Letters from Rifka
Encyclopedia
Letters From Rifka is a historical young-adult novel
by Karen Hesse
. It was a recipient of a National Jewish Book Award and several other honours. In the "Author's Note" to the novel, Hesse claims that it was based on the personal account of her great-aunt Ali Jacob's immigration to America.
, hunger, theft, ringworm, and a separation that threatens to keep Rifka from ever rejoining her family. She is constantly reminded she must be clever and brave, but her true salvation can only come when she learns compassion. While she is stranded at Ellis Island
, she finds she has a talent for nursing and for literature; she also helps fight injustice. She realizes that the journey itself has turned her into an American and she confidently faces the immigration trial.
Young adult literature
Young-adult fiction or young adult literature , also juvenile fiction, is fiction written for, published for, or marketed to adolescents and young adults, roughly ages 14 to 21. The Young Adult Library Services of the American Library Association defines a young adult as "someone between the...
by Karen Hesse
Karen Hesse
Karen Hesse is an American author of children's literature and literature for young adults, often with historical settings.-Life:...
. It was a recipient of a National Jewish Book Award and several other honours. In the "Author's Note" to the novel, Hesse claims that it was based on the personal account of her great-aunt Ali Jacob's immigration to America.
Plot
In 1919, Rifka and her family must flee Russia to avoid persecution; Rifka tells her story in a series of letters to a cousin she must leave behind, written in the blank spaces of an edition of Pushkin's poetry. Rifka, her parents, and her brothers, Nathan and Saul, escape Russia, hoping to join the three older sons who have been living in America for years. Along the way, they face cruel officials, typhusTyphus
Epidemic typhus is a form of typhus so named because the disease often causes epidemics following wars and natural disasters...
, hunger, theft, ringworm, and a separation that threatens to keep Rifka from ever rejoining her family. She is constantly reminded she must be clever and brave, but her true salvation can only come when she learns compassion. While she is stranded at Ellis Island
Ellis Island
Ellis Island in New York Harbor was the gateway for millions of immigrants to the United States. It was the nation's busiest immigrant inspection station from 1892 until 1954. The island was greatly expanded with landfill between 1892 and 1934. Before that, the much smaller original island was the...
, she finds she has a talent for nursing and for literature; she also helps fight injustice. She realizes that the journey itself has turned her into an American and she confidently faces the immigration trial.
External links
- Karen Hesse's page on Macmillan.com
- Letters from Rifka, Macmillan, 1992, ISBN 9780805019643