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Rebecca And Ana (2009)

by Jacqueline Dembar Greene(Favorite Author)

3.94 of 5 Votes: 2

ISBN

1593695225 (ISBN13: 9781593695224)

languge

English

genre

Historical Fiction

publisher

American Girl Publishing Inc

series

American Girls: Rebecca

review 1: This review is from the point of view of a mother. I'm reading the Rebecca series to decide when they will be appropriate for my daughter.Like the first book, this book suffers a bit from having too many plot points racing along, but since this seems to be a theme of the series, in order to have a more cohesive whole, I'll stop harping about it and focus on each one individually.The reader is introduced to a lot of historical and emotional concepts in this book. The thread about the difficulties of immigration, and the possibility of not passing muster, told through the story of Rebecca's cousin being held behind, is touching and well-done for the age group.The way that schools handled the assimilation of new immigrants, through humiliation and punishment, is handled smoot... morehly, but not glossed over with the tales of how students were forced to learn the new language and customs, and punished if they failed or refused.We are beginning to get glimmers of how difficult it was for immigrants to establish themselves, with the stories of her skilled uncle trying to find employment, and how her oldest cousin must work, rather than go to school, to help support his family.My main issue with the book is how we are introduced to so many hard, tangible historical issues, and then get quickly dropped into the emotional issue of Rebecca's jealousy and Ana's embarassment. The two parts of the story didn't flow well together.The Looking Back section doesn't sugar coat, and does an excellent job reinforcing 1914 school life.While I haven't rated any one particular book of Rebecca's very high, I think the stories as a whole are timeless and relevant to the target audience - they deal with teasing, accepting someone who is different, judging others, celebrating your heritage/faith/traditions, and I think Rebecca grows throughout the series. I like the emphasis on Rebecca's emotions as she grapples with issues - this is a well-rounded series, and even exceeds some of the earlier AG historical series.
review 2: The problem for Jewish boys in Russia in 1914 was not simply that they would be thrown into the army forever and get food that wasn't kosher. The Кантонистские школы system of drafting little boys and keeping them for 25 years was abolished shortly after the Crimean War, during the reign of Alexander II. The Tsar's army was no picnic for a Jew, but lack of kosher food or the loss of one's Jewish traditions was the least of one's problems by the end of 1914. The problem was that there was a real shooting war going on, with armies moving around, undersupplied and underfed, blowing up people's villages, destroying houses, food supplies, animals, and hurting people, including mothers, little sisters, and anyone else who got in their way. I had a roommate in grad school whose father was a cutter in a New York garment shop, and that is not just any random immigrant job title to be picked out of a hat. A good cutter is a highly skilled, greatly valued master craftsman (usually not a woman) and probably the very last thing a garment manufacturer would consider doing, even in his wildest dreams, would be to hire somebody off the street as a cutter. It takes years to learn the craft, and those factory owners invested heavily in that fabric. No sane factory boss would take a risk of hiring someone whose work and reputation he didn't know to cut that fabric, not even a skilled cabinetmaker. Doing so might destroy the entire operation. In any case, it would have been nice if the author had learned a bit more about the subject before writing such a book. less

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