Land of Hope (Ellis Island)

00001900

Rebekah, 15, and her family leave their shtetl in Russia for the U. S., seeking safety from the random violence against Jews. On the ship she meets two girls, one Irish and one Swedish, representing two other major groups of immigrants in the early 1900s. Rebekah and her friends talk about the opportunities for women in their new country, a theme that reappears throughout the story. Interwoven is the beginning of a romance that will surely develop in later books. The novel's strength is its sense of place; readers suffer the smells and trials of the long, harrowing ocean trip and feel the confusion the family faces in New York, even then a large and chaotic city.
-Amazon.com

Not as interesting as The Orphan Train series but still good reads! ( )

This definitely gives you a different perspective than Upton Sinclair's The Jungle. These three girls want to come to America to get the same rights as boys, and find camaraderie together. Soon they are separated and we follow Rebekah's story where she struggles to get her family beyond their life in the sweatshop and get her parents' to understand her dreams. Finally she takes action and makes it happen. ( )