The Boston Chocolate Party

"A fast-paced picture book that combines the drama foreshadowing the American Revolution, the heroic Maccabee fight for freedom, and Sephardic Hanukkah customs" --Association of Jewish Libraries

"An engag­ing sto­ry about a Jew­ish Amer­i­can past" --Jewish Book Council

" A delightful book about friendship, the Revolutionary war, Jewish history, and of course, recipes" --The Chocolate Professor

Joshua Mendes misses his best friend Isaac, who has moved to Boston. Joshua’s Papa is importing chocolate beans to the American Colonies, showing café owners how to make hot chocolate now that the tea tax has made tea too expensive to drink. When Papa travels to Boston, Joshua joins him. Together, they help Isaac’s family open a chocolate house, while the people of Boston demonstrate against British tea taxation.

Set against the backdrop of Hanukkah and the American fight for independence, this is a story of friendship, freedom, and a love of chocolate. End notes provide background about the Boston Tea Party, a brief explanation of the holiday of Hanukkah, and a description of America's first Jews, predominantly settlers from Spain and Portugal who came to escape religious persecution and to find religious freedom and economic opportunity. Includes recipes for Colonial-style hot chocolate and bunuelos.

Tami Lehman-Wilzig is an award-winning author of sixteen picture books, including SOOSIE, The Horse That Saved Shabbat, The Henna Helper, Keeping the Promise, Passover Around the World, and On the Wings of Eagles, a National Jewish Book Award Finalist. She lives in Kfar Saba, Israel

Rabbi Deborah R. Prinz authored the pioneering bestseller On the Chocolate Trail. That book provided the foundation for the museum exhibit, "Semite Sweet: On Jews and Chocolate" at the Bernard Museum, NYC. Her forthcoming book about Jewish celebratory breads will be released in 2023 (Behrman House). Rabbi Prinz has held leadership positions in the national Jewish community and was a congregational rabbi for three decades. She lives in New York City.