num_pages: 156
description: From Publishers Weekly Twelve-year-old Rifka's journey from a Jewish community in the Ukraine to Ellis Island is anything but smooth sailing. Modeled on the author's great-aunt, Rifka surmounts one obstacle after another in this riveting novel. First she outwits a band of Russian soldiers, enabling her family to escape to Poland. There the family is struck with typhus. Everyone recovers, but Rifka catches ringworm on the next stage of the journey--and is denied passage to America ("If the child arrives . . . with this disease," explains the steamship's doctor, "the Americans will turn her around and send her right back to Poland"). Rifka's family must leave without her, and she is billeted in Belgium for an agreeable if lengthy recovery. Further trials, including a deadly storm at sea and a quarantine, do not faze this resourceful girl. Told in the form of "letters" written by Rifka in the margins of a volume of Pushkin's verse and addressed to a Russian relative, Hesse's vivacious tale colorfully and convincingly refreshes the immigrant experience. Ages 9-12. Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition. From School Library Journal Grade 4-7. Refused passage in 1919 because she has ringworm, a young Jewish girl from Russia battles supercilious officials and yards of red tape before she is finally reunited with her family in America. Historical fiction with a memorable heroine, a vivid sense of place, and a happily-ever-after ending. Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
language: English
title: Letters from Rifka: With connected readings
titlecomplete: Letters from Rifka: With connected readings (Prentice Hall literature library)
genres: Fiction, Holocaust, Young Adult, Historical, Childrens, Read For School, Historical Fiction, Middle Grade, Jewish, School
ratings_count: 10688
awards: awardedAt: 725875200000
name: National Jewish Book Award
category: Children's Literature, awardedAt: 694252800000
name: Sydney Taylor Book Award
category: Older Readers, awardedAt: 757411200000
name: Vermont Golden Dome Book Award, awardedAt: 725875200000
name: IRA Children’s and Young Adult’s Book Award
category: Older Reader Category, awardedAt: 1325404800000
name: Phoenix Award (Children's Literature Association)
publisher: Prentice Hall