Tatiana Come to America: An Ellis Island Story (Doll Hospital)

Tatiana Come to America: An Ellis Island Story is a children's historical fiction book by Joan Holub that tells the story of two Russian sisters, Tatiana and Daria, who embark on a journey to America to escape the hardships and pogroms of their homeland in the early 1900s. Upon arrival at Ellis Island, they face various challenges, including health inspections, language barriers, and the fear of being sent back. The story vividly portrays the immigrant experience through the eyes of the young sisters as they navigate the crowded and chaotic processing center, hoping to be reunited with their family in New York City. The book is part of the Doll Hospital series, which often features dolls that come to life to share their historical stories with the characters who own them. In the tradition of American Girl, each book in this series is a clever mix of past and present that brings a different era to life through a story told from the perspective of a beloved doll. Sisters Lila and Rose, ages 8 and 10, are spending the year with their eccentric grandmother (who runs a doll hospital) while their parents are working out of the country. The girls are not pleased with this arrangement, but they begin to enjoy themselves when they learn that their grandmother has a special power to 'read' the lives of the dolls she is working to restore. In each book in this series, their grandmother tells the girls the story of a different doll. In this book, we meet Tatiana, a doll who travels to Ellis Island with her owner, a Russian girl named Anya.