Rachel's Roses

August 1, 2019
Rachel does not like having to be responsible for her little sister Hannah, who idolizes her and wants to be just like her. Papa has a good job, and Bubbie takes in laundry. Her mother has quit her job in order to design and sew a dress for a client, hoping eventually to start her own business. Every penny counts. But Rachel wants new buttons on her old skirt to wear for Rosh Hashanah. Mama gives her a nickel and she has six pennies of her own, but the beautiful rose buttons she craves cost more. The button seller agrees to hold the buttons, along with some for Hannah, until Rosh Hashanah. Now Rachel must earn the money. The drugstore has the only telephone on the block, and when calls come in, she brings the intended recipients to the phone, sometimes getting a penny for her help. When Hannah gets lost trying to help her, Rachel learns the value of generosity, and a very happy holiday ensues. Wolff has constructed a sweet, nostalgic vignette of early-20th-century immigrant New York City, alluding to the difficulties but stressing the goodness. Rachel and her family, friends, and neighbors are not anachronisms or caricatures but are entirely accessible to modern readers. Lucas' lovely black-and-white drawings, reminiscent of Helen John's in Sydney Taylor's All of a Kind Family (1951), are perfectly in sync with the spirit of the text. Hope, love, determination, and kindness abound. (Historical fiction. 7-10)

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July 19, 2019

Gr 2-4-Third-grader Rachel Bergen lives in a tenement on New York City's Lower East Side in the early 20th century. She plays street games with her friends, gets advice from her grandmother, and does her best to avoid her needy little sister, Hannah. When Rachel finds a fancy set of buttons that will make her Rosh Hashanah skirt stand out from Hannah's, she devises a scheme to earn enough money to afford it. Eventually Rachel learns that her sister and her family are worth more than material goods. Charming black-and-white drawings include many details from the story, and the clear, simple prose and plot make this ideal for readers nearly ready to graduate from chapter books. The story skillfully depicts elements of Jewish life and the time period. Examples include the ingredients for kugel and egg creams, women working 14-hour days in sweatshops, and that many of Rachel's neighbors are recent immigrants. Those who have read Sydney Taylor's "All-of-a-Kind Family" series will find this a familiar and welcome read-alike. VERDICT A gentle and accessible slice of historical fiction to give to readers moving on from chapter books, or to offer as a gentle read-aloud for younger children.-Lisa Goldstein, Brooklyn Public Library

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