A Sky Full of Song
Papa said there are no Cossacks in America.
But he didn’t say a thing about everything else!
Life is so different in South Dakota.
Everyone speaks English and nobody in town has ever met a Jew before.
Will Shoshi ever feel at home?
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What the Book is About
Jewish Content & Values
Content Advisory
It's 1908, and after a Cossack raid in which her mother is injured, 11-year-old Shoshana, her mother, and sisters travel to join Shoshana’s father and brother in North Dakota. Shoshana and 14-year-old Libke start to make friends with their Christian classmates, but they also face antisemitic bullying, and Shoshana is uncomfortable when Libke speaks Yiddish at school. Shoshana and her friend get caught in a blizzard, and after they manage to make it to Shoshana’s house one of the bullies arrives, begging for help for his horse. Eventually, Shoshana overcomes her ambivalence about Judaism, reconciles with her sister, and performs a Yiddish song with Libke at the school concert, after which the family celebrates Hanukkah together.
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The Jewish Agricultural Society helps Shoshana’s family make a new life in North Dakota after they flee the Cossacks. At first, Shoshana feels embarrassed about her immigrant family, but eventually she overcomes her ambivalence and performs in the school recital with pride, playing the fiddle to accompany her sister’s Yiddish song.
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The family speaks Yiddish, makes challah, and celebrates Shabbat. The sisters make Hanukkah candles. The family keeps kosher, and they hang a mezuzah on their dugout.
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The family endures a fair amount of antisemitism, including the father being refused credit at the local store, some (well-intentioned) women and girls suggesting that the family attend church and become Christian, and bullies checking Shoshana's head for horns and calling her “Yid”. In this scene, she finds strength in Rabbi Hillel’s teaching, "What is hateful to you, do not do to your fellow man."
There’s a short scene at the beginning of the book in which the Cossacks come to the village and attack the Jewish residents and Shoshana’s mother gets hurt. On the ship to America some boys pull off the mother’s hair covering and throw it in the water. In North Dakota, some of the boys from school call Shoshana “yid”, pin her down and feel her to head to see if they can find horns. The main bully later apologizes.
What the Book is About
It's 1908, and after a Cossack raid in which her mother is injured, 11-year-old Shoshana, her mother, and sisters travel to join Shoshana’s father and brother in North Dakota. Shoshana and 14-year-old Libke start to make friends with their Christian classmates, but they also face antisemitic bullying, and Shoshana is uncomfortable when Libke speaks Yiddish at school. Shoshana and her friend get caught in a blizzard, and after they manage to make it to Shoshana’s house one of the bullies arrives, begging for help for his horse. Eventually, Shoshana overcomes her ambivalence about Judaism, reconciles with her sister, and performs a Yiddish song with Libke at the school concert, after which the family celebrates Hanukkah together.
Jewish Content & Values
-
The Jewish Agricultural Society helps Shoshana’s family make a new life in North Dakota after they flee the Cossacks. At first, Shoshana feels embarrassed about her immigrant family, but eventually she overcomes her ambivalence and performs in the school recital with pride, playing the fiddle to accompany her sister’s Yiddish song.
-
The family speaks Yiddish, makes challah, and celebrates Shabbat. The sisters make Hanukkah candles. The family keeps kosher, and they hang a mezuzah on their dugout.
-
The family endures a fair amount of antisemitism, including the father being refused credit at the local store, some (well-intentioned) women and girls suggesting that the family attend church and become Christian, and bullies checking Shoshana's head for horns and calling her “Yid”. In this scene, she finds strength in Rabbi Hillel’s teaching, "What is hateful to you, do not do to your fellow man."
Content Advisory
There’s a short scene at the beginning of the book in which the Cossacks come to the village and attack the Jewish residents and Shoshana’s mother gets hurt. On the ship to America some boys pull off the mother’s hair covering and throw it in the water. In North Dakota, some of the boys from school call Shoshana “yid”, pin her down and feel her to head to see if they can find horns. The main bully later apologizes.
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