Double Crossing by Eve Tal

Double Crossing by Eve Tal

Outstanding in both its structure and its questioning of faith, this offering is not to be missed-Kirkus Reviews (STARED Review)

Best of all is the shocking surprise that changes everything, even Papa-a haunting aspect of the immigrant story left too long untold-Booklist (STARED Review)

The future for Jews in rural villages of Russia in 1905 held little promiseStories of pogroms seeped through the countryside, and the czar was conscripting soldiers because of rumors of war and revolutionBenjamin Balaban, a poor but very devout Jew, determines to flee to AmericaHe will take Raizel, his almost-twelve-year-old daughter, and once they are settled he will send for his wife and other childrenRaizel doesn't understand the reasons for leavingHow can her village be dangerous? It's full of magic and the stories and poems that her grandmother Bubba tells her

But go she mustHer odyssey with her father across Russia and Europe and on to America is full of adventure, adversity, and hardshipShe desperately misses her family, but she retells Bubba's stories to keep her memories aliveFinally, they board a ship for America, but a terrible storm makes Raizel and her father sickAll their food is stolen, and Benjamin won't eat non-kosher foodAt Ellis Island, his long beard and ear locks, his peasant clothes, his deep cough, and emaciated frame get them turned away from AmericaRaizel, though, is now determined to get back to America and the hope of a new life for her whole familyShe must convince her father that he'll have to give up his orthodox food and traditions and put on the clothes of his new countryShe and her father both will have to leave everything behind to make their final crossing to America

Double Crossing is the winner of the Paterson Prize for Books for Young People and the Skipping Stones Honor Award, and is a Notable Book for a Global Society and a Notable Children's Book of Jewish Content

Eve Tal was born in 1947 in New York CityShe lives on Kibbutz Hatzor with her husband and three sons