Letters from Rifka — Karen Hesse

Rifka dreams of a life in America, but she may never get there.

Rifka and her family have fled Russia's brutal treatment of the Jews for a new life in America. But the path to freedom is full of terrible obstacles -- the humiliating scrutiny of doctors and soldiers, and deadly typhus that strikes the entire family. Finally, when it seems that they have triumphed over every possible hardship, the doctors refuse to let Rifka board the ship to America -- and her family must leave without her....