Just Loved Reading:

My America: Hope in My Heart, Sofia’s Ellis Island Immigrant Dairy, Book One.

Middle Grade Novel

Lasky, Kathryn. My America: Hope in My Heart, Sofia’s Ellis Island Immigrant Dairy, Book One. New York: Scholastic, 2003.

 

Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,

With conquering limbs astride from land to land;

Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand

A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame

Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name

Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand

Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command

The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.

“Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!” cries she

With silent lips. “Give me your tired, your poor,

Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,

The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.

Emma  Lazarus

 

            Sofia Monaris and her family leave their native Italy for America. It’s a long uncomfortable journey on board a ship teeming with people yet Sofia’s heart skips a beat when she spies the Statue of Liberty on the horizon.

As the ship draws closer to New York harbor, she positions herself to get a better look. A cinder gets in her eye. When the family goes through customs, Sofia is diagnosed with trachoma and quarantined.

Separated from her family for the first time in her life, speaking very little English, Sofia feels isolated and alienated in America. She has company, though. In the state-run hospital, she meets Maureen who is from Ireland and Madame Coco from France. Madame introduces the girls to Rafi, a gypsy stow-away. The four befriend each other during their ordeal as they face mean anti-immigrant bureaucrats and which lasts longer than any of them would like.

Sofia’s life in America had just begun.

WHY I LOVED READING THIS BOOK:

Although my immigrant ancestors didn’t arrive until years after Sofia and her family came to America, I heard many of their stories. Many struggled in their first years and many came illegally. They had to navigate America’s ever-changing immigration laws but they became found work, became American citizens and raised their families.

Not every story was about those struggles; some of their stories were funny and uplifting. Sofia is a spunky character who could probably survive many difficult situations and it was easy to relate to her and her adventures on Ellis Island.

Further Reading:

The Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island:

https://www.libertyellisfoundation.org

https://www.libertyellisfoundation.org

Italy:

www.italia.it

Italy:

www.italia.it