Gateway to Freedom

School Library Journal

Gr 3-6 This stands out as an exceptionally durable, handsome book among the many recent titles on the Statue of Liberty. As the subtitle indicates, it is about Ellis Island as well as the Statue. It provides a lively and fairly lengthy account of immigration from the 1870s through the early 1900s. It includes information and photographs of centennial festivities on both July 4 and October 28, 1986. A thorough description of the restoration is also given. Hargrove's narration of Frederic Auguste Bartholdi's dedication and technical virtuosity in getting the statue built is equivalent to that in many of the other books on this topic. The book is lavishly illustrated with reproductions of newspaper articles, cartoons, and both black-and-white and color photographs. Mary Shapiro's How They Built the Statue of Liberty (Random, 1985) with Huck Scarry's excellent drawings, would complement this title. A detailed index makes this a valuable resource for beginning researchers. Deborah Vose, Lake Region High School Library, Bridgton, Maine