A review by danalheywood
Dreams In The Golden Country: the Diary of Zipporah Feldman, a Jewish Immigrant Girl, New York City, 1903 by Kathryn Lasky

4.0

Dreams in The Golden Country is supposed to be modeled after the Diary of Zipporah Feldman, a 12 year old Jewish Immigrant that lives the New York City. The novel begins with her arrival in Ellis Island and describes the process it takes in order to be accepted into the United States in the 1900's. As she is an immigrant her journal is her story of triumph and success as she learns how to live in the new country. It also includes the story of her family and the hardship's the arise as they adapt to the new traditions of America while holding on to their Jewish beliefs. It is an excellent story that is sure to leave the reader with a deeper understanding of immigration.

I personally love this type of writing style. It just makes the story seem so real and raw. Zippy is character that is easy to love. I found myself cheering her on as she tried to make it from 1st grade to middle school all within a year. I also found the Jewish culture to be interesting. After reading the book you can tell it was not easy to hold on to all your Jewish traditions in America and that being an immigrant forced the Jewish people to change a little bit. Its a great historical fiction and one that I would suggest to my students.

Warning: Book contains, lying, abandoning a family, poverty, death, and so on.