The Girl in the Torch (20 page)

L
IKE
S
ARAH'S FATHER, MY
great-grandfather was a buttonhole maker. When he emigrated from Russia, he had almost no money or worldly possessions, but he did have his tailoring skills and one fine pair of scissors. Those scissors are still a precious family heirloom. It strikes me as nothing short of miraculous that he was able to forge a life for himself and his family with such meager beginnings.

A few years ago, I came across the fact that the very first person ever processed at the Federal Immigration Center on Ellis Island in 1892 was a fifteen-year-old girl from Ireland named Annie Moore. She traveled to America with her two younger brothers to be reunited with their parents, who were already living in New York. I marveled at the risks and dangers of Annie's journey, and part of me wondered what would have happened to her if her parents had died or could not be found once she arrived.

Later, I read a biography of the singer Dean Martin, who was the son of Italian American immigrants. The author of the book,
Nick Tosches, wrote about how important the Statue of Liberty was as a symbol to Italian immigrants, and I realized that this was true of so many different ethnic and religious groups. Tosches also quoted the Emma Lazarus poem, “The New Colossus,” and I was arrested by the line describing the statue as the “Mother of Exiles.” It was in that moment that I decided to write a story about an immigrant girl who loses her mother and lives inside the Statue of Liberty, so the monument becomes almost like a surrogate mother.

On the following pages I've included notes on some of the sources I used when writing the book as well as a timeline of the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, and U.S. immigration policy.

I
ALWAYS READ AS
many history books as I can when researching a novel set in the past. However, I often find that some of the most interesting sources of insight and inspiration come from unexpected places. Here are a few that I found most helpful when writing about the immigrant experience and New York City at the turn of the twentieth century.

PHOTOGRAPHY—Photography and photojournalism were booming in the early 1900s. Jacob Riis published a book called
How the Other Half Lives
that chronicled life in the slums of New York. It features incredible photographs of real immigrants, many of them children, who lived in poverty on the streets and in tenements. Another photographer at the time, named Lewis Hine, captured vivid images of immigrants on Ellis Island and child laborers around the city and the county.

MUSIC—The ragtime music of Scott Joplin makes the feel and rhythm of early-twentieth-century New York come alive.
Although written more than one hundred years ago, songs like “The Maple Leaf Rag” and “The Entertainer” are still popular today. Many songs of old New York still exist that were written about the city at the time. These tunes evoke that era and place with both their melodies and lyrics, including “Sidewalks of New York,” “Chinatown, My Chinatown,” and “The Bowery,” which I quoted in the book.

NEW YORK CITY—Perhaps the most exciting way to experience the history of New York is to visit the sites themselves. In addition to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island, there are many other places to explore that make the past come alive. The Lower East Side Tenement Museum gives you a wonderful sense of what everyday life was like for poor people living in the city. That museum is just a short walk from Chinatown, the Brooklyn Bridge, and the Bowery, where Sarah had some of her adventures. If you can't visit New York, there are plenty of videos of all of these places on YouTube.

FAMILY—As I mentioned earlier, the origins of this story came from the story of my own great-grandfather's life and his buttonhole-making scissors. Whether they arrived two hundred years ago or last week, your family will likely have their own immigration story that is filled with risks, adventure, sacrifice, and dreams of a better life in America. Perhaps one of your relatives even carried a postcard of the Statue of Liberty on the journey.

1776

A New York merchant named Samuel Ellis owns an island in New York Harbor previously known as Gull Island, Oyster Island, Dyre's Island, Bucking, and Gibbet Island. He runs a tavern on the island that is popular with fishermen.

1865

A Frenchman named Edouard de Laboulaye proposes that France give a statue representing liberty as a gift to the United States to celebrate its centennial. He believes the gift will help promote the ideals of democracy in his own country.

1870

French sculptor Auguste Bartholdi begins designing the Statue of Liberty.

1882

President Chester A. Arthur signs the Chinese Exclusion Act, prohibiting all immigration of Chinese laborers.

1883

Emma Lazarus composes the poem “The New Colossus” as part of a fund-raising effort for the Statue of Liberty.

1885

The Statue of Liberty is shipped from France to the United States in pieces, but must be placed in storage for a year to await the completion of the pedestal.

1886

The pedestal and statue are completed. It is formally unveiled at a ceremony on Bedloe's Island.

1890

The federal government begins setting up an immigration station on Ellis Island.

1891

The Immigration Act establishes the first set of comprehensive laws relating to immigration control and the deportation of illegal aliens.

1892

The Ellis Island Federal Immigration Station opens. The first immigrant processed there is a fifteen-year-old girl from Ireland named Annie Moore. Some 450,000 immigrants are processed there that first year.

1900

Ellis Island's Main Immigration Building opens and can receive 5,000 immigrants per day.

