Letters From Rifka Genre

[Vannessa Rataj]

Thismakes a great addition to the canon of fantasy books featuring strong White women like the His Fair Assassins series by R.L. LaFevers, the Leigh Bardugo Wonder Woman: Warbringer, and the like. All of that said, I felt like this story didn't really add anything new to this genre.

For fans of Number the Stars, Letters from Rifka, and other WWII tween/YA reads, this provides a new perspective, telling two Holocaust stories we don't often hear - a secular Jew's confusion over both her treatment and, afterward, her religion, and the significance of music.

Imagine Snow White, in the Wild West, a mix of White settlers and Native traditions. Now up the ante on the dark fantasy elements in the hands of master storyteller, Valente. The voice of each character - some familiar, some new - shine through the haunting and lyrica narration, the language reminiscent of an oral storytelling tradition.

This is the most adorable, awkward, nerdy, empowering parody music video ever. I already loved the original song - Jason Derulo's "Talk Dirty" - but this brings it to a whole new level, because clearly, what the original was missing was books.

Billie Jo has a great deal to forgive: Her father for causing the accident that killed her mother; her mother for leaving when Billie Jo needed her most; and herself for being the cause of her own sorrow. Daddy's too wrung out to help her, and there's no one else to care. So at 14, Billie Jo must heal herself - even if it means tearing up her roots and leaving behind everything she's ever known.

In the historical context of the Jim Crow South, Gail explores her mother's decision to pass, how she hid her secret even from her own husband, and the price she paid for choosing whiteness. Haunted by her mother's fear and shame, Gail embarks on a quest to uncover her mother's racial lineage, tracing her family back to 18th-century colonial Louisiana. In coming to terms with her decision to publicly out her mother, Gail changed how she looks at race and heritage.

Esther Safran Foer grew up in a home where the past was too terrible to speak of. The child of parents who were each the sole survivors of their respective families, for Esther the Holocaust loomed in the backdrop of daily life, felt but never discussed. The result was a childhood marked by painful silences and continued tragedy. Even as she built a successful career, married, and raised three children, Esther always felt herself searching.

In January 2017, Donald Trump signed an executive order stopping entry to the United States from seven predominantly Muslim countries and dramatically cutting the number of refugees allowed to resettle in the United States each year. The American people spoke up, with protests, marches, donations, and lawsuits that quickly overturned the order. But the refugee caps remained. In The Displaced, Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Viet Thanh Nguyen, himself a refugee, brings together a host of prominent refugee writers to explore and illuminate the refugee experience.

Rifka knows nothing about America when she flees from Russia with her family in 1919. But she dreams that in the new country she will at last be safe from the Russian soldiers and their harsh treatment of the Jews. Throughout her journey, Rifka carries with her a cherished volume of poetry by Alexander Pushkin. In it, she records her observations and experiences in the form of letters to Tovah, the beloved cousin she has left behind.

Strong-hearted and determined, Rifka must endure a great deal: humiliating examinations by doctors and soldiers, deadly typhus, separation from all she has ever known and loved, murderous storms at sea, detainment on Ellis Island - and is if this is not enough, the loss of her glorious golden hair.

The Gulag was a monstrous network of labor camps that held and killed millions of prisoners from the 1930s to the 1950s. More than half a century after the end of Stalinist terror, the geography of the Gulag has been barely sketched and the number of its victims remains unknown. Has the Gulag been forgotten? Writer Masha Gessen and photographer Misha Friedman set out across Russia in search of the memory of the Gulag.

From Newbery media winner Karen Hesse comes an unforgettable story of an immigrant family's journey to America. "America," the girl repeated. "What will you do there?"

I was silent for a little time.

