Confessions of a Closet Catholic — Sarah Littman

Justine Silver's best friend, Mary Catherine McAllister, has given up chocolate for Lent. Although she's not Catholic, Jussy wants to be supportive, so she decides to give up something too. But chocolate? Jussy doesn't think God wants her to make that kind of sacrifice.

Her solution? She decides to give up being Jewish instead.

Jussy's bedroom closet becomes her confessional as she pours out her sins to her teddy bear, “Father Ted.” But when her beloved Bubbe suffers a stroke, Jussy worries that her religious exploration is responsible. Worse, Jussy must suddenly contemplate life without Bubbe, the one person who seems to understand her.

Young readers of every faith will see themselves in Jussy as she struggles to find balance between her search for religious identity and the dramas of her everyday existence, including boys, life as a tormented middle child, and, of course, the temptations of chocolate.