Double Crossing (Hardcover)

~ (Author) "Papa didn't come home that Friday..." (more)
Key Phrases: steamship office, Uncle Nahum, Frau Buchthal, Madame Louisa (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 5-8–As conditions worsen for Jews in Eastern Europe in 1905, 11-year-old Raizel accompanies her father to America. Traveling by wagon, train, and on foot, they arrive in Antwerp to board the ship to New York. When they finally arrive at Ellis Island, Benjamin's shabby appearance, persistent cough, and emaciated body cause the inspector to declare him liable to become a public charge and unfit to enter America. Raizel and her father receive passage to return home. With the help of kind strangers, he makes the difficult decision to give up his Orthodox Jewish way of life–shaving his beard and eating unkosher food–for a second chance at entering America. This theme of assimilation as the only means for survival may trouble some readers. With treacherous boat trips and interesting secondary characters, Tal's fictionalized account of her grandfather's journey to America is fast paced, full of suspense, and highly readable. Similar to other immigrant stories such as Karen Hesse's Letters from Rifka (Holt, 1992) and Kathryn Lasky's The Night Journey (Puffin, 1986), Double Crossing offers the unique perspective of immigrants who were denied admission into America.–Rachel Kamin, Temple Israel Libraries & Media Center, West Bloomfield, MI
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

*Starred Review* Gr. 7-10. Based on the experience of the author's grandfather at the turn of the twentieth century, this novel starts off as the archetypal Jewish coming-to-America story. Raizel, 12, leaves the Ukraine with her father, a devout peddler who flees pogroms and conscription into the czar's army, intending to send for the rest of his family later. The separation, the trauma, the dream of golden America, the journey across Europe, the ocean voyage, the inspections and arrival at Ellis Island--the historical detail is dense. But Raizel's lively first-person narrative is anything but reverential. She misses her brother, but she is jealous because he gets to go to school, and she resents her father's keeping kosher, which means they stay hungry during the journey in the crowded ship. Her view of adults and kids, family and strangers, back home and on the perilous adventure, brings the people on the journey very close. Best of all is the shocking surprise that changes everything, even Papa--a haunting aspect of the immigrant story left too^B long untold. Hazel Rochman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 9-12
  
• Hardcover: 264 pages
• Publisher: Cinco Puntos Press (October 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0938317946
• ISBN-13: 978-0938317944
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.8 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,351,395 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars From an adult male!, March 12, 2006

By	George Pickett "Realgeorge" (Charleston, WV) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This book seems sequestered into the young adult niche, but I loved it. Picked it up because of its cover; read the first page and did not stop till the end. It is a beautiful story, told with rhythm and pulse. The most enlightening book I've read regarding the late 19th and early 20th century trek of Jews from the pale to the new world It might bother more orthodox jews because of its emphasis on assimilation, but as someone without the cultural past, it was mesmerizing.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Storytelling and Reality - A Wonderful Blend, March 19, 2006

By	T. Pickett - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

In 'Double Crossing' Eve Tal has done something remarkable; she has combined the cadences of storytelling/almost of a fairy tale with the reality of living in a Jewish shtetl in czarist Russia at the turn of the century. With wonderful dialogue, lovely stories and vivid descriptions, Ms.Tal allows us, through her heroine Raizel, to truly feel both the warmth and fear that were part of Jewish life in czarist Russian. She brings alive the pain of separation, the pain of the choices Jews had to make to survive. I think it is something of a disservice to label 'Double Crossing' a book for young adults. It is absorbing, instructive and just plain enjoyable for all ages.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A terrific book for young adults and historical fiction fans, December 12, 2005

By	Amanda Cockrell (Roanoke, VA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Eve Tal's Double Crossing is the kind of young adult book -- rich in historical detail, with compelling characters -- that adults as well as adolescents will love. Raizel doesn't want to go to America, although everyone else in her family thinks it is a wonderful opportunity for her to escape Czarist Russia and the pogroms that threaten every Jewish village. She will help Papa start a new life for all of them. But Raizel has never been away from home, and the journey across Europe and the Atlantic Ocean seems even more dangerous and frightening to her, especially since her ultra-religious father won't let her eat anything that isn't kosher, and practically nothing is. In the end, though, it is Raizel, taking charge and taking matters into her own hands, who makes the journey possible. We journey with her every step of the way, through separation, loneliness, the indignity of immigration health inspections, and the capricious rules of Ellis Island. Based on Tal's grandfather's immigration story, this is a book for anyone who has ever had to brave an unknown and cross into uncharted ground.