Reviews for Letters from Rifka

The average rating for Letters from Rifka based on 2 reviews is 4.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2019-03-05 00:00:00 John Griffiths Women�s history month 2019 rolls on this time with a quality book for middle grade kids. One of my kids won Letters from Rifka as a prize from the library summer reading program a few years ago and it has been sitting on my book shelf begging to be read. Karen Hesse wanted to preserve her family�s history and interviewed her great aunt Lucy Avrutin, who provided a treasure trove of stories for her to use in her writing. Aunt Lucy�s memories combined with Hesse�s ability to weave a story gives way to an award winning tale about perseverance of a young immigrant girl. The year is 1919. The first wave of Jewish immigration from Russia has ended as those sensing danger left before the revolution. My own family came to the United States between 1905-1910, some members arriving even earlier. Some Jews believed in the revolution and stayed behind yet the Bolsheviks made life as difficult for Jews as the czar they replaced. Pograms continued and Jewish boys were conscripted into the Russian army. These young men had the choice to serve or they were killed or their family was forced to flee the country. The Nebrot family of Berdichev had five sons. The oldest three had left for America and worked to save money for the rest of their family to finally leave Russia. The arrival of the money coincided with the youngest brother Saul being conscripted into the army. It was time for the Nebrot family to join their Jewish brothers and sisters in leaving Russia. Rifka Nebrot, aged twelve, is the youngest child in the family and the only girl. As in any quality coming of age story, Rifka has conflicted feelings about leaving behind the only life she ever knew. Her grandmother, aunts, uncles, and cousins all live in Berdichev, and Rifka would rather stay behind or bring the rest of her family with her. She copes with the grandiosity of her journey by clinging to her one prized possession, a volume of Pushkin�s poems given to her by her cousin Tovah, her favorite girl cousin closest in age to her. Rifka writes letters to Tovah in the margins of the book of poetry because she has no other paper and she wants to preserve this journey for both her cousins and herself. Over the duration of the journey, Pushkin as a symbol becomes more and more valuable. Usually youngest members of any family tend to be spoiled and babied by their parents and older siblings. This is not the case for Rifka as she is the most creative and spunky member of her family and oh what a talker. When she develops ringworm in Poland, she is not able to go onto America with her family but rather stays behind in Europe to heal. In Antwerp, Belgium, she befriends all different types of people who laud her precociousness and ability to speak her mind in all different languages. Not a thought or idea escapes her, as she prepares for her long awaited journey to America, reflecting that an ocean will separate her from her cousins in Berdichev. Even though she is seeking a better life, Rifka empathizes that she would like nothing more than to me reunited with her entire extended family, the Russian branches included, in America. Karen Hesse�s personal tale won her the Jewish Book Award and Christopher Award for young readers in 1992. Rifka�s tale is one of a strong willed young girl who in another era could have been considered for politics or any other leadership position. In 1920, however, Ellis Island�s medical officials did not doubt that Rifka would have a bright future, but job prospects at the time were limited even for the top notch women available. Hesse gives adult readers many thoughts to ponder and teachers a wide range of discussion points with their classes. In Rifka Nebrot, girls are given a role model who is determined to achieve anything she wants out of life. 4+ stars

Review # 2 was written on 2019-02-26 00:00:00 Scott Wheeler Reviewed on: Ashes Books & Bobs. Twenty years ago I was in third grade reading my first Karen Hesse book, Letters From Rifka. I don�t remember which school I was going to at the time of reading or why I even picked up this story, but I vividly remember the impact it had on me. This book was responsible for many literary firsts in my life and solely inspired my love of Historical Fiction. I have been hoping to acquire it for years, prior to Amazon, and often visited bookstores asking if they carried it. No one had ever heard of it. Now that my daughter was nearing the age I was when I experienced the story, I decided it was time to purchase my own copy and read it with her. Surprisingly, my son ended up being the one to enjoy this book most! Oftentimes while I am reading, he will be playing on the floor with toys. I had finally given up hope of him listening to what I was reading because a love of books isn�t something I want to force. To my delight, one day I asked if they were ready for me to read Rifka and his response was, �Yes, I love that book!� I asked him what he loved about it and he ended up reciting a full summary of the story. The whole time I was thinking he hadn�t been paying an iota of attention! For me personally, I was surprised by how many details of this story I remembered two decades later. I know this book resulted in my first recollection of empathy, though I didn�t have a name for the experience at the time. In many ways, this book rocked my sheltered middle-class American world. Through this book alone, I realized kids experienced true suffering, things that had been unimaginable to me before. I understood discrimination and heartbreak, loneliness and longing, even hunger and pain in a completely new way. I remember being awed by Karen Hesse�s writing. At one point she described a person creating a breeze in the air when they walked by. Such a simple thing, but as a kid, this realization of knowing another person experienced something I often observed was like an awakening. People could write anything � they could describe even the most mundane things and it became magical to me. In third grade, I also moved away from the only friends I had ever known in my small hometown in Michigan for a cruel new school in Alabama. A school where I was mercilessly teased for my blonde hair, my white skin, the way I talked, and many other things. At the time, I wrote letters to my friends �back home� and drew strength from those relationships when I had no friends at my new school. Experiencing the letters Rifka wrote to her cousin, Tovah, allowed me to experience a sense of kinship. She knew what it was like to miss her home and all she knew, just like I was. As an adult, reading this book to my children was one of the most nostalgic experiences I think I have ever had. I loved sharing this book with them and being able to explain the things they didn�t quite understand. We pulled out a map of Russia and Europe to follow Rifka�s journey as she traveled and they were able to gain a bit of worldly understanding. We talked about Judaism and the treatment of Jews throughout history. Overall, this book fostered a great learning experience for my kiddos and me. So many years later, this book is still making an impact in the lives and hearts of children and I could not be more grateful to Karen Hesse.