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Letters from Rifka
Letters from Rifka
Author: Karen Hesse
"In letters to her cousin back 'home' in Russia, 12-year-old Rifka tells of her journey to America in 1919, from the dangerous escape over the border through Europe and across the sea to the new country."--Booklist.
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PBS Market Price: $7.59 or $3.69+1 credit
ISBN-13: 9780312535612
ISBN-10: 0312535619
Publication Date: 1/6/2009
Pages: 176
Edition: 1 Reissue
Reading Level: Ages 9-12
Rating:
  • Currently 4.8/5 Stars.
 4

4.8 stars, based on 4 ratings
Publisher: Square Fish
Book Type: Paperback
Other Versions: Hardcover, Audio CD
Reviews: Member | Amazon | Write a Review

Top Member Book Reviews

reviewed Letters from Rifka on + 2 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 3
I really enjoyed this book, I had to read it for school, so you know how that goes. Not the most fun when you are forced to read a book. I acutally choose this book out of a box of books about europe. I enjoyed every page of it! I couldn't put it down. I ended up reading it in one day I was so engrosed in it. I happen to be a very slow reader myself but this classic story kept me flipping the pages. I recomend this for any young reader. I felt what rifka felt, I was heart brocken with her and I jumped for joy with her. Great Job!
reviewed Letters from Rifka on + 6 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 2
A good novel for those young or old. It describes a journey of a Jewish girl fleeing the harsh Russian land for a free life in America.
reviewed Letters from Rifka on + 131 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 2
A young adult book about a Jewish girl and her family who flee to America from Russia because of their heritage. It is listed as the Winner of the Christopher Award, ALA Best Book for Young Adults and School Library Journal's Best Book of the year. A very good read.
stargazer00 avatar reviewed Letters from Rifka on + 151 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
"Rifka and her family have fled Russia's brutal treatment of the Jews for a new life in America. But the path to freedom is full of terrible obstacles--the humiliating scrutiny of doctors and soldiers, and deadly typhus that strikes the entire family. Finally, when it seems that they have triumphed over every possible hardship, the doctors refuse to let Rifka board the ship to America--and her family must leave without her."
reviewed Letters from Rifka on + 104 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
RIFKA AND HER FAMILY HAVE FLED RUSSIA'S BRUTAL TREATMENT OF THE JEWS FOR A NEW LIFE IN AMERICA.IN POLAND THEY HAD TO LEAVE RIFKA BEHIND, WILL SHE EVER SEE THEM AGAIN. A WONDERFUL BOOK OF 10 YEAR OLD GIRL MAKING HER WAY TO THE UNITED STATES FROM EUROPE.
Read All 14 Book Reviews of "Letters from Rifka"

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reviewed Letters from Rifka on + 3563 more book reviews
Twelve-year-old Rifka's journey from a Jewish community in the Ukraine to Ellis Island is anything but smooth sailing. Modeled on the author's great-aunt, Rifka surmounts one obstacle after another in this riveting novel. First she outwits a band of Russian soldiers, enabling her family to escape to Poland. There the family is struck with typhus. Everyone recovers, but Rifka catches ringworm on the next stage of the journey--and is denied passage to America ("If the child arrives . . . with this disease," explains the steamship's doctor, "the Americans will turn her around and send her right back to Poland"). Rifka's family must leave without her, and she is billeted in Belgium for an agreeable if lengthy recovery. Further trials, including a deadly storm at sea and a quarantine, do not faze this resourceful girl. Told in the form of "letters" written by Rifka in the margins of a volume of Pushkin's verse and addressed to a Russian relative, Hesse's vivacious tale colorfully and convincingly refreshes the immigrant experience.
kenshelpmeet avatar reviewed Letters from Rifka on
I read this in one sitting. Excellent book.
reviewed Letters from Rifka on + 10 more book reviews
This book is a very good, it really opens up your eyes on how the word is


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