A coming-of-age novel about a queer Jewish girl who finds her calling through the camera lens... and about the family that shapes her.

Emily Novak's younger brother Zack is the rebellious one in their family. Ivy-League-bound Emily witnesses Zack's journey from behind her camera, cowed by the weight of her parents' confusing expectations and the aftermath of an extended family schism she doesn't want to think about. An unexpected college heartbreak with a woman sends Emily even further into a cocoon.

As Emily struggles over two decades to find the courage to make her own choices, she observes that her brother's adventures are bringing him a confidence that she envies. She's also aware of the rising cost of Zack's decisions... as well as her own.

Can Emily find a way to be faithful to both herself and the people she loves most? And if she dares to ask the questions, stand her ground, and let her heart open again, might she even find something good?

BECOMING EMILY NOVAK is the story of how we sift through our inheritances to disentangle our own truths, and what that sifting means for the shape of our adulthood.