1903

Emma Lazarus's poem “The New Colossus” is inscribed on a plaque that is placed at the base of the statue.

1907

This is the peak year of immigration through Ellis Island, with more than a million immigrants processed.

1921

The U.S. Congress passes the Emergency Quota Act, which sets a yearly limit on the number of immigrants from any country to 3 percent of the number of people from that country already living in the United States as of 1910.

1924

President Calvin Coolidge declares the Statue of Liberty a national monument.

The Immigration and Naturalization Act establishes the first numeric limits on the number of immigrants to the United States. The U.S. Border Patrol is established.

1939–1945

During World War II, Ellis Island is used as a detention and deportation center for “alien enemies.” More than 7,000 Japanese, Germans, and Italians are detained during this time.

1940

The Alien Registration Act requires registration of all “aliens” living in the United States.

1954

Ellis Island is closed as a federal facility.

1956

Bedloe's Island is officially renamed Liberty Island.

1965

President Lyndon Johnson signs the Immigration Act that eliminates nationality, race, or creed as a basis for admittance to the United States.

President Lyndon Johnson places Ellis Island under the care of the National Parks Service.

1976

Ellis Island opens to tourists.

1984–1986

The Statue of Liberty undergoes a major renovation.

1986

The Statue of Liberty celebrates its centennial with a massive celebration.

1990

The Ellis Island Immigration Museum opens.

2001

After the attacks of 9/11, the Statue of Liberty is closed for security reasons. The pedestal does not reopen until 2004 and the crown does not reopen until 2009.

F
IRST
I
WANT TO
thank my wonderful editor, Kristin Daly Rens, who has been an invaluable collaborator throughout the entire creative process.

In addition to handling the business side of the business for me, my agent Maria Massie is a critical reader and a dear friend. Kassie Evashevski is my stalwart representative on the west coast.

My friend Barbara Clews offered me great insights into the world of horses and helped to guide the writing of the equine sections of the story. I'd also like to thank Bridget Morrison, who is always supportive and unusually upbeat about everything. Martin Curland remains one of my most trusted, honest, and insightful early readers.

I'd also like to thank Peter Glassman for generously replacing my lucky Books of Wonder coffee mug just in the nick of time.

My parents, Arthur and Judy Sharenow, continue to be my loudest and proudest supporters. I'd also like to thank my in-laws, Harvey and Cindy Creem, for all their love and support.

I want to specially acknowledge my father-in-law. This novel is about a man who helps save a girl who emerges from the sea. While I was in the process of writing this book, Harvey saved my daughter Olivia from drowning. Our gratitude for his heroism on that day can never be properly expressed. Yet it has also become clear to me that if not for his actions, I never would have finished this particular story.

This book is dedicated to my girls, Annabelle and Olivia, who are the greatest beacons of light in my life. And finally, I want to thank my wife, Stacey, who will always be my first and most important reader.

PHOTO BY AMY PSAILA

ROBERT SHARENOW
is an award-winning writer and television producer. His most recent novel,
The Berlin Boxing Club,
was awarded the Sydney Taylor Award by the Association of Jewish Libraries and received starred reviews from
Publishers Weekly, School Library Journal,
and
Kirkus Reviews.
He also serves as executive vice president and general manager of Lifetime. He lives in New York with his wife, two daughters, and their dog, Lucy. You can visit him online at
www.robertsharenow.com
.

Discover great authors, exclusive offers, and more at
hc.com
.

Cover art © 2015 by Rebecca Green

Cover design and lettering by Sarah Creech

Balzer + Bray is an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers.

THE GIRL IN THE TORCH
. Copyright © 2015 by Robert Sharenow. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.

www.harpercollinschildrens.com

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Sharenow, Rob, author.

The girl in the torch / Robert Sharenow. — First edition.

   pages  cm

Summary: After her father is killed in a pogrom, twelve-year-old Sarah and her mother immigrate to America—but when her mother dies before they get through Ellis Island, and the authorities want to send her back to the old country, Sarah hides in the torch of the Statue of Liberty.

ISBN 978-0-06-222795-9 (hardcover)

EPub Edition © April 2015 ISBN 9780062227973

1. Ellis Island Immigration Station (N.Y. and N.J.)—Juvenile fiction. 2. Statue of Liberty (New York, N.Y.)—Juvenile fiction. 3. Immigrant children—United States—Juvenile fiction. 4. Orphans—Juvenile fiction. 5. Jews—United States—Juvenile fiction. [1. Ellis Island Immigration Station (N.Y. and N.J.)—Fiction. 2. Statue of Liberty (New York, N.Y.)—Fiction. 3. Emigration and immigration—Fiction. 4. Immigrants—Fiction. 5. Orphans—Fiction. 6. Jews—United States—Fiction.] I. Author. II. Title.

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FIRST EDITION