Island Of Hope: The Story of Ellis Island and the Journey to America [Hardcover]

Martin W. Sandler (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1, 2004 | Age Level: 7 and up

The moving story of immigration to America as told through the passionate voices and stories of those who passed through Ellis Island.

On January 1, 1892, a fifteen-year-old Irish girl named Annie Moore made history when she became the first person to be processed at a new immigrant station at Ellis Island in New York Harbor. In the next 62 years more than 12 million other immigrants would follow. Many of these newcomers would be "pushed" into America--fleeing religious persecution, political oppression, or economic harships in their native lands. Millions of others would be "pulled" into the United States by the promise of new opportunities.

Once they arrived at Ellis, they were put through the traumatic experience

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Gr. 5-7. Sandler revisits territory covered in his Immigrants: A Library of Congress Book (1995) but expands the scope considerably: first, with a detailed station-to-station description of how immigrants were processed through Ellis Island; then with sweeping discussions of tenement life in the cities, the transformation of the midwestern prairie to farmland, and finally, the role played by immigrant laborers in the growth of railroads and heavy industry. He makes abundant use of original source material throughout, drawing hundreds of brief comments from an array of personal interviews, oral histories, and memoirs, all supplemented by dark but consistently relevant period photos. Though references to Yiddish as "the language of the Jews" and to a group of "Mohammedan priests" should not have survived editorial tweaking, this engagingly written, inspirational account will give children, particularly immigrants or descendants of immigrants, some sharp insight into the trials and triumphs of their predecessors. John Peters
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 7 and up
  
• Hardcover: 144 pages
• Publisher: Scholastic Nonfiction (March 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0439530822
• ISBN-13: 978-0439530828
• Product Dimensions: 9.8 x 6.7 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #245,738 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #15 in Books > Children's Books > Social Situations > Emigrants & Immigrants

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Not just a children's book, October 22, 2005

By 

'70s survivor (South Dakota,United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Island Of Hope: The Story of Ellis Island and the Journey to America (Hardcover)

I picked this up at a school book fair and could NOT put it down until I had read from cover to cover. I thought I knew about Ellis Island. Turns out I didn't have a clue about what a massive operation it was. This is a book about heroes. Brave people who just wanted to work hard and improve their lives. I teared up several times while reading this book. The author did a great job in putting you right there with the people while they slowly worked their way through the immigration process. The author himself adds to the story with his final testament (another lump in the throat!!) With all our flaws, it's nice to remember that America is still the best place in the world to live.

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Ellis Island experience in vivid detail, April 13, 2004

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Island Of Hope: The Story of Ellis Island and the Journey to America (Hardcover)

This story of Ellis Island will reach grades 5-7 with almost 150 pages of detail on the immigrants to the island and their different experiences. Vintage black and white photos and first-person accounts capture the Ellis Island experience in vivid detail.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Island Of Hope, March 1, 2009

By 

Diggin Up Bones (North Carolina) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Island Of Hope: The Story of Ellis Island and the Journey to America (Hardcover)

A good book for anyone interested in genealogy, especially if your ancestors immigrated, and went to or through Ellis Island. It was truly an experience for them. The pictures are many of the same pictures used in most articles and stories about Ellis Island. In that I was disappointed.