Leonard Covello left Italy and arrived at Ellis Island with his mother and younger brothers in 1896 when he was nine years old. Rahel Gollup came to New York City from Belarus in 1891 at the age of 12, accompanied by her aunt. Maurice Hindus also came from Belarus, arriving in New York by himself in 1906 when he was 13. Thirteen-year-old Pauline Newman left Lithuania in 1901, a year after 16-year-old Marcus Ravage immigrated from Romania. All of these teens started out their new lives in America living in New York City’s tenement, and each one grew up to write about that part of their lives. Based on their first-person accounts, Deborah Hopkinson provides a picture of what life was like for impoverished turn-of-the-century immigrants in New York City. Numerous documentary photographs by Jacob Riis and others provide a visual counterpart for her engrossing account. (Ages 12–16)

In a stunning nonfiction debut, award-winning author Deborah Hopkinson focuses on five immigrants' stories to reveal the triumphs and hardships of early 1900s immigrant life in New York.

Acclaimed author Hopkinson recounts the lives of five immigrants to New York's Lower East Side through oral histories and engaging narrative. We hear Romanian-born Marcus Ravage's disappointment when his aunt pushes him outside to peddle chocolates on the street. And about the pickle cart lady who stored her pickles in a rat-infested basement. We read Rose Cohen's terrifying account of living through the Triangle Shirtwaist fire, and of Pauline Newman's struggles to learn English. But through it all, each one of these kids keeps working, keeps hoping, to achieve their own American dream.