Elvira Woodruff
Joel Becker
“It is 1908. And it is America.”
“1908?” Dominic whispered under his breath. It wasn’t going to be his America that they were sailing to. It wouldn’t be as he remembered at all. What would it be like? What was ahead of them? He wondered (p. 135).
In this really great novel, a young orphan named Dominic Cantori goes on a field trip with his 5th grade class to Ellis Island. Ellis Island lies in the mouth of the Hudson River across from Manhattan. Many people from countries in Europe came here to immigrate to the US a long time ago.
Dominic doesn’t like to talk about the fact that he is an orphan and his biggest wish is to have a real family of his own. The only thing he knows about his family is that his parents died and left him a key with his dad’s initials on it.
A little later on the field trip he sits down in a closet because he is very tired. He must have fallen asleep. When he peeks out of the closet he notices that it is dark outside and the museum is closed.
Because he is so scared he listens to the recordings of immigrants speaking about their journey. While listening to the last recording of an Italian immigrant he magically is send back to Italy 1908.
In Italy he finds his real family. He notices that it was hard to live in Italy during 1908 and that the long journey on a ship to America was really nothing what you could imagine.
The most exciting part of the book for me was when Dominic found out what the secret of the key was because it revealed some details about his family. You will also find out if you read the book!
This book reminds me of the ‘Time Warp Trio’ book series by Jon Scieszka because it also takes the kids to different places in different times.
I think you should read this book because it is very interesting to see how people lived in Italy at the beginning of the 20th century and what made them decide to leave their country to immigrate to the US. This book is just right for 4th graders it is almost as hard as the book ‘The Tales of the Fourth Grade Nothing’ by Judy Blume.
About the author: Elvira Woodruff
Elvira Woodruff is the author of many popular books for children. In the 15 years she has been writing both picture books and novel books for middle grade readers. Her work has won many awards and honors. She was born in Raritan, New Jersey in 1951 and has lived for the last 20 years in Martins Creek, Pennsylvania. When she is not writing she likes to travel to research her stories, work in her garden or bake cookies and pies in her kitchen.
The Orphan Of Ellis IslandElvira Woodruff
Joel Becker
“It is 1908. And it is America.”
“1908?” Dominic whispered under his breath. It wasn’t going to be his America that they were sailing to. It wouldn’t be as he remembered at all. What would it be like? What was ahead of them? He wondered (p. 135).
In this really great novel, a young orphan named Dominic Cantori goes on a field trip with his 5th grade class to Ellis Island. Ellis Island lies in the mouth of the Hudson River across from Manhattan. Many people from countries in Europe came here to immigrate to the US a long time ago.
Dominic doesn’t like to talk about the fact that he is an orphan and his biggest wish is to have a real family of his own. The only thing he knows about his family is that his parents died and left him a key with his dad’s initials on it.
A little later on the field trip he sits down in a closet because he is very tired. He must have fallen asleep. When he peeks out of the closet he notices that it is dark outside and the museum is closed.
Because he is so scared he listens to the recordings of immigrants speaking about their journey. While listening to the last recording of an Italian immigrant he magically is send back to Italy 1908.
In Italy he finds his real family. He notices that it was hard to live in Italy during 1908 and that the long journey on a ship to America was really nothing what you could imagine.
The most exciting part of the book for me was when Dominic found out what the secret of the key was because it revealed some details about his family. You will also find out if you read the book!
This book reminds me of the ‘Time Warp Trio’ book series by Jon Scieszka because it also takes the kids to different places in different times.
I think you should read this book because it is very interesting to see how people lived in Italy at the beginning of the 20th century and what made them decide to leave their country to immigrate to the US. This book is just right for 4th graders it is almost as hard as the book ‘The Tales of the Fourth Grade Nothing’ by Judy Blume.
About the author: Elvira Woodruff
Elvira Woodruff is the author of many popular books for children. In the 15 years she has been writing both picture books and novel books for middle grade readers. Her work has won many awards and honors. She was born in Raritan, New Jersey in 1951 and has lived for the last 20 years in Martins Creek, Pennsylvania. When she is not writing she likes to travel to research her stories, work in her garden or bake cookies and pies in her kitchen.
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