Hannah's Journal

By: Marissa Moss

In this historical fiction story - written in a diary format - readers can see the daily struggles a young child went through during the peak years of immigration. Between 1900 to 1920 the author stated, "more than fourteen million people entered the United States." Hannah is constantly writing in her journal she received from her tenth birthday from her day about the struggles of coming to America. Hannah and her cousin Esther went to America to find a job so that they could send money to their family to come to America after. Throughout the book, readers see how they were examining them for health or for being able to read and write - more so, then worrying about if the papers were accurate. However, they eventually made it to America and found jobs and were going to school - for free.  

Class Application: Teachers should allow students to reference this book when talking about, immigration in social studies. This is a good reference for students to use because it is more understandable then a textbook description. Teachers could have students "talk back" to this text in certain sections to examine how they would feel - and to connect with the literature.