About the book-
It’s 1900, and sixteen-year-old Helen comes alone in steerage across the Atlantic from a small village in Lithuania, fleeing terrible anti-Semitism and persecution. She arrives at Ellis Island, and finds a place to live in the colorful Lower East Side of New York. She quickly finds a job in the thriving garment industry and, like millions of others who are coming to America during this time, devotes herself to bringing the rest of her family to join her in the New World, refusing to rest until her family is safe in New York. A few at a time, Helen’s family members arrive. Each goes to work with the same fervor she has and contributes everything to bringing over their remaining beloved family members in a chain of migration. Helen meanwhile, makes friends and—once the whole family is safe in New York—falls in love with a man who introduces her to a different New York—a New York of wonder, beauty, and possibility.
My thoughts-
Stitching a Life is fiction but is based on the author's grandmother's immigration story. The fact that it is rooted in truth and some of these things are things that her grandmother may have gone through makes the story resonate with me more. I spend a lot of time researching my family tree and one of my favorite things to discover in both my tree and my friends when I help them research their roots is the family member that came to the United States. I imagine their stories, and I imagine Helen's in great detail with this beautiful young adult novel. I can imagine the fear of having to leave her family behind, of having to travel all alone to meet her father in the United States, the anxiety about being in a new country. This was a great story that I urge anyone who enjoys historical fiction or learning about the past to read.
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