Rona Arato
Author of The Last Train: A Holocaust Story
About the Author
Image credit: Lucy Granada of Envision Photography
Works by Rona Arato
Design It!: The Ordinary Things We Use Every Day and the Not-So-Ordinary Ways They Came to Be (2010) 20 copies, 10 reviews
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Birthdate
- 20th century
- Gender
- female
- Nationality
- Canada
- Short biography
- RONA ARATO was born in New York and grew up in Los Angeles. Her work has appeared in magazines and newspapers in Canada and the United States. She taught elementary school in Los Angeles and Toronto, adult creative writing for the Toronto District School Board, and has conducted business writing workshops for profit and nonprofit organizations. From 1994-1998, she was an interviewer for Survivors of the Shoa, a Steven Spielberg project that recorded the histories of Holocaust survivors. Rona Arato lives in Toronto with her husband, Paul.
Members
Reviews
This was a fun, cleverly written book. Obviously, with a baby dragon in the middle of things, it doesn't take itself too seriously. Still, there is a lot here about life on the Lower East Side for middle grade kids to absorb. Written with frequent small "cliff-hangers" at the ends of chapters, the plot moves quickly, following Shoshi and her brother as they travel to America and adjust to life in New York. Although many aspects of the story are not believable, the book felt like it was meant to have a folk/fairy-tale quality and plausibility was not generally an issue for me. The one point that bothered me was that Shoshi happened to have learned enough English through a teacher in Poland to be able to communicate well as soon as she arrived. I think I would have preferred to see a more realistic take on the language barrier, as that was such a hurdle for immigrants. Otherwise, with an eye toward reading this to middle-grade students, I enjoyed the story.… (more)
"The Ship to Nowhere" is the true story about the ship "The Exodus 1947" and its passengers trials as they tried to find a home in Palestine after the end of WWII. The book centers on very real people including Rachel Fletcher and her family who along with 4,500 other Jewish refugees were treated very inhumanely for simply wanting a land to call their own and a place where they did not have to fear being Jewish.
The book is well researched and an eye opening read that I think should be in every public library and every school library as well. It is horrifying to think of what these people including very young children had to go through even after the Holocaust.
The only thing I would recommend is that the book would probably come across better in paperback rather than Kindle (I keep trying to change the edition I read but Goodreads won't let me). I found the photos very small and the descriptions of the photos and the story a bit mashed together for the ebook edition and a bit confusing. Otherwise, it is a very powerful book for young people and a story we should not forget.
I received a copy of this book from Netgalley for free in exchange for an honest review.… (more)
The book is well researched and an eye opening read that I think should be in every public library and every school library as well. It is horrifying to think of what these people including very young children had to go through even after the Holocaust.
The only thing I would recommend is that the book would probably come across better in paperback rather than Kindle (I keep trying to change the edition I read but Goodreads won't let me). I found the photos very small and the descriptions of the photos and the story a bit mashed together for the ebook edition and a bit confusing. Otherwise, it is a very powerful book for young people and a story we should not forget.
I received a copy of this book from Netgalley for free in exchange for an honest review.… (more)
Awards
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Associated Authors
Statistics
- Works
- 17
- Members
- 274
- Popularity
- #84,603
- Rating
- 3.8
- Reviews
- 26
- ISBNs
- 52
The Ship to Nowhere is perfect for Middle School students. The author uses clear and crisp prose to describe the stories and plight of the refugees. The book is physically beautiful and has pictures of Ruth and her family, the Exodus 147, and important documents and pictures from that journey that only enhances the realism of the story. Due to Ms Arato's vivid storytelling I could smell the horrible smells on the boat, the waves of the roiling sea and and feel the steadfast commitment of these determined refugees to live in a Jewish homeland. She never infantalizes her students and makes it easy for them to imagine themselves inside the story and to connect it to their lives. Especially compelling is that given our national debate on immigration and refugees it is a wonderful catalyst to help students explore the impact on themselves, their families and communities. One of my favorite middle school non-fiction books of the year.… (more)