Hello, America: A Refugee's Journey from Auschwitz to the New World - Softcover

Bitton-Jackson, Livia

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1416916253 ISBN 13: 9781416916253

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2006

Synopsis

Having withstood the horrors of Auschwitz and made it out alive, eighteen-year-old Elli is more than ready to leave behind the painful memories and start fresh in America. What she is not fully prepared for, though, are all the challenges of creating a new life in a completely new place -- especially one as hectic as New York City! Within moments of stepping off the ship and into the arms of welcoming relatives, Elli's mind starts spinning with questions. Will she go to college? Will she have to take on a full-time job to pay the bills? And will she be able to fulfill her dream of becoming a teacher?

Elli has dreamed for years of this abundance of opportunity and possibility -- and to think, this is only the beginning!

About this title

About the Author:

Livia Bitton-Jackson, born Elli L. Friedmann in Czechoslovakia, was thirteen when she, her mother, and her brother were taken to Auschwitz. They were liberated in 1945 and came to the United States on a refugee boat in 1951. She received a PhD in Hebrew culture and Jewish history from New York University. Dr. Bitton-Jackson has been a professor of history at City University of New York for thirty-seven years. Her previous books include Elli: Coming of Age in the Holocaust, which received the Christopher Award, the Eleanor Roosevelt Humanitarian Award, and the Jewish Heritage Award. Dr. Bitton-Jackson lives in Israel with her husband, children, and grandchildren.

From School Library Journal:

Grade 7 Up–This is the final title in the Czech-born author's autobiographical trilogy describing her teen years before, during, and after the Holocaust [I Have Lived a Thousand Years(1997) and My Bridges of Hope (1999, both S & S)]. In 1951, Elli and her mother sailed off to New York. Still shaken from their harrowing experiences during the war and the loss of her father, the 18-year-old was fragile, innocent, yet hopeful as she stepped onto American soil. She was determined to finish her education and become a teacher, fulfilling her father's dreams. Readers get a detailed account of the many challenges she faced. First impressions of assimilated relatives, a supermarket, Brooklyn College, and tuna fish and milkshakes capture her awe and excitement. There is also disillusionment when the greenhorns leave their full shopping cart outside unattended only to find it stolen, or when Elli gets labeled a tease at summer camp for misinterpreting sexual advances. Still, humor and romance softened a tragic past. The writing is at times melodramatic, and, while this engaging memoir reads like a novel, certain characters or events seem random–as in real life. Nonetheless, this is a satisfying portrait of coming-of-age in 1950s Brooklyn.–Barbara Auerbach, New York City Public Schools

About this edition

• Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
• Publication date: 2006
• ISBN 10: 1416916253
• ISBN 13: 9781416916253
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• Number of pages: 240