The Chosen

It's the spring of 1944 and fifteen-year-olds Reuven Malter and Danny Saunders have lived five blocks apart all their lives. But they've never met, not until the day an accident during a softball game sparks an unlikely friendship. Soon these two boys-one expected to become a Hasidic rebbe, the other at ease with secular America-are drawn into one another's worlds despite one father's strong opposition.

Set against the backdrop of WWII and the creation of the state of Israel, The Chosen is a poignant novel about transformation and tradition, growing up and growing wise, and finding yourself-even if that might mean leaving your community.