Customer Reviews

Letters from Rifka

5 star:		(63)
4 star:		(28)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I started reading this book because it won an impressive number of awards:

National Jewish Book Award
International reading Association Children's Book Award
Sydney Taylor Book Award
American Library Association Notable Book
School Library journal Best Book of the Year
Horn Book Outstanding Book of the Year, and
Booklist Editor's Choice.

However once I started reading it, I was taken with the simple and compelling story.

The book consists of a series of letters written by 12 year old Rifka to her cousin in Russia. They start when in 1919, to avoid persecution, Rifka and her parents and two older brothers have to suddenly leave Russia in the middle of the night with just a small backpack and the clothes on her back. One of these few possessions is a book of Pushkin's poetry given to her by her cousin Tovah. Their destination is the United States where two of her brothers already live.

To calm her fears and give her something to do during the lonely hours of travel, Rifka starts to write letters to Tovah in the blank spaces in the book. The story evolves through these letters which Rifka knows she will not be able to mail until she reaches the US. In the book, each letter is preceded by a quote from a Pushkin poem.

Rifka's trip is not easy. She gets separated from her family and it takes over a year before she learns if she will be reunited with them. At a time when Jewish children are normally surrounded with family celebrating their coming of age, Rifka is alone and in charge of her own destiny.

The book excels in character development, historic accuracy, and plot. I highly recommend this book for anyone interested in immigration stories, Jewish history, or young women's literature.

This is one of my favorite books. One of the reasons that I like it so much is because you can acually imagine yourself as Rifka. You can feel the way that she does and you just want to read on and on and on. This book tells you about how the Russians treated the Jews. This book is so exciting clear until the end. It doesn't all of a sudden stop either, like some other books I've read.I would definitely reccommend this book to anyone.

Written as a series of letters from Rifka to a cousin back in Russia, this book tells the story of a Jewish girl's tortured path of emigrating to the US. Rifka and her family leave Russia in 1919 after her brothers flee from the Russian army, where Jewish draftees are abused and often killed. Rifka is the only girl and is a key part of their escape, and then must call on even more resources when illness leads to her being left behind in Poland, having to follow on her own after she recovers.

The letter format made this a quick and easy read and very inspiring too, especially after the words from the author reveal that the story is based on the true story of what one of her relatives endured in emigrating to America. It's a great read for 9-13 year olds interested in immigration and history, and especially for girls as it portrays an independent and resourceful heroine who is able to first help her whole family escape from Russia and then travel on her own the majority of the way to the United States. Not an easily forgotten story, even for this adult reader.

Hi this year i got into reading. When I heard my mom got a book called letters from rifka i was not at all intressted but on the wekend i had nothing to do so i picked up that book and I was not able to put it down after i started.My favorite part was when rifka got ringworm on her scalp.This was the best book i read all year..If you want to read a short book about escaping Russia during the time of the pogroms and immigration to America this is the book for you.

"Letters From Rifka" is about a young jewish girl who lives with her parents and two brothers, Nathan and Saul in Russia around World War II. They later leave russia, because all the Jewish people are being captured and tortered by the Russians.The family goes to America to live a better life, but on way rifka developes a disease called, "The Ringworm" which caused all her hair to fall out. The Government won't let her enter America, so her family left her on an island, not far from New York City. She is left with special doctors to help her heal her Ringworm. she later becomes cured and joins her family in America.
My favorite part of the book was when she was in the hospital, the one she was left on to cure her "Ringworm",and takes care of another patient in the hospital. this patient is a young orphan russian boy. Rifka is like a mother to him. the boy only speaks to rifka and not his doctors,who want to send him back to Russia. I thought that was nice of her, even though Rifka was only "13".
I would recomend this book to anyone who enjoys diary-type books that take place in the past.

This was the best book I have ever read. Written in diary format, it has tragedy, suspence, and happiness. Rifka and her Jewish family are running away from Russia. Rifka only has a few articles of clothing, candlesticks, and a poetry book from her best friend, Tovah. She writes about her adventures to America in the blank pages of the poetry book. Rifka's adventures include a thief who is stealing her food, getting ring worm, and being left behind while her family goes to America. When Rifka is finally on the boat she makes a new friend but something happens to him during a storm. When the doctors in America have to decide whether or not she can stay in America...

