Content: G
BUYING ADVISORY: EL - OPTIONAL
APPEALS TO: SOME
Stanislava’s family came from eastern Europe to Colorado for a better life, but that life only seems to be for the boys of the family. She discovers a book at the local penny library about an immigrant girl like her who is going off to college and she aches for a better life. On the day Stanislava decides to rechristen herself as Sylvia, however, her 23yo sister Stina runs away to marry a man from another state. Sylvia's parents oil her out of school to care for the two youngest siblings and all of the other chores that Stina always did, because their mother is too depressed to care for them. Sylvia is having none of that. She takes off and makes her way to Denver, where she hopes to find Stina or build herself a new life.
I don’t know how old Sylvia is - somewhere between 12 and 15, as she hasn’t started high school yet. I loved Sylvia and her adventures - there is so much more that I could have told you about. The setting is 1910. The interplay between the white community (the saviors) and the immigrants is excellent - some are empathetic and others want to “whiten” the community. I felt like I was reading a later Betsy-Tacy book. I would love to see grandparents reading this with young granddaughters. It's only OPTIONAL because historical fiction is usually a hard sell.
Cindy, Middle School Librarian, MLS
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