We've been away
Guess where we've been?
I had to speak at a conference in NYC last week and Hels joined me. I hadn't been to New York since I was in high school but we managed just fine.
The highlights for Hels were visiting Macy's...."it was mind-blowing, Mom" ...and visiting the Lower East Side Tenement Museum. We also went to the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, Chinatown, and the Museum of Natural History.
Immigrants arriving at Ellis IslandVisiting the Tenement Museum was really interesting. That, combined with Ellis Island, gave us renewed respect and understanding for the 12 million immigrants who came to America 100 years ago.
Tenement SweatshopVisiting Chinatown gave us respect for the continued immigrant story as we tried to speak with people who clearly knew no English. We also wondered how all those super-cheap items on the street were made and by whom.
So now we're home. I'm so happy to be back in Vermont! I like our quiet, dark nights especially.
I'm hunting up some historical fiction for Hels to read as a follow-up. Here are a few books that I've read and liked. If you know of something else, let me know!
Of course there's All of a Kind Family which she's read.
Ashes of Roses is about a 16 year old girl who survives the Triangle fire. I don't think Hels is ready for it.
Dragonwings is a great story about an 8-year old boy who migrates from China to California. Laurence Yep's books are great historical fiction.
Letters from Rifka is a story about a 12-year old girl fleeing Russia.
An Ellis Island Christmas is a beautiful picture book.
I wish I knew of more fiction.
There is a set of 2 books in the "My America" books that are good. They are super easy to read, only a hundred pages or so each, but at the end of each book is a historical note with photos. The 2 we have are "Hope in My Heart: Sofia's Immigrant Diary" and "Home at Last: Sofia's Immigrant Diary." Both of those books are by Kathryn Lasky.
Also, there's a set of books called the "Journey to America" books. We have "Aniela Kaminski's Story: A Voyage from Poland During World War II" and also "Fiona McGilray's Story: A Voyage from Ireland in 1849." Both of those books are by Clare Pastore and are nearly 200 pages each.
NYC....I miss it so much.
I'm so glad to see your post! Your trip sounds wonderful, and I love the books that you mentioned! I think you might have inspired me to re-read all of them over the next few weeks! What fun- Thanks! Welcome back!
Gah! Another blog friend comes to New York after we leave! :-( What a wonderful trip though. I just love the little alleys in Chinatown. I've never been able to track down a specific immigrant ancestor of mine who came through Ellis Island, but my mother did come through San Francisco! It's hard to remember that a lot of immigration to this country happened not so long ago (and of course is still happening today).
What a fun trip with your girl :-)
Nice getaway! I will be down that area this week for my advanced biodyanmic training (4 days without the family!!)
That sounds like such a great trip to NYC. I would love to visit someday. We enjoyed reading All of a Kind Family, and my daughter liked the "My America" books that Tammy mentioned. Welcome back!
too bad I didn't know - we are only 1 hour or so from NYC - next time let me know we can meet :)
Check out The Orphan of Ellis Island also. My daughter loved it.
I've never visited Ellis Island but would love to as my grandparents arrived there (not together though, they met in the US.)
What about Rachel Field's Calico bush - I don't how historic it is but I like it a lot.
Margaretha
A truly wonderful book about the immigrants who came to work in the factories of the Northeast is "Counting On Grace" by Elizabeth Winthrop. The book is based on the true story of a girl working in a textile mill in Pownal, VT. I have heard Elizabeth Winthrop speak about how she went about the research for the book. Mesmerizing.
Hi!
We enjoyed Water Street by Patricia Reilly Giff as part of an immigrant/early 1900s unit study last year. There are prequels and sequels also!
Linda