The Great Ancestor Hunt: The Fun of Finding Out Who You Are (Clarion Nonfiction) [Paperback]

Lila Perl Yerkow (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 8 and up | Grade Level: 4 and up | Series: Clarion Nonfiction

Includes details on how to create your own direct-ancestry chart.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The subtitle of Perl's engrossing genealogy handbook seems entirely accurate: in a thoroughly readable style, she does indeed make searching out one's lineage fun. From the first chapter, "Who Cares About Great-Uncle Edgar," through to an appendix with the thought-provoking title "Digging Deeper," Perl makes delving into one's roots an intriguing project. She enumerates reasons people should be concerned about their forebears; she provides origins of names, a brief background of the census process, a look at immigration over the past hundred years and many other revealing aspects of genealogical research. The book's many historical photographs speak as eloquently as Perl's text; the cover shot, the deck of an over-crowded immigrant ship teeming with hopeful, upturned faces, is particularly moving. Charts, period advertisements and an illustrated time-line add further allure. This informative book should inspire many young readers to research their own personal history. Ages 9-up.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From School Library Journal

Grade 5-9-- This attractive, immensely readable guide to genealogy provides both information and encouragement. Perl's positive, upbeat approach involves readers from the first sentence. Never condescending, she writes fluently about the reasons for doing genealogical research, how to trace family roots (with a thorough discussion of surnames), how and why families immigrated to America, types of documents and memorabilia to look for, and how to preserve information. Perl uses anecdotes and examples from a wide variey of ethnic and cultural groups, including blacks, American Indians, and Asians. An appendix discusses censuses, vital records, and other helpful sources. Intriguing black-and-white photographs and occasional drawings complete the book. Cooper's Where Did You Get Those Eyes? (Walker, 1988), for the same age group, is project-oriented, leading readers through specific activities. Henriod's Ancestor Hunting (Messner, 1979; o.p.) shows its age in some language and information; Weitzman's My Backyard History Book (Little, 1975) gives entertaining activities on family as well as neighborhood history. Perl, in contrast, focuses more on the whys of family research, and provides greater detail, more examples, and far more inspiration. --Ann W. Moore, formerly at Lane Road Library, Columbus, OH
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 8 and up
  
• Paperback: 112 pages
• Publisher: Sandpiper (October 1, 1990)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0395547903
• ISBN-13: 978-0395547908
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 7 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #882,720 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Lila Perl was born in Brooklyn and read voraciously as a child, but never dreamed that she would become the author of more than 60 books published by mainstream publishers including Dutton, Houghton Mifflin, HarperCollins, and Scholastic. Her subjects for adults, young adults, and children range from mummies, ancient Egyptians, and the ancient Maya, to the Holocaust, genocide, cloning, and world terrorism; from the foods and everyday lives of colonial and pioneer Americans to personal ancestor-hunting.

Lila Perl was listed in 2001 among "The Pride of Brooklyn College" by her alma mater, and has received a "Best Books for the Teenage" award from the New York Public Library. Her book on junk food, fast food, and health food won a Boston Globe Award. Her Holocaust story, Four Perfect Pebbles, was a recipient of the Sidney Taylor Award.

In June, 2011, Lila Perl published her first Ebook, What I Did Last Summer, a story about the magic of a first love at a rustic summer camp far from parental restrictions and shadowed by a looming war. Fifteen-year-old Bryna tells her story as she teeters between innocence and young womanhood, a story that is funny,tender,and wistful.