays as well as acknowledging major Islamic holidays.” Like Assadi herself, Ahlam, the main character of Sonora, is the daughter of a Palestinian father and a Jewish mother who was raised in Arizona. The novel is told from the point of view of Ahlam and follows her and her friend Laura’s journey to New York City.

Sonora is a captivating novel, but don’t just take my word for it. The book was a 2018 National Book Foundation’s 5 Under 35 Honoree and a recipient of the American Academy of Arts and Letters​ Rosenthal Family Foundation Award in Literature. 

Get it here.

10. Poetry and books by Phil Kaye 

Born to a Jewish father and a Japanese mother, Phil Kaye, in an interview with The Knockturnal, said that he “felt like this odd duck” growing up, as he didn’t know any other Japanese Jewish kids growing up. Kaye is also the co-director of Project VOICE with Sarah Kay, a fellow Japanese-Jewish poet. In his 2018 book, Date & Time, which is a full-length poetry collection, Kaye touches on everything from being a mixed race and interfaith kid to millennial stereotypes. 

Get it here.

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