The Girl in the Torch

April 27, 2015
Sharenow (The Berlin Boxing Club) follows the struggles of a 12-year-old Russian Jewish immigrant in early 20th-century New York City. Driven from their home after their village is attacked, Sarah Cohen and her mother travel by ship to Ellis Island. After her mother dies suddenly, Sarah is left there to fend for herself, with only a toy bear for company. Desperate, Sarah swims to Liberty Island. There, she survives on tourists' leftovers until she helps an injured, drunk watchman, who takes her to a rooming house in Chinatown where people of all cultures and religions sit at the dinner table together. The story has the feeling of being more about a time then a character, and Sarah's rapid education in American life can give the novel a didactic tone. But it's also rich with historical detail as Sharenow covers flophouses, newsies, and more, and its themes of drawing strength from others, making a new life, and struggling for independence are moving. Endnotes provide additional information on U.S. immigration history. Ages 8â12. Agent: Maria Massie, Lippincott, Massie, McQuilkin.

March 1, 2015
When her mother dies in quarantine at Ellis Island, 12-year-old Sarah has no hope of being admitted to America on her own. Since no family members can be found to sponsor her, she is placed on a ship for deportation back to Russia. In desperation, she jumps into the icy water and swims for Bedloe's Island and the Statue of Liberty. There, she survives by hiding among the trees, eating tourists' discards, and sleeping in the Lady's torch at night, all the while evading the night watchman, Maryk. But when he catches her, he proves to be a friend. He takes her to his boardinghouse in Chinatown, where she becomes part of a very diverse and eccentric group of outsiders. Sharenow presents a mixed picture of the experiences of immigrants and other outsiders in turn-of-the-20th-century New York, vividly describing what Sarah sees and hears, tastes and smells amid the reality of grinding poverty and nearly constant fear. Sarah's support network of Chinese, Irish, African-American, and Native American friends is unusual and highly unlikely, though comforting for young readers, who may well need it. In an epilogue, readers catch up with Sarah 20 years later as she revisits the Statue. The book concludes with two author's notes, a variety of research sources, and a timeline. Exciting if at times disquieting in its realism. (Historical fiction. 9-12)

April 1, 2015

Gr 4-7-When her father is brutally murdered, Sarah and her mother escape the Russian pogroms and sail to America with a prized postcard of the Statue of Liberty inspiring their dreams of a new life. This treasure offers little comfort however, after Sarah's mother is stricken with illness and dies upon their arrival at Ellis Island. With no relatives in the United States, the authorities decide to send Sarah back to her home country. Instead, she jumps overboard from the ship making the return trip and swims to Liberty Island, taking refuge in Lady Liberty. After a week's worth of evading capture and scavenging for survival, Sarah comes to the aid of the drunken night watchman when an accident leaves him incapacitated. Her discovery not only puts his position in jeopardy but gives Sarah a chance to make a life for herself far different from that which her parents had imagined. Many elements of this middling novel seem too far-fetched to be plausible. In addition, the majority of individuals are stock characters, some of whom seem racially stereotyped, only adding to the novel's contrivance. Ethnic diversity in the Lower East Side during the turn of the 20th century is portrayed as naively harmonious, with what little conflict that exists too neatly resolved at times. Still, readers interested in historical fiction will find a readable narrative with mostly likable personalities. Avi's City of Orphans (S. & S., 2011) surpases this book in its representation of daily life in the tenements and the gritty realities for many living on the Lower East Side. VERDICT For collections with a regional interest to its locale, this would be a servicable addition; passable for smaller collections and budgets.-Rebecca Gueorguiev, New York Public Library

Copyright 2015 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

April 15, 2015
Grades 3-6 This tale of assimilation and survival brings Emma Lazarus' iconic New Colossus, famous for gracing the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty, to life. Sarah, a 12-year-old Russian girl, finds herself orphaned after her father is killed in a pogrom and her mother succumbs to sickness just days after their ocean crossing to the U.S. Facing deportation to an unwelcoming homeland, she makes the impulsive decision to escape the immigration agents by leaping into New York Harbor and swimming to Bedloe's Island. By day, she mingles among tourists and eats discarded remnants of picnic lunches. At night, she sleeps in the crown room of the Statue of Liberty until she's caught by a kindly, if troubled, night watchman, and she's forced to make her way in the strange city. With the help of an elderly Chinese woman and an enterprising newsie, Sarah gradually begins to feel at home. This dynamic commentary on multiculturalism and the immigrant experience in America will likely be useful for middle-grade readers learning about early twentieth-century U.S. history.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)