Customer Reviews

Meet Rebecca (American Girls Collection)

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The year is 1914. Nine-year-old Rebecca Rubin lives in New York City, where she was born after her parents and grandparents, Russian Jews, immigrated to America. One of five children, she feels like the odd one out - her fourteen-year-old twin sisters think she is too young to go anywhere with them, and she has little in common with her two brothers. Rebecca longs to be more grown up - to be able help light the candles on the Sabbath, and see movies with her sisters.

Rebecca becomes interested in acting after meeting her mother's cousin, Max, who is an actor. Her parents and grandparents, however, think acting is improper for a young lady, and think Rebecca should be a teacher when she grows up. When she learns that her relatives in Russia need to immigrate to America to escape the war, and that in particular her cousin Ana, who is her age, is hungry and sick and needs to get to America as soon as possible, she must make a grown-up decision about how to spend the money she earned selling her needlework. Should she buy candlesticks so she can light candles on the Sabbath like a grown-up girl, or give the money to her parents to help buy tickets to America for Ana and her family?

I was really excited to see that American Girl was finally adding a Jewish character. I loved the American Girl dolls and books growing up, and like Rebecca's parents and grandparents, my own ancestors were Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe who settled in New York city around the early 1900s, so it was nice to see a character with a family history similar to my own. If you know a young girl who loves history or the American Girls Collection, this would be a nice book to recommend to her, or to give as a gift.

American Girl's newest doll Rebecca Rubin lives in 1914 New York. Her parents and grandmother are Jewish immigrants from Russia, but Rebecca and her four brothers and sisters were born and raised in the US. In "Meet Rebecca," we're introduced to Rebecca's family and Jewish home life. Rebecca's bubbe (grandmother) is very religious and her family observes Shabbos (the Sabbath), but her father must work on Saturday to make ends meet, which displeases her bubbe. Bubbe is also scandalized by the fact that Rebecca's cousin Max (Moyshe) is a struggling actor. Rebecca's passion is moving pictures; she adores the Perils of Pauline and longs to go to a real movie. Her cousin Max encourages her, and Rebecca tries out a performance of her own with unpredicatable results.

Rebecca always feels left out; her older twin sisters Sadie and Sophie always get to light the Sabbath candles and check the challah bread. Rebecca is desperate for her own set of candlesticks to prove that she knows the Hebrew blessing and is old enough to participate, and seeks to find a way to raise enough money.

There's also trouble back home in Russia, where her Uncle Jacob and his family are trapped. Their daughter Ana is very sick, and the Russian army is conscripting boys as young as twelve. Rebecca's father, a shoe salesman, struggles to raise the $175 it will take for steamer tickets for the family.

Judaism plays a central role in Rebecca's life, and the author does a good job of incorporating Jewish culture and traditions into the story (lighting the Sabbath candles, Sabbath restrictions, pushkes, mitzvahs, bar mitzvah). The immigrant experience is also central to the story, and Ellis Island is touched upon. I found it a bit unlikely that Rebecca's immigrant parents would speak mostly English at home; most likely, her parents and grandmother would continue to use Yiddish as the home language, with English being the school language.

The section on America in 1914 was particularly useful and included numerous bits of trivia about the conditions in Russia (pogroms), the immigrant experience in New York, Yiddish culture, and early movies and newsreels. There's also a glossary of Yiddish and Hebrew words. Overall, this is a nice introduction to American Girl's newest historical character and a good overview of the 20th-century immigrant experience that's accessible for younger readers.

Being of eastern european descent myself, I gennuinely enjoyed reading about and imagining the journey which my ancestors personally might have made in order to arrive and settle in America. I would not have been here were it not for their hard work.

Her life includes making some very hard decisions which many children don't today usually need to consider. Her religion is very important to her. And American Girl took pains to carefully illustrate this. But another moral dillema includes having to take in a very sick family relative when she had wanted to spend it on personal items to celebrate Chaunakkah.Rebecca is in a bind!

I however believe American Girl could have illustrated Ms. Rubin's adveture without having previously retired Samantha, an original--and very popular doll from this time.

And if they really had wanted to introduce a 'poor doll' into the product line, they should have taken care to accurately portray Nellie O'Malley with her factory clothes and other materials.Prior to being adopted, she too had lived in a tenement house.

Looking at Rebecca, I see a fairly well-dressed fashion plate with big dreams of becoming famous and financially successfull. Loving her close-knit family, she also seeks a little more financial stability than what is being provided. This is something which readers in today's economic times can relate to and Jaqueline Dembar Greene does a good job explaining it in child-friendly terms.

I also find myself actually a little envious of the doll's lush hair curls! Living with an extended family, her clothes are not rags.

