Meet Rebecca 1914

I hadn't read American Girl for a long time, and happened to come across this in my local Little Free Library. I thought, since I enjoyed the original American Girls, why not check this out? So I grabbed it, and at my age, this book was a quick read as it's geared towards preteen/tween girls. It had the same education/entertainment value I recall from the other books. Like Kirsten, Rebecca's family immigrated, although from Russia, and Rebecca was born in America so her experience is also different from Kirsten's. Still, she lives in two cultures, her Russian Jewish heritage and the differences in America due to her parents and grandparents holding onto the ways of the old country.

In Meet Rebecca, the main character, Rebecca Rubin, is a 9 year old Jewish immigrant who lives in New York. The story follows Rebecca as she goes through significant character development. At the beginning of the novel, Rebecca is upset that she isn’t old enough to light the Shabbos candles and wants to make money to prove she is mature enough to buy her own. However, when Rebecca learns that her cousins need tickets to escape the war in Russia and her family can’t afford them, she decides to give all of her earned money to her papa to help save her cousins. Throughout the story, Rebecca learns not to be selfish and matures as she decides to help her family. This book is a great story to teach young kids about selflessness, show more especially in times of need. Additionally, Meet Rebecca is considered historic fiction. It is set in 1914 and very accurately portrays the true lives of many immigrants in America. I rate the book 5 out of 5 stars because of its inspirational and educational value - teaching selflessness through Rebecca’s character development while also providing insight to the tough lives of immigrants in 1900s America. show less

Rebecca starts out being upset that she doesn't get to light the candles and say the prayers like her older sisters. She just wants to grow up, so she hatches a plan to buy her own candles so that she can have the opportunity to say the prayers. She starts selling pieces of her trousseau to make money while helping at her father's shoe shop. She does not buy the candles, but realizes that she can use her money to help get her relatives to America from Russia where they are in danger. Really growing up for her meant giving up a selfish desire to contribute to a selfless one.

Continuing my read of American Girls released after I aged out of the demographic. Meet Rebecca is a solid introduction, as we're immediately tossed into her large, multi-generational household while dealing with the feeling of wanting to be treated like a grownup. WWI is on the horizon and there's concerns about her paternal uncle's family in Russia. The other immigration story in AG is Kirsten, but hers doubles as pioneer life, so it will be interesting to see Rebecca help her cousins come to America in the next several books.

This is a likeable story that effectively weaves in various aspects of Jewish culture and early twentieth-century New York life into the storyline. It also captures the common immigrant experience of the younger generation adopting different customs and negotiating the pulls between Old World and New. In the end, Rebecca's idea to sell her handiwork is recognized by the family as a Russian tradition in that it is another example of a youngest daughter solving the family's riddle as told in the famous Russian tale of Clever Karina.

In addition to researching any of the popular culture or historic figures and events mentioned in the back of the text, this book could be used as a jumping off point for students to research their own family show more history. They could interview older relatives to find out the story of when their family came to the United States (or even to a certain region in the US) and why. They could find out what challenges and changes the family faced by the move. These could become polished writing and presentation pieces to share. show less

I read this story and was very pleased with plot . The book focuses around a nine year old named Rebecca who wants nothing more than to be considered grown up. Rebecca struggles with conflict of buying her own Shabbat candles or saving the money to give to her father helping him buy boat tickets to send his family over. She also has internal conflict with the way she is making her money. Rebecca is selling her sheets, napkins and dollies she made for herself when she marries. However, Rebecca knows she is not doing the right thing selling her work and she feels even worse for hiding from her family. I like this book because it shows reader no one is perfect, people have selfish thoughts, wishes and desires. Rebecca is human and her show more struggle of proving she is growing up, but not there yet carries a great meaning. show less

easy to read and follow along as a good introductory tale to the Jewish faith & an immigration story