If Your Name Was Changed At Ellis Island

Plot

From Publishers Weekly
Despite the book's somewhat misleading title (only two pages are devoted to the practice of changing names), Levine ( I Hate English! ; If You Lived at the Time of Martin Luther King ) offers a comprehensive, well organized discussion of the immigration procedures followed at Ellis Island between 1892 and 1914. One- or two-page chapters offer concise answers to questions ("What did people bring with them?'; "What happened if you were detained?"; "How did people learn English?"), enabling youngsters to digest easily a significant amount of information. Facts about the many rigorous routines and tests (medical, legal, literacy) that new arrivals endured are peppered with the intriguing personal reminiscences of individuals who lived through them. Sometimes sharply focused, sometimes effectively hazy, Parmenter's acrylic paintings admirably evoke the period, as well as the anguish and joy that characterized the bittersweet Ellis Island experience. Ages 7-10.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From Kirkus Reviews
Arranged in Q&A style, this survey of earlier immigrations asks: ``Did all immigrants come through Ellis Island?'' (no); ``Did you have to have a job waiting for you?'' (again, no; in fact, it was not allowed). It's evident that America has always been a polyglot magnet--even in 1643, 18 languages were spoken in one colonial area. It's also evident that there's been long-standing prejudice against certain immigrants (ability to read was required for entrance, and first and second class arrivals didn't have to sweat it out at Ellis Island). Perhaps most interesting here are the individual stories: the name change in the author's own family; the child who had never seen a banana and ate it whole; the ``six- second'' medical exam. Levine (If You Traveled West in a Covered Wagon, 1986) gives multiculturalism an extra boost by ending with a sampling of words and other contributions from many heritages. Nostalgically warm impressionistic paintings, suffused with sepia, simultaneously signal suffering and hope. (Nonfiction. 7-10)