“Brooklyn” tells the quiet yet powerful story of Eilis Lacey’s journey from 1950s Ireland to New York. Ellis Island is the formidable gateway to her new life, a place of profound hope, anxiety, and the sadness of leaving home behind.
The novel vividly captures the immigrant experience of starting over in a foreign city, and Eilis’s passage through the immigration station marks the definitive, irreversible step into her new identity.
In this imaginative novel, Ellis Island serves as the unlikely entry point for two mythical beings. A golem created in a Polish shtetl and a jinni freed from a flask in Damascus independently arrive in New York City in 1899.
Their passage through the famous immigration center grounds their fantastical origins in a shared, historical experience, setting the stage for their parallel lives in the immigrant neighborhoods of Manhattan.
This young adult novel brings readers to Ellis Island alongside Rose Nolan and her family, Irish immigrants seeking a fresh start. The arrival is more complicated than they imagined, with challenging encounters with immigration officials that test their courage.
Rose’s story provides a detailed look at the initial hardships and hopes facing young immigrant women, portraying Ellis Island as the first of many obstacles to be overcome in America.
Told through a series of letters, this novel immerses readers in the world of Rifka, a young Jewish girl fleeing persecution in Russia. Her journey culminates in a prolonged and lonely stay on Ellis Island, where she is detained due to illness and separated from her family.
The novel offers a poignant, firsthand perspective of Ellis Island as a place of both refuge and agonizing uncertainty, capturing the emotional turmoil of those in limbo.
While known as an epic crime saga, this classic novel features a pivotal sequence on Ellis Island. A young Vito Corleone, arriving from Sicily, is quarantined on the island for three months after being diagnosed with smallpox.
This period of isolation and observation is a formative experience, marking his first, solitary moments in America before his rise to power. His time on the island underscores the vulnerability and resilience required to survive in a new world.
This historical novel offers a unique perspective by focusing on a nurse working at the Ellis Island hospital in the early 1900s. As an Irish immigrant herself, protagonist Kate Connolly feels a deep empathy for the hopeful and frightened arrivals she treats.
The story illuminates the difficult decisions made within the island's walls, where officials determined who was healthy enough to enter America and who would be sent back, making Ellis Island a place of both healing and heartbreak.
Elvira Woodruff’s novel offers young readers history and adventure side-by-side. Dominic, a lonely modern-day orphan, is accidentally transported back to Ellis Island in 1908. He is swept up in the experiences of immigrant children navigating the confusing and often frightening arrival process.
Through Dominic’s eyes, readers witness the bewilderment and anxiety many children encountered, making the island’s history accessible and vivid.
Kate Kerrigan’s novel vividly portrays the Irish immigrant experience through the determined eyes of Ellie Hogan. Leaving her husband behind in Ireland, Ellie passes through Ellis Island on her way to build a new life in 1920s New York. The novel portrays Ellis Island not just as an entry point, but as a crucible where her resilience is tested.
It becomes a symbol of her bravery and the beginning of a journey filled with ambition, love, and loss.
Amy Hest’s beautifully illustrated picture book introduces young readers to Jessie, a talented young seamstress chosen by her village rabbi to go to America. Her journey takes her through Ellis Island, which serves as the pivotal, emotional gateway between her old life and her new dreams.
The book gently depicts the feelings of homesickness and hope, portraying the immigration station as a place where new beginnings are forged with courage.
Through Zipporah Feldman’s fictional diary, readers witness a young girl’s entry to America via Ellis Island in 1903. Zipporah shares her authentic feelings about leaving Russia and the anticipation and worry surrounding the immigration inspection.
Her diary entries provide a relatable and personal perspective on Ellis Island as a gateway to dreams of freedom, security, and opportunity, while also highlighting the challenges of adjusting to a new culture.