Monday, May 22, 2017

My Aunt Manya by Jose Patterson

This children's story is based on a true story.  My father's parent immigrated here from Czechoslovakia so a story like this was easy to relate to.

The author shared a copy of his book with me for a review (thank you).  It has been published and you can buy a copy now.  

Sarah's father has gone to America to live with his sister and work with the intentions of bringing Sarah over later.  Russia isn't a safe place to live as a Jew anymore.  The problem is that he gets killed in a road accident and Sarah loses her only parent.  (She hates her new stepmother.)  However, Aunt Manya sends her a ticket and tells her to come live with her.  Her father's friends help her escape Russia and get on the boat for America.

Sarah's fears and worries sound authentic.  She came into the same port of entry as my grandparents.  When my grandmother finally arrived, she had a three year old daughter with her.  It took that long for grandpa to make enough money for passage.

Sarah's troubles aren't over yet, but she has the strength to go on and keep hoping.  This story will let your child look at how things worked in the past and how little people had or could bring with them.  Much of what we have today was non-existent then.  But everybody did what they had to do to meet their goals.  There's a lesson to be learned here. 

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