The Chosen

Potok’s best-selling debut about two Jewish boys growing up in 1940s Brooklyn, published in 1967, is now considered a classic. Danny is Orthodox, while Reuven is Hasidic. While Reuven recovers from an eye injury courtesy of baseball, he listens to coverage of D-Day on the radio. After the war ends and the horrors of the Holocaust emerge, Danny and Reuven’s fathers have very different ideas about their sons and what role Israel should play in their future. Nominated for the National Book Award, this explores the nuances of religious differences, assimilation in the US, and the gift of friendship.