Ice Cream Town

June 1, 2007
Gr 3-6-In 1920, 10-year-old Sammy Levin and his teenage sister, Malka, sail from Poland to America to be reunited with their father. Upon their arrival at Ellis Island, Malka is held back because of a persistent cough, but after a suspenseful few days, doctors rule out consumption and the siblings are allowed to enter the United States. This story of their adjustment is reminiscent of Amy Hest's "When Jessie Came across the Sea" (Candlewick, 1997) and Patricia Reilly Giff's "Water Street" (Random, 2006), although Arato focuses on a male protagonist and how he navigates the various gangs in his Lower East Side neighborhood. The author describes how each character comes to terms with being together again as a family, nicely weaving in Jewish traditions as well as the customs and cultural mix of their new country. Despite rather two-dimensional characters, this is a richly detailed, solid piece of historical fiction that gives insight into the early-20th-century immigrant experience. Purchase this novel where there is high interest in fiction covering this period and be prepared to booktalk it to get kids past the humdrum title (which refers to one of Sammy's favorite things about America: vanilla ice cream) and not-very-appealing cover art."Kim Dare, Fairfax County Public Schools, VA"

Copyright 2007 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

April 1, 2007
Why did immigrants bother to make the harrowing journey from poor villages in Poland and elsewhere to New Yorks Lower East Side in the early 1900s? Sammy often asks himself this as he considers his familys grim, cramped apartment; the pressures of street gangs; and the haughtiness of better-off relatives. Papa works such long hours that he is barely home, and Sammy resents having to follow Orthodox Jewish customs. For a while, the lonely 10-year-old enjoys camaraderie and stickball with one of the gangs, but after his companions abandon him during a shoplifting expedition, he must find different ways of adjusting to his new American life. Several dilemmas resolve too neatly at the end, and Sammy seems wise beyond his years. Still, readers of historical fictionperhaps especially those who recognize aspects of their own family history in Sammys experiencewill appreciate the details of the books setting and its portrait of growing up where "everything is upside down."(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2007, American Library Association.)