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NOTHING HERE BUT STONES by Nancy Oswald

NOTHING HERE BUT STONES

by Nancy Oswald

Pub Date: Sept. 1st, 2004
ISBN: 0-8050-7465-1
Publisher: Henry Holt

In 1882, a small group of Russian Jews left the inhospitable environment of Tsarist Russia to establish a colony in America where they could own land and grow crops. Though 11-year-old Emma and her family have come with high hopes, they face difficulties in establishing the Cotopaxi Jewish Colony in Colorado. Bitter cold and snow, bears and rats, hunger, loneliness, and death must be faced, and though the colony proves unsuccessful, the dream and the bravery shine in this testament to a people finding their way in a new world. Emma’s first-person story is nicely realized; sensory language and strong dialogue carry the tale, inspired by Oswald’s discovery that the remains of the Cotopaxi Jewish Colony are on land she now owns. A strong addition to the growing body of immigrant stories. (author’s note) (Fiction. 10+)