Bridge to America: Based on a True Story

The year is 1920 and the setting is a shtetl, a small village in northern Poland, where Fivel and his family live in fear of the ruthless Cossacks and unpredictable pogroms. As he and his mother, brother, and sisters struggle to stay alive, nine-year-old Fivel is hungry, is cold, is a rascal, is goodhearted, longs for his father, and is afraid for their lives. Will the money from America ever come? Has their father forgotten about them, perhaps even found another family? When will the next horrific Cossack raid come?

Here is an absorbing, ultimately hopeful novel that creates an unforgettable portrait of a family, a time, and the bridging of two worlds.

Eight-year-old Fivel narrates the story of his family's Atlantic Ocean crossing to reunite with their father in the United States, from its desperate beginning in a shtetl in Poland in 1920 to his stirrings of identity as an American boy.

The year is 1920 and the setting is a shtetl, a small village in northern Poland, where Fivel and his family live in fear of the ruthless Cossacks and unpredictable pogroms. As he and his mother, brother, and sisters struggle to stay alive, nine-year-old Fivel is hungry, is cold, is a rascal, is goodhearted, longs for his father, and is afraid for their lives. Will the money from America ever come? Has their father forgotten about them, perhaps even found another family? When will the next horrific Cossack raid come?

Here is an absorbing, ultimately hopeful novel that creates an unforgettable portrait of a family, a time, and the bridging of two worlds.

Elizabeth D. Schafer - Children's Literature

Kindness is essential to Fivel Myzel's survival in his Vilkomerski, Poland, shtetl. Age nine in 1920, Fivel misses his father who emigrated to the United States when Fivel was an infant. Fivel eagerly checks the mail wagon for packages his father might have sent containing money to pay for Fivel, his mother, and siblings to travel to America. While he waits, Fivel attends heder lessons with his brother Benyomin, says a special Shabbos prayer for his father, and visits Beryl the baker, who always gives extra food to Fivel for his family. Escaping Cossack raiders who plunder the shtetl and almost capture Benyomin, Fivel relies on his resourcefulness and neighbors' generosity and sacrifices to endure adversity. Fivel's tenacity proves useful when he leaves his familiar surroundings for new experiences aboard the ship taking him to America and adjusts to being labeled an immigrant in his Minnesota community. Details concerning food, holidays, and traditions enhance this novel's cultural and historical authenticity. Glaser's author's note provides information and photographs featuring the real Fivel, Phil Myzel, and describes how she interviewed him and researched his story, transforming it into a novel. An historical note places Fivel's story into context, and an annotated glossary explains Yiddish vocabulary used in the text. Pair with Donald Gallo's anthology, First Crossing: Stories About Teen Immigrants (2004), for social studies discussions. Highly recommended 2005, Houghton Mifflin, Ages 8 to 12.

Linda Glaser is the author of many picture books for children. She was inspired to write this her first novel, after hearing the real Fivel speak to a sixth grade Sunday school class. She was moved by his rich stories and felt that she was somehow connecting with the world of her Eastern European Jewish grandparents, also immigrants. She lives in Duluth, Minnesota, with her husband and daughters. This is her first book for Houghton Mifflin.