Meet Rebecca: An American Girl

I am an 8 year old girl and I really love it. My friend got the doll and in class she brought it in for a book report. I saw it in her desk and asked her if I could read it. And once I started, I couldn't stop. It's a real winner! Though I like all of the AG books, this one really stood out.

My almost 5-year-old daughter received the Rebecca doll and paperback book as Christmas presents this year and she absolutely loves them. I found the introduction of a doll of Jewish origin to be refreshing as it afforded me an opportunity to teach my daughter about the Jewish faith and the holiday celebrated, i.e. Hanukkah. The story centers around 9-year-old Rebecca Rubin who lives in New York city in 1914. Rebecca's family was originally from Russia, and though they have settled in America, there are still relatives in Russia who need their help in order to immigrate to America. Rebecca feels sort of left out in her large family - neither fitting in with her older twin sisters or her two brothers. Along the way, Rebecca develops a passion for acting and also has to learn to make some tough decisions that may just prove to be a valuable learning experience for her. My young daughter loved the story of Rebecca's growing pains and though I had to explain certain things in more detail for her (and simplify it so she could understand and follow the story), this proved to be a rewarding reading and learning experience. Highly recommended for young girls (and boys) who love history.

Rebecca's older family members emigrated from Russia. Now it's 1914, and her father's brother would like to do the same with his family, to save his sons from being put in the Russian army. Rebecca's father hopes that he can earn enough through his shoe store to help his brother. Meanwhile, Rebecca is trying to save up for her very own candlesticks. Her sisters can light Sabbath candles, but she doesn't feel that she's old enough to do certain things, like go to the movies or help out with the Sabbath, as her older twin sisters are allowed to do. She comes up with an ingenious way to earn enough money to purchase her own candlesticks, but must make a difficult choice. The New York setting here seems very authentic, and the events that will happen in other books in the series are set in motions by people and events here, creating a well-told tale. Rebecca Rubin is the long-awaited Jewish character from American Girl. Those who have been waiting for her arrival, like me, won't be disappointed by this heartwarming first edition in the series.

I think this book is the best book it really shows how immigrents feel and how badly they were treated in 1914. It shows how their large family all worked together to make a better life. I've read a lot of the American girl books and I think this is a really good one.

The year is 1914. Nine-year-old Rebecca Rubin lives in New York City, where she was born after her parents and grandparents, Russian Jews, immigrated to America. One of five children, she feels like the odd one out - her fourteen-year-old twin sisters think she is too young to go anywhere with them, and she has little in common with her two brothers. Rebecca longs to be more grown up - to be able help light the candles on the Sabbath, and see movies with her sisters. Rebecca becomes interested in acting after meeting her mother's cousin, Max, who is an actor. Her parents and grandparents, however, think acting is improper for a young lady, and think Rebecca should be a teacher when she grows up. When she learns that her relatives in Russia need to immigrate to America to escape the war, and that in particular her cousin Ana, who is her age, is hungry and sick and needs to get to America as soon as possible, she must make a grown-up decision about how to spend the money she earned selling her needlework. Should she buy candlesticks so she can light candles on the Sabbath like a grown-up girl, or give the money to her parents to help buy tickets to America for Ana and her family? I was really excited to see that American Girl was finally adding a Jewish character. I loved the American Girl dolls and books growing up, and like Rebecca's parents and grandparents, my own ancestors were Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe who settled in New York city around the early 1900s, so it was nice to see a character with a family history similar to my own. If you know a young girl who loves history or the American Girls Collection, this would be a nice book to recommend to her, or to give as a gift.