Walker When Jessie Came Across The Sea

Set at the turn of the 19th century, this is the story of a young girl's adventure. Voyaging across the sea to a new life in America, Jessie leaves behind her village home and her beloved Grandmother, to whom she entrusts a precious keepsake, hoping that one day they will be reunited. Editorial Reviews From School Library Journal Grade 2-4?This narrative of 13-year-old Jessie's journey from a poor village in Eastern Europe to New York City at the turn of the century affords readers a panoramic view of events and people. The author's exploration of a variety of emotions and feelings provides modern youngsters with a sense of connections with times long past. There is the familial devotion between Jessie and her grandmother, whom she has to leave behind. A shipboard friendship with Lou, a young shoemaker, helps Jessie survive the hardships and uncertainties of the ocean crossing. Her skill as a lacemaker, painstakingly learned from her grandmother, insures her success in the dressmaker's shop where she goes to work. Her romance with Lou is rekindled when they meet years later on a wintry day in Central Park. Jessie's reunion with her grandmother, whose ticket she has purchased with money saved during years of hard work, is the poignant conclusion to this tale. Lynch's luminous watercolor and gouache illustrations capture the characters' feelings, at the same time recording the storms at sea and teeming streets of the Lower East Side. The two young people's spirit of hope and optimism, created by the straightforward text, is enhanced by these pictures, as they provide a visual record of difficulties encountered by the scores of immigrants who reached these shores. This book will be particularly useful for units on immigration and family histories, used in conjunction with Allen Say's Grandfather's Journey (Houghton, 1993) or Jeanette Winter's Klara's New World (Knopf, 1992; o.p.).?Martha Rosen, Edgewood School, Scarsdale, NY Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title. From Booklist Gr. 2^-4, younger for reading aloud. Jessie and her grandmother live in an Eastern European shtetel where, one day, the Rabbi informs the villagers that his brother has died and left him one ticket to "the promised land." The rabbi feels he cannot leave his people and decides to give the ticket to 13-year-old Jessie. It's almost too much for Jessie and her grandmother to bear, though both believe it is for the best. In America, Jessie follows her grandmother's trade and becomes a dressmaker. She works for three years until she has enough saved to purchase another ticket--for her grandmother. This picture book for older children is handsomely crafted. The pages are thick, and the watercolor-and-gouache paintings that illustrate the story are luminous. Lynch's full-page and paneled art, especially the scenes of Jessie at sea, have a panoramic quality. In some ways, the book's rich look is a problem, because the design, at times, overwhelms a story whose strongest point is its personal feeling. The pictures are striking, but it's the text that conveys the human emotions of loss, hope, and love that children will respond to. Ilene Cooper --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.