A Present for Yanya

When I was young, my grandmother gave this book to me. Although I was an avid reader, at first I didn't want to read a story about someone with a strange name in a strange land, but eventually I did read it. Once I picked it up, I couldn't put it down. I must have read this story a hundred times. This enterprizing girl enchanted me. She worked hard, and never had any of the finer things, like toys or icecream or shoes. I was impressed how she took a difficult situation, and turned it into an opportunity do something kind for her mother, and eventually create a new life for her under-priveledged family. What a wonderful book - riviting, but still manages to instill great values along the way.