Ice Cream Town

CLA Children's Book of the Year Award 2008 longlist

Ice cream_You scream!

Sammy has learned to live by his wits on the voyage from Poland to the Jewish immigrant community that is to be his new home in New York City. It is here he discovers that the vibrant, noisy streets of New York are alive with challenge - even more of a challenge than his new school. Will it be Sammy's wits, or his beautiful singing voice that will keep him out of trouble in the games of stickball in the rough-and-tumble streets?

Rona Arato has written a humorous, life-affirming story about a young boy standing up for himself in the midst of peer pressure from a local gang, prejudice against new immigrants, and his own desire to be accepted for who he is.

Kim DareCopyright 2006 Reed Business Information. - School Library Journal

Gr 3-6
In 1920, 10-year-old Sammy Levin and his teenage sister, Malka, sail from Poland to America to be reunited with their father. Upon their arrival at Ellis Island, Malka is held back because of a persistent cough, but after a suspenseful few days, doctors rule out consumption and the siblings are allowed to enter the United States. This story of their adjustment is reminiscent of Amy Hest's When Jessie Came across the Sea (Candlewick, 1997) and Patricia Reilly Giff's Water Street (Random, 2006), although Arato focuses on a male protagonist and how he navigates the various gangs in his Lower East Side neighborhood. The author describes how each character comes to terms with being together again as a family, nicely weaving in Jewish traditions as well as the customs and cultural mix of their new country. Despite rather two-dimensional characters, this is a richly detailed, solid piece of historical fiction that gives insight into the early-20th-century immigrant experience. Purchase this novel where there is high interest in fiction covering this period and be prepared to booktalk it to get kids past the humdrum title (which refers to one of Sammy's favorite things about America: vanilla ice cream) and not-very-appealing cover art.

Rona Arato was born in New York and raised in Los Angeles. Some of her happiest memories are of her children sitting in a circle at bedtime as she spun tales of imaginary people and flying dragons. Rona's books include Fossils Clues to Ancient Life, and World of Water. Her book Making a Difference- A Canadian Heroes Book will be published in 2007. Ice Cream Town was inspired by Rona's father's tales of his childhood as a new immigrant and by her memories of her own early years in New York.