Letters from Rifka by Karen Hesse is an amazing epic of a young girl's journey form Russia during the First World War. Rifka is a young Jewish girl whose family is forced to flee to America. Because Rifka does not look Jewish, she is the decoy of her family. Rifka shows amazing courage throughout everything and comes through for her family but her family does not come through for her. Complications arise and Rifka is forced to face a new land. She puts on a brave face to the world but confides her secrets and fears to you through letters to her cousin, Tovah. I recommend this book to you because it was well written as well as exciting. The author paints vivid pictures in your mind. You really feel as if you have gotten to know the compassionate and brave person that Rifka is. Rifka's story is really one to remember and Karen Hesse tells the story wonderfully. In the beginning, when Rifka must distract the anti-Semitic soldiers while her family boards the train to Poland, The guards become suspicious and Rifka becomes frantic. You really feel the tenseness in the air. The author makes you relive the adventures that Rifka writes of. There are many more exciting adventures such as this one. I could not put the book down when complications arose at Ellis Island. This is an exciting and compelling story of the courage of a young girl and the faith she had in herself and Hesse tells the story beautifully. People of a religion other than Judaism may not be interested in a book about a Jewish family, but the book is well written portrait of anti-Semitism in the early 1920's. It is an important topic for people of all faiths to learn about. The hate expressed towards Jews at that time was nothing to ignore. If people are educated on this subject, then history will not repeat itself. In a way you are learning, but you are learning in a fun way. And anyway, the story is not about Rifka's religion; it's about the risks he must take because of it. The book is wonderful and I loved it.

I absolutely loved this book so much that I had to read the entire thing all at once. This is a (partially) true story about a 12-13 year-old Jewish Russian girl who immigrates to America with her family during WWI. The author was very descriptive of immigrants' hardships on their voyages to America, which is part of why I loved the story so much. The other reason I enjoyed the book was because Rifka had a great personality and she wrote not only about the world around her, but her own life in letters to her cousin Tovah. She didn't actually send the letters, she just kept a diary in a poetry book by Pushkin which Tovah had given her as a gift. I enjoyed this book thoroughly, and I recommend it to anyone who loves history or loves a great story.

Twelve-year-old Rifka Nebrot is about to embark on a year-long odyssey, both with and without her family. It is September of 1919 when her Jewish family must leave their town of Berdichev for the Russian army is searching for a deserter: her brother, Nathan, who had put the entire family at risk. Tucked away in her backpack are Mama's prized candlesticks and Rifka's precious volume of Pushkin. Enduring the humiliation of crude medical examinations several times, she travels by train through Poland to reach Warsaw.

Many challenges test Rifka's courage, cleverness and spirit when she is denied passage to America because of her terrible head ringworm problem. How will she fare without her
loving and protective parents during a long separation? How can she survive 7 months on her own in Belgium? She even considers risking all to return to her village, where she herself, as well as her uncle's family, could be punished. At least in Belgium she is not hated for being Jewish.

Using her Pushkin book for stationery she writes many letters to her dear cousin, Tovah, though never knowing when the girl will actually read what she has written about her arduous trip-a Coming-of-Age journey as it turns out. Fortunately Pushkin's poetry encourages her in unexpected ways as well. Reading the poems is a comfort, but later they inspire her to write her own free verse poems in English. It also serves as at textbook for a little Russian boy who is shy to speak before adults.
The protracted delay at Ellis Island reveals Rikfa's inclination for nursing, as well as her budding literary talent. Most important she shows compassion for others less fortunate and prevents a grave injustice from occurring.

When it is her turn to be on immigration trial she must prove resourceful and brave, declaring that she will get a husband even is she has no hair! Rifka proves that she IS indeed a clever girl--even without her golden ringlets. She realizes that in the past year she learned something very important: that she has grown to be an American even before setting foot on US soil. Neveer udnerestimate t he influece of Pushkin! An interesting a provocative read for girls l2-16.

not too graphic and that is the way I like it. I read this book to my children for our unit study and they liked it also. There are plenty of books out there that do their share of describing and I like those too but sometimes we just need to know there a few happy endings and this one is one of those books.

Rifka and her family set out on a trip to leave their homeland that hates them to a place called America. Rifka ends up being left behind for health reasons and so starts her own journey to America. She grows and has matured by the time she makes it to Ellis Island. Her family reunion is a good one and the very last surprise is a sweet addition to the ending!