SARAH, ALSO KNOWN AS HANNAH

After 12-year-old Sarah's father dies at the turn of the century, her mother decides to send one of her four children from Ukraine to America. Initially this is to be the eldest, Hannah, but after her passport is purchased and the tickets arrive from Uncle Benjamin in New York their mother had a change of heart: Sarah will go instead, and—though Hannah is devastated and Sarah frightened—their mother prevails. The narrative recounts Sarah's journey by train and steamship, her fear that the fact that she's traveling on her sister's passport will be discovered, and her lonely wait on Ellis Island until her uncle comes. Useful, though not deep, a story that offers insights into the immigrant experience; readers will be interested to learn that it is based on the author's mother's experiences. Cogancherry contributes appealing characterizations and a strong sense of place in her carefully modeled, full-page b&w drawings. (Fiction. 8-10)