Chapter 1 A New Beginning 1910 My father’s voice rings loud and clear in the tiny room We are going to America he booms smiling I do not smile I hold my breath to keep in my sobs My ribs feel like they’re going to crack into a million pieces I cannot imagine leaving home I cannot imagine journeying over the ocean to a place so far away My little brother Karl pipes up Where is America Is it far away Father nods and grins down at Karl Yes It will take many days to get there We will travel on a big ship It will be a great adventure Karl’s eyes gleam in excitement Can I bring Zizzy my little sister Helene asks Zizzy is a small wooden horse that she carries everywhere Father grins at her Of course I glance at my older sister Katarina She is staring stone-faced at Father Finally she blurts out I don’t want to leave Russia Katarina and I rarely agree We don’t have anything in common
But this time she’s taken the words right out of my mouth Father’s smile drops He looks at me What do you think Emma I am surprised As the middle child I’m often overlooked caught between my older siblings Gustav and Katarina and my younger siblings Karl and Helene Overlooked until someone needs me that is And now Father needs me to side with him to join his enthusiasm I don’t want to leave Russia either I tell him Odessa is my home Katarina flashes me a sideways look She’s surprised I agreed with her Sometimes we disagree just to disagree even if deep inside we really do agree But this is different This time I had to speak up No Emma Father says Odessa is not your home We are a people without a home Katarina and I look at him surprised Even Karl and Helene quiet their excited murmurs That’s not true Katarina argues We’ve always lived here How can Russia not be our home We listen as Father explains the history of our German people Over a hundred years ago in the late 1700s our ancestors left Germany to settle in a German colony in Ukraine part of the Russian Empire The Russian czar Catherine the Great promised our people we could keep our language and customs And we would never have to fight in the Russian Army But one hundred years later the Russian czar broke Catherine’s promise and placed new rules on us We had to go to Russian schools and were forbidden to speak German in public Our men and boys had
to serve in the Russian Army Our people are poor and it seems we never have enough to eat Still I think even though we are poor we are happy Aren’t we As though Father can read my mind he says We will be happier in America We will have enough food to eat We will be free to practice our language and customs And Gustav won’t be forced to serve in the army But what about my friends Katarina says Her voice breaks into a sob and tears spill from her eyes Without waiting for an answer she runs from the room Katarina is thirteen but she cries more than five-year-old Helene Usually I am annoyed by Katarina’s constant angry crying but today I wish I could cry too What will we do there I ask Your Uncle Elmer has a farm in a place called North Dakota I know you have never met him but he has invited me to farm with him Father says Karl grabs Helene’s hands and spins her around the room We’re going to America he shouts The children dance wildly until they collapse into a pile of giggles I watch them in somber silence until Father stands and puts a hand on my shoulder America will be a new beginning for us he says
Chapter 2 Train to the Unknown The shrill train whistle pierces the air Black smoke rises from the smokestack as the train chugs toward the station With one hand I clutch Helene’s tiny palm With the other I grip my suitcase The case holds the only belongings I can take to America I try not to think about everything I had to leave behind but the images swim before my eyes A cuckoo clock made especially for me by my grandfather A life-sized baby doll named Inga that I have had since I was younger than Helene My favorite boots Three dresses A hat with feathers that I never wore but loved anyway The only time I shed tears was when I gave Inga to a neighbor child Helene tried to comfort me You can get a new doll in America she said I’m eleven I told her I’m too old for baby dolls Before I gave Inga away I took off her dress and folded it into my suitcase The dress made of blue-and-white gingham was the last thing my mother gave to me before she died Even though I am too old for dolls I will keep that dress for the rest of my life The train blasts into the station and Helene clutches my skirts frightened by the noise and the gigantic looming train cars Karl races along the platform until Father scolds him Katarina stares
