Annushka and her little sister, Tanya, are traveling alone to America. Their father has sent them their tickets for passage and waits for them in New York. Excitement mingles with sadness as they say goodbye to their grandparents in Russia, and then it is up to Annushka to take care of them both as they make their way to Holland by train and then board the great steamer that will take them across the ocean. This story of two young Jewish sisters making the long journey to a new land is based on the experiences of the author's mother, who fled the persecution of Jews in Russia during the late 1800s when she was 13 years old. The full-color illustrations, rendered in pen-and-ink, acrylic and colored pencil, heighten the sense of what it might have felt like to be so small and alone among so many unknown people and in so many unfamiliar places on a journey that joyfully reunites them with their father but takes them far away from others whom they love. (Ages 7-10)

Set at the turn of the century, this sensitively told story, based on the true story of the author's own mother's journey to America, follows the journey of two young sisters as they travel from their small village in Russia to join their papa in New York. In her lively text, Edith Tarbescu communicates the hopes and fears of the two young immigrants. Expressive illustrations capture the many extraordinary moments of the sisters' transatlantic journey including their glorious reunion with Papa, made possible with the help of a pair of special Sabbath candlesticks.