Zayda Was a Cowboy

Stories of Jewish immigrants coming to America from Europe abound, but most of them focus on arrival at Ellis Island or other Eastern U.S. ports. Taking a different tack, Nislick shines the spotlight on efforts to help Jews immigrate to Texas and the Southwest in the early 1900s by offering the tale of one family's emigration. In the year 1980, Bill and his younger brother, Danny, are adjusting to having their elderly grandfather move in with them, a situation that has put some strain on the household. But as Zayda feels more comfortable, he tells his grandsons a fascinating bedtime story of how, as a boy, he bravely journeyed from a tiny town in Russia to Galveston, Tex., and became a true-blue American cowboy. In Nislick's ambitious story-within-a-story (winner of the Sydney Taylor manuscript award), Zayda's recollections whiz through lots of history, beginning with the persecution suffered by Jews in many European countries of the day. Though many of the details and situations seem spot-on, the writing style often relies on exclamation points and a "can you believe this?" tone that makes Zayda seem less a real character than a contrivance for relaying important facts. In the end, however, readers of various ages will find much of interest in this look at a little known bit of Jewish and American history. Ages 8-12. (May)