IMMIGRATION

KEY: jP = Picture Books; jZ = 1st and 2nd Grade Readers; jE = 3rd and 4th Grade Readers; JF = 5th Grade and Up

IMMIGRATION

Bodkin, Odds THE CHRISTMAS COBWEBS
Having reluctantly parted with their treasured Christmas ornaments, members of a German immigrant family awake on Christmas morning to find miraculous replacements spun by spiders. 2001 unpaged

Moss, Marissa IN AMERICA
While Walter and his grandfather walk to the post office, Grandfather recounts how he decided to come to America, while his brother, Herschel, stayed in Lithuania. 1994 unpaged

Pomerance, Marion THE AMERICAN WEI
When Wei Fong loses his first tooth while going to his family's naturalization ceremony many soon-to-be Americans join in the search. 1998 unpaged

Pryor, Bonnie THE DREAM JAR
After emigrating to America, each member of a Russian family works hard to contribute to the family's dream of someday owning and running a store. Early 1900's city not mentioned. 1996 unpaged

Rosenberg, Liz GRANDMOTHER AND THE RUNAWAY SHADOW
Relates how Grandmother, accompanied by a mischievous shadow, emigrated from Russia to the United States. Early 1900's. 1996 unpaged

Rosenblum, Richard JOURNEY TO THE GOLDEN LAND
Having left oppressive czarist Russia in search of better living conditions, Benjamin and his family endure the difficult journey and land at Ellis Island to start a new life in America. early 1900's. 1992 unpaged

Tarbescu, Edith ANNUSHKA'S VOYAGE
The Sabbath candlesticks given to them by their grandmother when they leave Russia help two sisters make it safely to join their father in New York. late 1800's. 1998 31 p.

Watson, Mary THE BUTTERFLY SEEDS
When his family comes to America, Jake brings special seeds that produce a wonderful reminder of his grandfather. 1995 unpaged

Ziefert, Harriet WHEN I FIRST CAME TO THIS LAND
Illustrations and words to a traditional song describe the adventures of a pioneer who buys a farm and builds life for himself and his family. 1998 unpaged

1st - 2nd Grades

Sandin, Joan THE LONG WAY TO A NEW LAND
Carl Erik journeys with his family from Sweden to America during the famine of 1868. 1981 63 p.

Sandin, Joan THE LONG WAY WESTWARD
Relates the experiences of two young brothers and their family, immigrants from Sweden, from their arrival in New York through the journey to their new home in Minnesota. 1868-1869. 1989 63 p.

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3rd - 4th Grades

Bartone, Elisa AMERICAN TOO
Rosina and her family arrive from Italy and face the prejudices of Americans who scorn their customs and heritage. 1996 unpaged

Cohen, Barbara MOLLY'S PILGRIM
Told to make a doll like a Pilgrim for the Thanksgiving display at school, Molly's Jewish mother dresses the doll as she herself dressed before leaving Russia to seek religious freedom - much to Molly's embarrassment. 1996 unpaged

Cohen, Barbara MAKE A WISH, MOLLY
Molly, who recently emigrated with her family from Russia to New Jersey, learns about birthday parties and who her real friends are. 1994 40 p.

Dionetti, Michelle COLE MINE PEACHES
Beginning with her grandfather's boyhood in Italy, a young girl describes his arrival, in the United States and the life he lived with her grandmother and their children and grandchildren. 1991 unpaged

Garay, Luis THE LONG ROAD
Based on the author's own experiences leaving Nicaragua, Jose and his Mother escape the civil war's assault on their village and travel to America. Both learn English, a new job and new school 1997 unpaged

Hest, Amy WHEN JESSIE CAME ACROSS THE SEA
A 13-year-old Jewish orphan reluctantly leaves her grandmother and immigrates to New York City, where she works for three years sewing lace and earning money to bring Grandmother to the United States. 1997 unpaged

Johnston, Norma LOTTA'S PROGRESS
In 1838 when Lotta's family immigrates to Boston from Germany, they face all sorts of difficulties until they are befriended by the Alcott family who have set themselves up as missionaries to the poor. 1997 149 p.

Lasky, Kathryn DREAMS IN THE GOLDEN COUNTRY
THE DIARY OF ZIPPORAH FELDMAN, A JEWISH IMMIGRANT GIRL
Dear America series
12-year-old Zippy, a Jewish immigrant from Russia, keeps a diary account of the first 18 months of her family¡¦s life one the Lower East Side of New York City in 1903-1904. 1998 188 p.

