Escaping to America: A True Story

Children asking why their parents and grandparents fled the old country can find a fine example in this beautifully illustrated 30-page true story, which blends the blessings of life in Sochocin, Poland with its horrors.The author's grandfather Abba (Hebrew for 'father') Goodstein was famous for acting and singing, could perform wild Russian dances, jumping high in the air and touching his toes to his fingertips. He had legendary strength and was so smart he could add columns of large numbers in his head in seconds flat. His wife Pearl played the mandolin. She could draw and sew lacy butterflies and birds in swirling plumes, and designed fancy buttons from seashells in the family's tiny button factory. At their restaurant--whose menu featured mushroom, herb and barley soup, homemade noodles and fresh bread--the family often also offered plays late at night.Their village was set in a fern-filled forest near a river clear as glass. Pink-legged white storks nested atop the chimneys and geese, goats and wildflowers danced beside the winding country roads. But when the Goodsteins' children Ida, Sammy and Ruthie were respectively four, three and one, war and hatred forced them to leave their home forever. As World War I raged, Abba stood outside his restaurant one day and was surrounded by Cossacks who pointed rifles at his chest. He fearlessly began singing a Cossack marching song in his brilliant strong voice. The soldiers left him, laughing and singing, too. Once, three soldiers stopped Pearl's father as they rode in their family cart, threatening to cut off the beard which Jewish law required him to wear. Abba knocked the soldier out and the other two fled. An honest rabbi was killed one afternoon for wiping his forehead in an open window: He was shot as a spy trying to send signals to the enemy. While they sheltered the family from the shooting, family "friends" gave all the Goodsteins' things away, explaining afterwards that the Jews were going to be killed anyway.Abba Goodstein wrote to his sister Yitta who had moved to Knoxville, Tennessee in 1907. Another 18 pages of true-life adventures follow the family's escape in August 1921. I won't spoil the exciting details, but the story is perfect for independent readers 9-and-up, or makes a fine read-aloud. Alyssa A. Lappen

Having just read this book, I am amazed at the talent of this author/illustrator to portray her family history in such a readable manner. The stories and the illustrations are wonderful and moving. I thoroughly enjoyed this terrific book.