The Girl in the Torch

Gr 4–7—When her father is brutally murdered, Sarah and her mother escape the Russian pogroms and sail to America with a prized postcard of the Statue of Liberty inspiring their dreams of a new life. This treasure offers little comfort however, after Sarah's mother is stricken with illness and dies upon their arrival at Ellis Island. With no relatives in the United States, the authorities decide to send Sarah back to her home country. Instead, she jumps overboard from the ship making the return trip and swims to Liberty Island, taking refuge in Lady Liberty. After a week's worth of evading capture and scavenging for survival, Sarah comes to the aid of the drunken night watchman when an accident leaves him incapacitated. Her discovery not only puts his position in jeopardy but gives Sarah a chance to make a life for herself far different from that which her parents had imagined. Many elements of this middling novel seem too far-fetched to be plausible. In addition, the majority of individuals are stock characters, some of whom seem racially stereotyped, only adding to the novel's contrivance. Ethnic diversity in the Lower East Side during the turn of the 20th century is portrayed as naively harmonious, with what little conflict that exists too neatly resolved at times. Still, readers interested in historical fiction will find a readable narrative with mostly likable personalities. Avi's City of Orphans (S. & S., 2011) surpases this book in its representation of daily life in the tenements and the gritty realities for many living on the Lower East Side.