Jason Diamond is the 2026 winner of the Association of Jewish Libraries (AJL) Jewish Fiction Award <https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://jewishlibraries.org/jewish-fiction-award/__;!!KGKeukY!ymckfULs1nWAUqlMFMLVqHx4Nx6ss8PSCf5-W8d34g4YET-i7LvQw_RQnfRFsAaDMMlMrm8si5Vp3w_5g2jgTqQD5amay8Sc$ > for his novel Kaplan’s Plot, published by Flatiron Books, an imprint of Macmillan Publishers. The award includes a $1,000 cash prize and an invitation to attend the 2026 conference of the Association of Jewish Libraries, June 22–24, in Evanston, Illinois. Three honor books have also been recognized: Sisters of Fortune by Esther Chehebar, published by Random House, an imprint of Penguin Random House; Fagin the Thief by Allison Epstein, published by Doubleday, an imprint of Penguin Random House; and The Maiden and Her Monster by Maddie Martinez, published by Tor Books, an imprint of Macmillan Publishers. The committee reviewed close to 100 works of fiction originally written in or translated into English with significant Jewish thematic content published in the United States in 2025. Thanks to all those who submitted entries for consideration. The wide array of books published in 2025 is a testament to the vibrant state of contemporary Jewish fiction. A bracing and intellectually alive work of contemporary Jewish fiction, Kaplan’s Plot announces Diamond as a novelist of uncommon precision and insight. The novel moves deftly between irony and earnestness, tracing a protagonist caught between the stories he has inherited and the one he is struggling to write for himself. With a voice at once restless and reflective, Diamond interrogates ambition, memory, and moral responsibility in a world where personal reinvention is never fully disentangled from communal history.
“What distinguishes Kaplan’s Plot is its confidence—its refusal of easy resolutions and its trust in the reader’s attention. Diamond captures the texture of modern Jewish life with sharp humor and emotional depth, illuminating the quiet pressures of expectation alongside the exhilaration of self-discovery,” committee member Nicole Coover-Thompson remarked about the winning title. The committee recognizes the novel for its stylistic assurance, its ethical seriousness, and its resonant engagement with enduring Jewish questions as they are lived now. Kaplan’s Plot stands as a powerful affirmation of the vitality and evolving possibilities of Jewish fiction. Sisters of Fortune is a heartwarming debut novel by Esther Chehebar, set in Brooklyn’s insular Syrian Jewish community. The story unfolds through the alternating perspectives of the Cohen sisters—Nina, Fortune, and Lucy—each at pivotal life moments shaped by tradition, expectations to marry and settle down, and modern desires. Chehebar paints a vivid portrait of community life interwoven with rich threads of family and food. From grape leaves rolled under grandmother Sitto’s guidance to mother Sally’s acclaimed kibbe, food is both a source of comfort and a symbol of heritage, and the story blends universal themes of identity, independence, and sisterhood with humor and cultural specificity. “Sisters of Fortune is an engaging and authentic narrative about three women forging their own directions while honoring their roots and the traditions of their community,” says committee member Deborah Abecassis. It takes bravery, audacity, and literary talent, not to mention a measure of chutzpah, to deconstruct and redraw not only one of the most famous characters of English literature, but a work beloved around the world. Fagin the Thief by Allison Epstein is a daring work of literary reclamation that brings urgency and depth to a figure long confined to stereotype. Restless, incisive, and morally alert, the novel re-enters a familiar story from an oblique angle, transforming its margins into the center of inquiry. Through supple prose and a voice attuned to both irony and pain, Fagin the Thief examines how identity is shaped under pressure: by prejudice, by survival, and by the stories imposed from the outside. The book asks difficult questions about agency and complicity, refusing nostalgia or easy vindication in favor of psychological depth and narrative verve; the book transforms a once-symbolic character into a fully realized consciousness, alive to history yet resistant to its simplifications. Epstein’s reimagining gives Fagin “a humanity and nuance that drives the plot until the final radical denouement,” says committee member Sarah Feldman. “It’s a tour de force of a novel.” The Maiden and Her Monster by Maddie Martinez draws its power from the oldest currents of Jewish folklore, echoing the legendary Golem of Prague while forging something entirely its own. When protagonist Malka enters the cursed forest, she encounters a creature shaped not from clay but from fear, memory, and the stories her community has carried since the days of the Maharal. As she uncovers the truth behind the so‑called monster, Malka is forced to confront the same questions that haunted Prague’s ghetto centuries ago: Who is worthy of protection, who decides what a monster is, and what happens when a creation begins to claim its own purpose. “Steeped in Jewish mythology, this beautiful and lyrical novel reimagines an ancient tale for a new generation,” notes committee member Tina Lernø. The AJL Jewish Fiction Award Committee members are Rena Citrin, Chair, Bernard Zell Anshe Emet Day School (retired), Chicago, Illinois; Deborah Abecassis, McGill University, Montreal, Canada; Nicole Coover-Thompson, Maine West High School Library, Des Plaines, Illinois; Sarah Feldman, Winchester Public Library, Winchester, Massachusetts; Dina Herbert, AJL past president, Alexandria, Virginia; and Tina Lernø, Los Angeles Public Library. The Association of Jewish Libraries gratefully acknowledges the generous support of Dan Wyman Books for underwriting the Award. Submissions for the 2027 AJL Fiction Award (titles published in 2026) are now being accepted. For more information, please visit https://urldefense.com/v3/__http://www.jewishlibraries.org/jewish-fiction-award__;!!KGKeukY!ymckfULs1nWAUqlMFMLVqHx4Nx6ss8PSCf5-W8d34g4YET-i7LvQw_RQnfRFsAaDMMlMrm8si5Vp3w_5g2jgTqQD5U-C3D19$ .
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