The BBG Booklist: Menorah Pledge Principle Books

The Menorah Pledge contains the utmost values of the International Order of the BBGs: Citizenship, Jewish Heritage, Community Service, Philanthropy, Inter-faith Relations, Tradition, Good Sisterhood, and Prayer for World Jewry. We, as BBG, try to exemplify these values in every aspect of our lives, not just in BBYO. These principles can be found everywhere, so why not in our reading? Enjoy these following books, spanning multiple genres, which embody our amazing principles. ‍

Citizenship

• The Sun is Also A Star: within an amazing tale of Natasha and Daniel’s love, exists a fight for Natasha’s family to not be deported. 
• Esperanza Rising: it may be a younger story, but still tells a detailed story of Esperanza’s family being uprooted from a comfortable life in Mexico for an unknown one in America.  

Jewish Heritage

• Sarah’s Key: a dual narration, with one part from the perspective of a young girl during the Holocaust, and the other from a journalist who is discovering the girl’s story decades later.
• Sick Kids in Love: if you’ve read Five Feet Apart, read this one too! Isabel and Sasha, both sick and both Jewish fall for each other as they find more and more in common.

Community Service

• The Hunger Games: This book is universally known for its outstanding film, but the books go even further into the plot, world, and the sacrifice Katniss made for Prim and her community. 

Philanthropy

• Starship Troopers: This is a science fiction novel focused on military life in a futuristic world. Reading this provides many different perspectives on the idea of welfare and doing the best for as many people as possible.

Inter-faith Relations

• The Wrath and the Dawn: every dawn, the caliph executes his wife, and marries another. Shahrzad volunteers to marry the caliph, Khalid, in order to get revenge for the countless wives he killed before her. Will she kill Khalid before the next dawn, or will another path arise?
• Ms. Marvel: For those of you who aren’t a fan of long novels, Ms. Marvel comics follows Kamala Khan as she gains powers and protects her city. 

Tradition

• The Selection: (my personal favorite) in a dystopian fantasy, America is a girl forced to enter a competition for the prince’s heart. She has to decide what traditions of their kingdom are worth following, or worth breaking for herself and her values.
• Fiddler on the Roof: How can we mention tradition without Fiddler on the Roof!? If you want a print version of this musical, read the famous play of Tevye and his family. 

Good Sisterhood

• Three Dark Crowns: a set of royal triplets, each with equal claim to the throne, must fight to be the sole successor to the crown. As they grow up apart, they face the struggles of choosing between their sisterhood bonds and power aspirations.
• To All the Boys I Loved Before: while famous for the Netflix movies, it is an amazing book series, and you will love reading the connection between Lara Jean and her sisters.

Prayer for World Jewry

• The Cellar: with the prayer for world Jewry, we wish for everyone to be able to freely practice Judaism, but with that—for everyone to be able to freely live. This omnipresent first-person narrative follows Summer as she is kidnapped and placed in captivity with three other young girls.