Moss, Marissa HANNAH'S JOURNAL
THE STORY OF AN IMMIGRANT GIRL
In the Russian shtetl where she and her family live, Hannah is given a diary for her tenth birthday, and in it she records the dramatic story of her journey to America. 2000 unpaged

Nivola, Claire ELISABETH
Forced to flee the Nazis, a young girl and her family eventually end up in the United States where, years later, with a young daughter of her own, she is improbably reunited with the beloved doll she left behind in Germany in 1939. 1997 unpaged

Partridge, Elizabeth ORANGES ON GOLDEN MOUNTAIN
When hard times fall on his family, Jo Lee is sent from China to San Francisco, where he helps his uncle fish and dreams of being reunited with his mother and sister. Post 1850's. 2001 unpaged

Pomeranc, Marion THE HAND-ME-DOWN HORSE
Before she leaves for America, Aunt Rachel gives David a box full of English words to learn, and then one day an old rocking horse appears at his door. Jewish family coming out of hiding in Germany at the end of World War II. 1996 unpaged

Winter, Jeanette KLARA'S NEW WORLD
A Swedish familly faces many hardships when they immigrate to America in search of a better life. 1992 42 p.

Woodruff, Elvira THE MEMORY COAT
In the early 1900's, two cousins leave their Russian shetl with the rest of their family to come to America, hopeful that they will all pass the dreaded inspection at Ellis Island. 1999 unpaged

Yezerski, Thomas TOGETHER IN PINECONE PATCH
A girl from Ireland and a boy from Poland overcome the prejudices held by the residents of the small American town to which they have emigrated. Pennsylvania possibly early 1900's. 1998 unpaged

5th Grade and Up

Avi THE ESCAPE FROM HOME
Book I Beyond the Western Sea
Driven from their impoverished Irish village, 15-year-old Maura and her younger brother meet their landlord's runaway son in Liverpool while all three wait for a ship to America. 1850-1851. 1996 295 p.

Avi LORD KIRKLE'S MONEY
Book II Beyond the Western Sea
Driven from their impoverished Irish village, 15-year-old Maura and her younger brother meet their landlord's runaway son in Liverpool while all three wait for a ship to America; their fates continue to intertwine on board ship and in the New World. 1996 380 p.

Avi THE TRUE CONFESSIONS OF CHARLOTTE DOYLE
Although Charlotte Doyle was warned not to board the brig Seahawk on June 16, 1832, no young girl could have dreamed she'd face a murderous captain and rebellious crew. 1990 210 p.

Conlon-McKenna, Marita WILDFLOWER GIRL
In the mid-19th century, 13-year-old Peggy O'Driscoll sets out alone from Ireland for America, hoping to make a better life for herself. 1991 173 p.

Denenberg, Barry SO FAR FROM HOME
THE DIARY ACCOUNT OF MARY DRISCOLL, AN IRISH MILL GIRL
Dear America series
In the diary account of her journey from Ireland in 1847 and of her work in a mill in Lowell, Massachusetts, 14-year-old Mary reveals a great longing for her family. 1997 140 p.

Durbin, William NOWHERE TO CALL HOME
My Name is America series
In 1905, 15-year-old Otto describes in his journal how he travels from Finland to America, joining his father in a dreary iron mining community in Minnesota and becoming involved in a union fight for better working conditions. 2000 146 p.

Gaus, Laura Sheerin SIMON
IRISH BOY ENCOUNTERS NEW ORLEANS
The O'Sheas enter America at New Orleans, not Ellis Island. Get to know two Irish families and a German blacksmith. Go with the O'Sheas up the Mississippi to an unknown future. 2001 88 p.

Giff, Patricia Reilly A HOUSE OF TAILORS
When thirteen-year-old Dina emigrates from Germany to America in 1871, her only wish is to return home as soon as she can, but as the months pass and she survives a multitude of hardships living with her uncle and his young wife and baby, she finds herself thinking of Brooklyn as her home. 2004 148 p.

Glaser, Linda BRIDGE TO AMERICAN
8-year-old Fivel narrates the story of his family's Atlantic Ocean crossing to reunite with their father in the United States, from its derperate beginning in a shetetl in Poland in 1920 to his stirrings of identity as an American boy. 2005 183 p.

Gundisch, Karin HOW I BECAME AN AMERICAN
In 1902, 10-year-old Johann and his family, Germans who had been living in Austria-Hungary, board a ship to immigrate to Youngstown, Ohio, where they make a new life as Americans. 2001 115 p.

