The Chosen by Chaim Potok

A now-classic story of two fathers and two sons and the pressures on all of them to pursue the religion they share in the way that is best suited to each. And as the boys grow into young men, they discover in the other a lost spiritual brother, and a link to an unexplored world that neither had ever considered before. In effect, they exchange places, and find the peace that neither will ever retreat from again. . . .

God deals with me in silence.

Two boys. Reuven is an Orthodox Jew, and Danny is a Hasidic Jew. An intense baseball game leads to Danny hitting a ball directly at Reuven; Reuven's glasses break, and a piece of glass goes into his eye. The two boys become friends, despite their differences in belief and despite the differences in their fathers' parenting.

The Chosen, which I had never read before, was recommended to me by my brother as one of his favorite books, and I find it interesting that I, in turn, recommended to my brother My Name is Asher Lev, a book by the same author that is one of my favorite books, and a book that he has never read.

It's a story about friendship, about ways of being a father, about spirituality, and all of these themes are presented in ways that lead us as readers to think deeply about those ideas.