New York: Scholastic, (1993) dj. Hardcover first edition - Uncommon hardcover edition of this book written in a question and answer format that focuses on questions children might have about immigration - and specifically through Ellis Island, opened in New York Harbor in 1892, which processed more than 30 million immigrants over the next 30 years. "Did all immigrants come through Ellis Island?" (no); ""Did you have to have a job waiting for you?" (again, no; in fact, it was not allowed). It's evident that America has always been a polyglot magnet--even in 1643, 18 languages were spoken in one colonial area. It's also evident that there's been long-standing prejudice against certain immigrants (ability to read was required for entrance, and first and second class arrivals didn't have to sweat it out at Ellis Island). Most interesting here are the individual stories: the name change in the author's own family; the child who had never seen a banana and ate it whole; the "six- second"" medical exam. Illustrated by Wayne Parmenter with "nostalgically warm impressionistic paintings, suffused with sepia, simultaneously signal suffering and hope." Oblong format. 80 pp. ISBN: 0-590461346.