Jimenez, Francisco THE CIRCUIT
STORIES FROM THE LIFE OF A MIGRANT CHILD
This largely autobiographical book tells of the immigration of a child with his family to California from Tlaquepaque, Mexico. 1999 116 p.

Lasky, Kathryn DREAMS IN THE GOLDEN COUNTRY
THE DIARY OF ZIPPORAH FELDMAN, A JEWISH IMMIGRANT GIRL. NEW YORK CITY, 1903
Dear America series
12-year-old Zippy, a Jewish immigrant from Russia, keeps a diary account of the first 18 months of her family's life one the Lower East Side of New York City in 1903-1904. 1998 188 p.

Lawlor, Laurie PACIFIC ODYSSEY TO CALIFORNIA 1905
American Sisters
The year is 1905, and, hoping for a better life, eleven-year-old Su-Na, her parents, and her two younger sisters have traveled from Korea to Hawaii. But life there is not all that they have expected. There is no school, and the low wages paid to immigrant laborers are barely enough to survive on, especially after a new baby is born. After a year in Hawaii, the family travels to the town of Riverside, California, where Su-Na and her sisters attend school while their father works as a fruit picker. But after two years during which Riverside begins to seem like home and another baby brother is born, their life is shattered by violence and prejudice. Once again the family must move, this time to the mining town of Idria. The work there is very dangerous, and Su-Na, now an independent, headstrong teenager with dreams of her own, constantly quarrels with her traditional parents. 2001 196 p.

Levin, Sonia SILVER DAYS
Escaping from Hitler's Germany, a prosperous Jewish family lives in a New York City tenement until Papa decides to move the family to California. 1989 186 p.

Murphy, Jill WEST TO A LAND OF PLENTY
THE DIARY OF TERESA ANGELINO VISCARDI
Dear America series
While traveling in 1883 with her Italian-American family (including a meddlesome little sister) and other immigrant pioneers to a utopian community in Idaho, 14-year-old Teresa keeps a diary of her experiences along the way. 1989 186 p.

Nixon, Joan Lowery LAND OF DREAMS
Ellis Island series
In 1902 16-year-old Kristin travels with her family from Sweden to a new life in Minnesota, where she finds herself frustrated by the restrictions placed on what girls of her age are expected or allowed to do. 1994 153 p.

Nixon, Joan Lowery LAND OF HOPE
Ellis Island series
Rebekah, a 15-year-old Jewish immigrant arriving in New York City in 1902, almost abandons her dream of getting an education when she is forced to work in a sweatshop. 1992 169 p.

Nixon, Joan Lowery LAND OF PROMISE
Ellis Island
In 1902, 15-year-old Rose travels from Ireland to join family members in Chicago, where she must use all her resources to deal with her father's drinking and her brothers' dangerous involvement in politics. 1992 167 p.

Pastore, Clare A VOYAGE FROM IRELAND IN 1849
FIONA MCGILRAY'S STORY
Journey to America series
The story of a young girl, Fiona, and her brother who emigrate to escape the Irish potato famine. Fiona is an almost preternaturally strong, brave, and lucky girl. In Ireland she saved her brother from a bull and arranged to free corn held back by British landlords. What's more, after being in America only a short time, she's taken under the wing of a lonely, wealthy woman and shortly thereafter finds her own wealthy cousins. 2001 182 p.

Schneider, Mical ANNIE QUINN IN AMERICAN

To escape the Irish potato famine of the 1840s, 12-year-old Annie and her brother emigrate to New York City where they join their older sister as servants, earning money to bring their family to America, where they discover that borht food and hardship abound.TD> 2001 246 p.

Shiefman, Vicky GOOD-BYE TO THE TREES
Despite the excitement and confusion of her new life in America, 13-year-old Fagel can't forget the family she left behind in Russia. 1993 150 p.

Woodruff, Elvira THE ORPHAN OF ELLIS ISLAND

Dear America series
During a school trip to Ellis Island, Dominic Cantori, a 10-year-old foster child, travels back in time to 1908 Italy and accompanies two young emmigrants to America. 1997 167 p.

Yep, Laurence DRAGONWINGS
1903-1910. San Francisco. 8-year-old Moon Shadow comes to America from China to join his father. The Chinese, disliked by the Americans stay together in the Tang village. Windrider, a talented kite maker, wants to make a flying machine inspired by the Wright brothers. He gets a job as a handyman and he and Moon Shadow move to a former stable owned by Miss Whitlaw, whose views are unlike other demons. They last through the great San Francisco earthquake and fire. 1975 245 p.