Five Stories

February 1, 2024
Successive generations of children in the same Lower East Side tenement map out a common immigrant experience in New York City. Using the term stories in both senses of the word, Weinstein opens with a cutaway view of the building that shows one of the five families on each floor. She then introduces Jenny Epstein, her actual grandmother, who in 1914 moved with her Russian Jewish family into the building, where they lived above a pickle store. Four fictive young recent arrivals follow from Italy (1932), the Dominican Republic (1965), Puerto Rico (1989), and China ("Today"). The text offers mere snapshots, too short to include more than a few common concerns or details of daily life (though to link the generations, each child mentions knowing the inhabitant of the floor below). But the illustrations are filled with lavish period details, both of domestic furnishings inside and dress, cars, and changing shop signs outside. "Hosiery" becomes "Sportswear," "Latticini" makes way for "Bodega," Chinese characters appear, and other businesses come and go--except for the pickle place, which remains as a visual anchor while adding mango, okra, and kimchi to its advertised wares by the end. Weinstein also tracks a growing diversity of people as well as food, while in her afterword she properly acknowledges that her five families can only suggest how rich the community's real racial and cultural mix is. Tantalizing glimpses of a diverse neighborhood's cultures and origins, with insight into the commonality that underlies them. (Informational picture book. 6-9)

COPYRIGHT(2024) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Starred review from August 23, 2024

Gr 1-4-Weinstein shows readers how one small place in New York has changed over time. The story begins with Jenny Epstein in 1914 and talks about why her family emigrated from Russia, what kind of work they did when they arrived, as well as the kinds of hopes and dreams they had for themselves. The story leapfrogs ahead to 1932, where Jenny is a teacher and she's walking to school with one of her students, who now lives in the same apartment building where Jenny and her family had lived. The illustration shows how some of the businesses have changed while others have stayed the same. The text is short but specific, giving readers the opportunity to consider their own families' movements across the country or the world. The artwork adds another layer of understanding to the role of immigrants in a community, showing different businesses moving in and out of the retail spaces, varying with the needs of the community and the cultural tastes of the people who live there, and some of the pictures will give sharp-eyed readers a clue as to what happened to the children who grew on the street. VERDICT This is a wonderful look at how immigrants have changed a community for the better. It would be an excellent book for a lesson on how communities evolve over time. A first choice for libraries needing books about communities, immigration, and changes over time.-Debbie Tanner

Copyright 2024 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.