Letters from Rifka

Gr 4—8—Listeners will be immediately drawn into this compelling and touching story of Rifka, a 12-year-old girl fleeing to America from a Jewish community in Russia in 1919. Karen Hesse's author's note indicating that the story (Holt, 1992) is based on a chapter in her great aunt's life combined with the letter format and Angela Dawe's emotional narration provides a deep and layered intimacy that will connect listeners to Rifka. Although she realizes that it will be a difficult journey, Rifka is excited about arriving in America, connecting with brothers she has never met, and having the opportunity "do everything there." Through letters to her cousin back in Russia that she knows she can never send, written inside the pages and margins of a poetry book by Alexander Pushkin, Rifka tells her story of dealing with Russian soldiers, typhus, quarantine, a storm and sea, and more. Short poems preface each letter. Angela Dawe becomes each character, and she ably expresses Rifka's fear, despair, suspicion, and ultimate hope. Rifka grows and becomes stronger through her experiences, and this is palpable as Dawe expertly changes vocal tones. A fine supplement to the history curriculum.—Stephanie A. Squicciarini, Fairport Public Library, NY