In America [Hardcover]

Marissa Moss (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1, 1994 | Age Level: 5 and up

As Grandpa and Walter make their way to the post office to mail a birthday present to Grandpa's brother, Herschel, Grandpa tells Walter all about life in Lithuania with Herschel and about coming to America as a boy.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Looking at an album of photos taken when his grandfather was a child in Lithuania, Walter asks why the elderly man came to America. "I wanted to have the same freedom as everyone else, without anybody bothering me," responds Grandpa, who explains that, as his family was Jewish, "we were bothered a lot, because people thought we were different." As the two walk to the post office, Grandpa tells how he made the long sea journey to America alone at the age of 10. Pondering whether he would be brave enough to make such a trip, Walter asserts himself by insisting that he cross a busy street by himself (after the light changes). Though a small step, this feat gives the boy a sense of accomplishment, and enables Moss to tuck yet another worthwhile message into her resonant tale. Her art alternates between rather routine depictions of the walk to the post office and arresting, softly colored simulated photographs of life in a Lithuania of the past. Laced with engaging anecdotes (Grandpa tells Walter that the first time he had a banana--a food unknown in the old country--he ate the peel and threw away the fruit inside), this story has a quiet power. Ages 4-8.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

Kindergarten-Grade 3-As Grandpa and Walter take a long walk to the post office, the elderly man tells his grandson why he left his home in Pikeli, Lithuania, to come to the U.S. alone. America offered opportunity, but more importantly, freedom, which Grandpa, a Jew, did not have in his homeland. He tried to persuade his brother to join him, but the younger boy was afraid to leave his familiar life. Strangely enough, parents are never mentioned, nor whether any relatives were waiting in the New World; a 10-year-old motivated to emigrate primarily by a desire for freedom seems odd. Line-and-watercolor cartoonlike illustrations alternate with paintings set to look like photos in an old album. The whole recalls Judith Caseley's Apple Pie and Onions (Greenwillow, 1987), although more of that story is devoted to life in the old country.
Diane S. Marton, Arlington County Library, VA
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 5 and up
  
• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: Dutton Juvenile; 1st edition (May 1, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0525451528
• ISBN-13: 978-0525451525
• Product Dimensions: 10.2 x 9.6 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,601,690 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Marissa Moss has been telling stories and drawing pictures to go with them for as long as she can remember. She sent her first book to publishers when she was nine, but it wasn't very good and it never got published. She didn't try again until she was a grown-up, but since then she hasn't stopped.

The idea for the first Amelia's Notebook came from the notebook Moss kept when she was a kid. Amelia is a lot like her and the things that happen to Amelia really happened to Marissa (mostly).

Along with Amelia, Moss has created many characters and is especially drawn to history. Historical books allows her to imagine what it's like to be alive in a different place at a completely different time. And then there are the Max Disaster books which allow her to play with scientific experiments, inventions, and comic strips.