--if Your Name Was Changed at Ellis Island

Levine, Ellen

ISBN 10: 0590461346 ISBN 13: 9780590461344

Publisher: Scholastic, 1993

Synopsis

A look at the history of Ellis Island and immigration discusses why people came to America, what Ellis Island looked like then, and other issues and includes quotes from those who passed through the immigration center.

About this title

About the Author

How did people escape on the Underground Railroad? What was it like to land on Ellis Island?How did it feel to travel the Oregon Trail in a covered wagon? Ellen Levine has revealed worldsof fascinating adventure with her nonfiction books for young readers.
Although Ellen Levine enjoys reading and writing fiction, most of her books for young readershave been nonfiction. "Writing nonfiction lets me in behind the scenes of the story. I enjoylearning new things and meeting new people, even if they lived 200 years ago."
"Real heroes," Levine says, "aren't necessarily on TV or in the news. They can be ordinarypeople who are willing to take risks for causes they believe in. Nonfiction offers a way tointroduce young readers to real people who have shown tremendous courage, even when facedwith great danger. All of us have the potential. And one doesn't have to be a grown-up," sheadds.
When she's not writing, Levine likes to share the excitement of research and the importance ofaccuracy with young readers. "Many young people think research is dull; you go to anencyclopedia, copy information, give it a title, and call it a report." Using her books asexamples, Ellen explains how to get other, more interesting information. "I may not mention theexact words, but I talk to young people about primary and secondary sources. If I'm speakingwith third graders, I ask them, 'Where would I go if I wanted to find out what it's like to be athird grader?' Most will say, 'Read a book.' But when they say, 'Ask a third grader, ' I knowthey've understood what I mean by a primary source of inspiration."
For If You Were an Animal Doctor, for example, Ellen witnessed an emergency operation on acow. While doing research in Wyoming for Ready, Aim, Fire!, her biography of Annie Oakley, she got to hold the gun Ms. Oakley is believed to have shot in the presence of the Queen ofEngland. "It gave me such a strong feeling about this person," she says. "That's part of research, too."
Ellen Levine is the author of many acclaimed books, both fiction and nonfiction. Among them: If You Traveled West in a Covered Wagon, If Your Name Was Changed at Ellis Island, I Hate English!, If You Lived at the Time of Martin Luther King, and Secret Missions. Her recent book, Freedom's Children: Young Civil Rights Activists Tell Their Own Stories, was named one of the Ten Best Children's Books of the Year by The New York Times, and Best Book for Young Adults by the American Library Association.
Ellen divides her time between New York City and Salem, New York.

Synopsis

Describes, in question and answer format, the great migration of immigrants to New York's Ellis Island, from the 1880s to 1914. Features quotes from children and adults who passed through the station.

Edition details

• Publisher: Scholastic
• Publication date: 1993
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0590461346
• ISBN 13: 9780590461344
• Binding: Library Binding
• Illustrator: Parmenter Wayne
• Number of pages: 80