When Jessie Came Across The Sea

Title: When Jessie Came Across the Sea

Author: Amy Hest

Genre: Historical Fiction

Summary: Jessie and her grandmother lived in a small house in a poor village, which had a slanting roof, two chairs, two narrow beds and a table with fine lace cloth. They were warmed by a potbellied stove in the winter and warm soup. Jessie had one skinny cow, named Miss Minnie, and a patch of garden. When Jessie was a baby, her parents died, but she kept her mother’s wedding band in a tiny silver box with tiny lace lining. Every so often, she tried it on. In the morning, Jessie would go with the village boys to lessons with the rabbi because her grandmother insisted. After supper, she would read out loud. Jessie tried to teach her grandmother how to read and write, but she refused, so she taught Jessie how to sew lace. One evening, the rabbi called the people of the village to the synagogue to tell them that his brother, Mordecai had died, but before he died, he had given the rabbi a ticket to America. The rabbi was trying to give it to someone else but he didn’t want to leave the village. The next morning, rabbi went to Jessie’s house and told her that she would go to America. Jessie was scared because she was going to be so far away from her grandmother, but rabbi told her that she would be working with his brother’s widow in a dress shop in New York City. Her name is Kay. Jessie was scared but she knew she needed to go. Jessie’s ship left, and all she could do was think about her grandmother being alone. Jessie was too ill to eat and too ill to even sleep. On the fourth morning, everyone was finally dry. Jessie began to sew to just pass time. She sewed a little girls’ dress and then an old woman’s tattered coat. Jessie met a boy, named Lou, on the boat. They walked and talked together and they shared black bread. On a fall day, they passed the Statue of Liberty. Jessie wished she could share these moments with her grandmother. The ship docked at Ellis Island and Jessie had to wait on line for inspections. Then, she heard someone call out “Jessie! You may call me Cousin Kay.” Jessie forgot to say goodbye to Lou, but she went to Cousin Kay’s house, which was on the Lower East Side. She immediately sent a letter to her grandmother telling her all about it. In the house, Jessie sat on the yellow chair by the window because she could see the streets and there was good lighting. One afternoon, for fun, Jessie pinned a lace bodice to a plain white dress and Cousin Kay’s cousin, Miss Emily Levy came in and she wanted a dress just like it for her wedding. Before they knew it, brides were filling up the parlor! Cousin Kay then told Jessie that she needed to go to school to learn English, so she did. Jessie wrote another letter to her grandmother. Jessie learned more and more English and continued to sew as three years had passed. Now, Jessie was sixteen. While she was walking in the park, she saw a boy-it was Lou! Each Sunday after that, they would meet in the park on the bench. Jessie was so happy, so she wrote grandmother a note about Lou. One evening, Jessie met Lou’s parents, his brother and his three sisters. His sisters cried when Jessie left, and Lou asked her to marry him on the stairs outside of his house. “Soon.” Jessie said. Each time Jessie sewed, Cousin Kay gave her three coins, and she saved all three of them. She brought them all to a man who sold tickets to America and asked for a ticket for her grandmother. She sent it to her and her grandmother wrote her a letter back saying she was coming and that rabbi would watch Miss Minnie. When her grandmother arrived, she brought Jessie’s mother’s wedding band to her for there was going to be a wedding.

Characters: Jessie, her grandmother, rabbi, Cousin Kay, Lou, Miss Minni, Miss Emily Levy

Plot: Jessie had to go to America in place of the rabbi but she didn’t want to leave her grandmother so she needed to save up her money to bring her grandmother to her in New York City

Theme: war, poverty, determination

Setting: small village, New York City

Opinion: I thought this book was good. It showed the hardships that even young children had to go through in times of war. It was a happy ending and it definitely kept you on your feet, wondering what was going to happen next with Jessie and her grandmother.