By the time I got to chapter 9 I was happy to read that the family finally made it to America. Yes, it was still not going to be an easy road, because they still had to make a living and support one another, however, I knew they could do it.
I must admit though, I was a little disappointed in chapter 9, because it just quickly talked about the life in America very quickly over the next several years. I think the author definitely could have gone in to a little more detail, and perhaps spread it out over a couple chapters, instead of cramming it all into one. I personally would have like to know a little bit more about some of their experiences when arriving to America, and some of the troubles that they were faced with.
Some teaching aspects of chapter 9 would be vocabulary words such as, immaculate, Passover, Chiclets, corridor, indulgent, wage, and Peoria. Some of these words, students would be able to figure out just be the content of the sentence, but some they would have to look up in a dictionary. Another thing that I would have my students do, would be to research, and find out what types of jobs would be available for people who were just arriving in America during this time period.
I did enjoy reading this book very much, but I would not feel comfortable having elementary students reading it. I think this book is appropriate for students in grades 7 or 8, when they are actually learning about the Holocaust. Over all though I liked this book.