"I will do everything there," I answered. Rifka knows nothing about America when she flees from Russia with her family in 1919. But she dreams that in the new country she will at last be safe from the Russian soldiers and their harsh treatment of the Jews. Throughout her journey, Rifka carries with her a cherished volume of poetry by Alexander Pushkin. In it, she records her observations and experiences in the form of letters to Tovah, the beloved cousin she has left behind. Strong-hearted and determined, Rifka must endure a great deal: humiliating examinations by doctors and soldiers, deadly typhus, separation from all she has ever known and loved, murderous storms at sea, detainment on Ellis Island--and is if this is not enough, the loss of her glorious golden hair. Based on a true story from the author's family, Letters from Rifka presents a real-life heroine with an uncommon courage and unsinkable spirit.

"Hesse's vivacious tale colorfully and convincingly refreshes the immigrant experience." --Publishers Weekly, Starred Review "Told with unusual grace and simplicity, an unforgettable picture of immigrant courage, ingenuity, and perseverance." --Pointer, Kirkus Reviews "What especially raises it above docu-novel is the emerging sense of Rifka's personality. Bald from the ringworm, poor and needy, she proves she's no greenhorn; she has a gift for languages, she's brave and clever, and if she talks too much, so be it." --Booklist "Based largely on the memories of the author's great-aunt, this historical novel has a plot, characters, and style that will make it an often-requested choice from young readers. A vivid, memorable, and involving reading experience." --School Library Journal, Starred Review

We are pleased to introduce our new SongLake Books Matthew Collection. Recognizing that many schools are struggling to meet the demands of the Common Core State Standards, we have scrutinized hundreds of books from approved publishers and hand-selected only those that best align themselves with these standards.

Features of our Matthew Collection for grade 4 include: repeated books by the same author/illustrator; repeated topics; Chinese version of popular fairy tale; greater variety of topics; ties to content areas: science, social studies, health; different times and cultures; mature themes such as homelessness, war, slavery, prejudice, immigration, morality. The Matthew Collection also features different genres at each level offering more flexibility in choosing titles of interest for your students.

Our Matthew Collection contains 241 books: one biography and 6 copies each of 40 additional titles. This guided reading set is designed for classrooms, Title I/ESEA, and new federal programs such as ESSA, et al. It is also ideal for bookrooms.

LevelTitleGenrePBalto And The Great RaceRealistic FictionBarack ObamaBiographyDragon Prince: Chinese Beauty And The BeastTraditional LiteratureEncyclopedia Brown: Everyone's Favorite Boy DetectiveRealistic FictionHundred Dresses, TheRealistic FictionKnots On A Counting RopeRealistic FictionMagic School Bus: Inside The Human BodyFantasyMail, TheInformationalPearl DivingInformationalWall, TheHistorical FictionQFinding The TitanicInformationalGreat Black Heroes: Five Brilliant ScientistsBiographyHurricanesInformationalIf You Lived In Colonial TimesInformationalIf You Lived With The IroquoisInformationalIf Your Name Was Changed At Ellis IslandInformationalMalala YousafzaiBiographyPedro's JournalHistorical FictionPeople And The SeaInformationalYou Should Meet Mae JemisonBiographyRAchoo-The Most Interesting Book You Will Ever Read About GermsInformationalCan't You Make Them Behave, King George?InformationalFamily Under The BridgeRealistic FictionFrederick DouglassBiographyFreedom CrossingHistorical FictionHandful Of Stars, ARealistic FictionHunger Around The WorldInformationalPigling: A Cinderella Story (Korean Fairytale)FantasyThomas Edison: Inventor With A Lot Of Bright IdeasBiographyWhy Don't You Get A Horse, Sam Adams?BiographySBarefoot: Escape On The Underground RailroadHistorical FictionBoy Called Slow, ABiographyChildren Of The LonghouseHistorical FictionDo Tornados Really Twist?InformationalFlying SpiesInformationalLetters From RifkaHistorical FictionMagic Tree House Fact Tracker #6: SpaceInformationalNelson MandelaBiographyTaking SidesRealistic FictionTaste Of Blackberries, ARealistic Fiction

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