Wishing Rebecca the best of luck in her adventures, I hope American Girl will reverse it's ill-advised decision. Bring back Samantha Parkington!

An Awesome Realistic Fiction Novel
By: Hailey Tullos
This story is about a girl who's grandparents are from Russia. Then her uncle Max comes to dinner. She has always dreamed of being an actress, just like her uncle. She loves to imitate her family with her dolls. Her father sells and repairs shoes. She has two sisters named Sophie and Sadie. She also has two brothers. Her grandparents also live with her family. That's what this story is about.

I am an 8 year old girl and I really love it. My friend got the doll and in class she brought it in for a book report. I saw it in her desk and asked her if I could read it. And once I started, I couldn't stop. It's a real winner! Though I like all of the AG books, this one really stood out.

My almost 5-year-old daughter received the Rebecca doll and paperback book as Christmas presents this year and she absolutely loves them. I found the introduction of a doll of Jewish origin to be refreshing as it afforded me an opportunity to teach my daughter about the Jewish faith and the holiday celebrated, i.e. Hanukkah. The story centers around 9-year-old Rebecca Rubin who lives in New York city in 1914. Rebecca's family was originally from Russia, and though they have settled in America, there are still relatives in Russia who need their help in order to immigrate to America.

Rebecca feels sort of left out in her large family - neither fitting in with her older twin sisters or her two brothers. Along the way, Rebecca develops a passion for acting and also has to learn to make some tough decisions that may just prove to be a valuable learning experience for her. My young daughter loved the story of Rebecca's growing pains and though I had to explain certain things in more detail for her (and simplify it so she could understand and follow the story), this proved to be a rewarding reading and learning experience. Highly recommended for young girls (and boys) who love history.

Rebecca's older family members emigrated from Russia. Now it's 1914, and her father's brother would like to do the same with his family, to save his sons from being put in the Russian army. Rebecca's father hopes that he can earn enough through his shoe store to help his brother.

Meanwhile, Rebecca is trying to save up for her very own candlesticks. Her sisters can light Sabbath candles, but she doesn't feel that she's old enough to do certain things, like go to the movies or help out with the Sabbath, as her older twin sisters are allowed to do. She comes up with an ingenious way to earn enough money to purchase her own candlesticks, but must make a difficult choice.

The New York setting here seems very authentic, and the events that will happen in other books in the series are set in motions by people and events here, creating a well-told tale.

Rebecca Rubin is the long-awaited Jewish character from American Girl. Those who have been waiting for her arrival, like me, won't be disappointed by this heartwarming first edition in the series.

I think this book is the best book it really shows how immigrents feel and how badly they were treated in 1914. It shows how their large family all worked together to make a better life. I've read a lot of the American girl books and I think this is a really good one.

I love the American Girl books. I think they're a clever way to interest girls in history and all of the books that I've read have been based on good research. Meet Rebecca is no different. It is easy to read and engaging, while offering some really good points for discussion. I won't go into the plot of this book, as you can read about it in other reviews and a summary of the plot can take almost as long as the book itself.

Like many of the other American Girls, Rebecca is presented as a spunky, independent girl, perhaps bordering on being defiant of her parents and other relatives. She rejects their wish for her to be a teacher; wanting to be an actress instead...without even understanding what acting was like at that time. Ironically, the very actress in the silent movie featured in the book, The Perils of Pauline (Pearl White) died of alcoholism and possibly had a chemical dependency problem.

What bothered me the most, however, is that both Rebecca and her father take the concept of "shrewd salesmanship" to the point of dishonesty. Rebecca pretends that her linens are not for sale simply so that she can make more money, and her customers think that she is selling her trousseau items behind her father's back. "It will be our little secret," one lady tells her as she (the lady) offers a bribe. Now, no child needs to be keeping secrets from their parents and no responsible adult should encourage a child to keep secrets. In today's world, that's dangerous.

Rebecca's father is also not completely honest in his shoe store. In one scene, her father pretends a pair of shoes is made of special "cowboy leather" so that he can make a sale.

What is disturbing is not that Rebecca stretches the truth (i.e. she lies) but that in no way is it ever even hinted that she is doing wrong by doing so, and it appears that this might be considered common business practice and even applauded as "shrewd salesmanship." I'm not sure the customers would agree.

There are good points and rather complex religious and moral issues surrounding these characters: acts of charity, Rebecca learning to think of others before herself, her wish to light the sabbath candles, wonderful descriptions of Jewish customs, Rebecca's concern for her cousin, etc. I think this book offers a good starting point for discussion, however, about truth and about how lying isn't right, even if it is done for "good" reasons.