Isaacs, Ron, Ask the Rabbi: The Who, What, When, Where, Why, & How of Being Jewish, John Wiley & Sons, 2003.

Rabbi Ron Isaacs's book is an informative guide to all matters Jewish, aimed at teenage readers. It includes answers to serious questions about the nature of God, prayer, and death, and responds to more light-hearted questions, such as why there are so many Jewish comedians and doctors. It includes sections on “classic Jewish books,” including the Talmud and the Kabbalist text, the Zohar. The author is a rabbi of a New Jersey congregation and co-director of its Hebrew high school.

Levine, Stephanie Wellen, Mystics, Mavericks, and Merrymakers: An Intimate Journey among Hasidic Girls, New York University Press, 2004.

Stephanie Wellen Levine spent a year living as a participant observer in the Lubavitcher Hasidic community in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, New York. Her book answers the question of whether adolescent...