Tag: Ellis Island

The Next Ship Home by Heather Webb

Published February 8, 2022

https://heatherwebbauthor.com/site/

The Grateful Reader Review by Dorothy Schwab

Heather Webb’s The Next Ship Home is set in 1902, at Ellis Island, known as The Island of Tears. The novel chronicles the awakening of two young women, Francesca Ricci, desperately escaping her father, arriving by ship from Sicily and Alma Brauer, living with her family of seven in a tenement in New York City’s “Little Germany.” The Brauers run a successful bierhaus despite narrow views. Alma is intelligent but despised and bullied by her stepfather. Her respite from servitude and her parents’ beliefs and mores is her penchant and adeptness for learning other languages. Alma’s domineering stepfather secures a job for her at Ellis Island without her knowledge. As a twenty-two-year-old spinster dependent on her parents, Alma feeling she has no choice, boards the ferry to the island.

Through fear and profound despair Francesca and Alma’s paths cross and a deep friendship is formed. Becoming like sisters they find determination and motivate each other to endure circumstances beyond their control and the courage to make choices when it seems there’s not one.  Heather Webb creates doubt and suspense through characters’ dialogue involving anarchism, labor disputes, and strikes. Rumors of lies and deceit by Ellis Island staff and despicable behavior by inspectors, and even Alma’s own family members, keep readers in disbelief and absolutely spellbound. Her sensitive and visual descriptions of neighborhoods and characters add to the anxious feelings when viewed through an immigrant’s eyes. The prospects for Francesca and Alma seem bleak and unsurmountable but as Francesca says, “Anything worth doing or having is a little frightening… or very frightening!”

Readers will follow these young women from the ferry, aboard the trains, on long walks up Park Avenue and even to a riot, but all will survive and celebrate The Next Ship Home as Francesca and Alma embark on America’s shores of optimism.

(At Ellis Island by Louise Peacock is one I used in my classroom with third graders. It’s an excellent example of using trade books to teach history and social studies. It appeals to all ages.)

https://www.amazon.com/At-Ellis-Island-History-Voices/dp/0689830262

Nathan’s Song by Leda Schubert – Illustrated by Maya Ish-Shalom

Everyone in the Russian shtetl loves young Nathan’s singing. “That Nathan!” say the neighbors. “He can lift your heart with his voice.”

  • Nathan
  • Nathan & sister in Russia
  • Nathan with wife, Sonia
Photos of Author’s Grandfather, Nathan

Leda Schubert lives in Vermont, writes books for children, LOVES music and dogs-and lots of other stuff. Read about her here and see other wonderful books she has written: https://www.ledaschubert.com/bio.htm

Maya Ish-Shalom is an Israeli illustrator based in Brooklyn, NY. She earned her B.Des from the Department of Visual Communication in Bezalel Academy of Art and Design in Jerusalem. ُShe tells stories through colorful, lively illustrations that spark viewers’ imagination and empathy. Maya’s portfolio varies from minimalist and simple illustrations to highly detailed, complex works.https://www.instagram.com/maya_ishshalom/

The Grateful Reader Review by Dorothy Schwab

Nathan’s Song was inspired by the author’s grandfather, born in a Jewish shtetl in Russia in the late 1800’s. Always singing as a child and after hearing an opera singer in a nearby village, Nathan and his family are determined to earn enough money for his singing lessons in Italy. At age 16, he travels from Russia to Italy, but a mishap at the dock ends with Nathan on a ship to New York City instead. Leda Schubert’s prose is filled with geography, persecution of Jews, ship travel, Ellis Island, and immigration; all which make Nathan’s Song superb enrichment to a Social Studies curriculum. Young readers will relish the suspense of Nathan’s travels and the leaving of his cap is an especially poignant symbol of themes of family commitments and life goals. Nathan learns to speak English, gets a job, and even marries, but will he rejoin his family? Illustrator, Maya Ish-Shalom’s use of bold, vibrant colors and geometric shapes in collage illustrations has great appeal for readers of all ages and adds immensely to the prose.  As music lifts our hearts and spirits, so will Leda Shubert’s Nathan’s Song.

Ellis Island may not appear large on a map, but it is an unparalleled destination in United States history. After welcoming more than 12 million immigrants to our shores, Ellis Island is now a poetic symbol of the American Dream. This photo is from the National Immigration Museum:

https://www.statueofliberty.org/ellis-island/

The Ellis Island National Museum of Immigration is a living monument to the story of the American people. Housed inside the restored Main Building of the former immigration complex, the Museum documents the rich story of American immigration through a carefully curated collection of photographs, heirlooms, and searchable historic records.https://www.statueofliberty.org/ellis-island/national-immigration-museum/