The Orphan of Ellis Island by Elvira Woodruff

The Orphan of Ellis Island Reviews

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  Tatevik doesn’t get notifications

  This author is a contemporary but has late 1800s, early 1900s vibes. Slowly becoming her fan. I think I started with her best work - The Christmas Doll. Although, this one was also a very sweet story.
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  Stephanie Fitzgerald

  My Review:
  The setting is NYC, in the late 90’s. Dominic, a lonely foster child who longs for a permanent family, goes on a field trip to Ellis Island. As he hears his classmates speak up about their heritages, he becomes envious. Dominic sneaks away into a closet for privacy. He falls asleep, and the biggest surprise of his life awaits when he awakens!
  Excellent book to introduce the history of immigration. The author’s notes about her Italian ancestry are wonderful!
  
  Memorable Quotes:
  (Pg. 3)-“Dominic wondered what his family tree would look like. He imagined a little twig with one tiny leaf hanging on it. On the leaf was his name; that was all.”
  
  Overall:
  A 😀 book
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  Anna

  The orphan of Ellis island was a very interesting book, and I think this book can help you understand how people used to live, and how they suffered to come to America, on these ships, that are really dirty and no clean water to drink.
  I kind of enjoyed reading this book because I really wanted to understand how Italy people immigrated
  to America, and how their life was like separated from their family.
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  Kasha

  This was a really good book that my daughter asked me to get from the library after her teacher read it to their class. She was so excited to share it with me. We read the first couple chapters together and then she couldn't contain herself anymore...she finished it (for the second time) over a weekend! I'm amazed at what a great reader she is turning into! I took much longer to finish it, but it was a really good story. It is a 4.9 on the AR reading list. I like how the main character becomes connected to his past and ancestry. This book encourages it's readers to become more acquainted with their ancestors and that is pretty special, I think.
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  Mandy Morrow

  A young orphan goes on a trip with his class to Ellis Island. There, he lies to his classmates about his family in order to keep the fact he's an orphan a secret. Then, he is told there is a wall where the immigrants' names are written that have come over to America. In order to not have to face his classmates, he hides in a closet where he falls asleep. Then, he wakes up to find it is now night and the museum is closed. He is thrown back in time to Italy and begins his adventure with some new friends. Will he be stuck there forever? This book his touching and engaging at the same time!
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  Ms. Patterson

  I came across this book when looking up info on Ellis Island. It looked to be an interesting time-travel idea -- Would the orphan from modern times find out about his parents when he travels back in time?
  
  Dominic's life is in turmoil. His foster family will be moving out of state and he will soon be placed with ANOTHER family. He's tired of not fitting in, tired of having no friends, tired of not having a family. When on a field trip to Ellis Island with his classmates, Dominic tells a lie about his family name being on the Immigrant Wall of Honor. So he doesn't have to admit lying to his class, Dominic runs off and hides in a closet. There, he falls asleep and is locked in the building after closing. After a strange conversation with an immigrant via the telephone receiver in an exhibit, Dominic is transported back in time to 1911 Italy. There he meets three brothers, who are orphans, and are planning to travel to America soon. Dominic's life is forever changed by the discoveries he makes about these boys and how it relates to his own life.
  
  THE ORPHAN OF ELLIS ISLAND is an entertaining time travel story, full of adventure and mystery. I found it fast-paced and easy-to-read. It will be perfect for those that love adventure stories.
  
  
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  Erin

  Story time: I don't remember how I first found this book, but I was about 10 years old and it was my favorite thing ever. I read constantly, since I was never found of the ending, I would start again and reimagine what happened to these boys. My 1995 printing of the book was in terrible shape, and on the third or forth read through pages started coming out of the binding. On the fifth read through, whole chunks were missing. Eventually it completely fell apart and my mom threw it away. I was SO upset that I held a grudge over my missing book for 16 years!
  
  But on a recent trip to Ellis Island, with mom, there it was waiting for me in the book store. I very literally shrieked, freaking out the guy at cash register. Story explained, and book in hand, I giddily ran through the museum pointing out all the parts that featured strongly in the book.
  
  It took another month to actually start and finish it, but now that I have I can say - 10 year old me had pretty good taste in books! The charters are lovable, the story in moving and educational at the same time, the reading level is on par for young kids, and the ending still leaves much to be imagined.
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  Ash R.

  This book is about an orphan boy who goes on a field trip with his class to Ellis Island. HE doesn't know any of his ancestors and feels bad when everyone is showing each others theres. She when he hides in the closet and falls asleep he wakes up and somehow ends up in Italy in 1908!
  
  I can make a text to MOVIE connection when a boy gets locked in a museum and cant get out so he explores the museum and finds out stories about the history of the world.
  
  I would rate this book a 3 because it was a good boy because I think I've read better. I think it would be good if you like reading about history and how different parts of the world especially Italy came to be.
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  Claire ❤️✨

  Pretty good book. It had a great story that isn’t one you’d lose interest in. I had to read this for my middle school history class. Overall I think it’s a good book.🤩
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  Heather

  Calvin enjoyed this book we read aloud. I like there is a pronunciation glossary, just wish I would have found it before or while we were reading the book. This sparked conversation about Ellis Island and people coming to America.
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  Jana Hill

  Listened with the kids and we all really enjoyed it. Eye opening for my kids to hear about immigrant experiences.
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  Anna

  I don't remember why I borrowed this from the library, but it wasn't half bad. It was definitely for a younger audience, but I still enjoyed it. It was a bit awkward and weird in the beginning and I didn't like the main character, Dominic, too well then, but he improved a little. As this book sends Dominic back in time, he had a hard time remembering that there weren't the Twin towers in America or ambulances could just pick the sick boy up. A bit silly in my opinion but I guess Dominic is only 10. I think him traveling back in time was a good way for him to learn to be thankful for what he has.
  
  Content:
  Language: N/A
  Sexy Stuff/Romance: N/A
  Violence: one character is whipped once (nondescriptive)
  Other: A thief steals something and the boys run after him
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  Jennifer Marie

  I was excited to read this book. I love Ellis Island’s History. This book however did nothing to pull me in. It starts off slow for me. Granted there is a ‘small’ dilemma of Dominic feeling left out and different, but then it takes eight chapters before we get to the time travel aspect of this story. EIGHT CHAPTERS! I was ready to put the book down well before I reached chapter eight.
  
  Then we spend a lot of time in Italy. Now I know that this is a part of the story that works. When I analyze it, my brain says it does what it needs to. However I wasn’t expecting the story to spend so much time in Italy, so I was a bit disappointed. I wanted to move quicker from that point of the story. I wanted to be on the ship with the children traveling to America.
  
  The boy time travels by falling asleep. Basically he falls asleep at the beginning and wakes up in Italy. Then he’s on Ellis Island waiting in line (at the end) and he drifts asleep and when he wakes up he’s back in present. I always find dealing with that issue of HOW is tough. In my first novel it was easy. There was a specific means ‘a door’ for getting to and from. In this novel I use the sleep factor too. I don’t particularly like this method, but sometimes it is the only way.
  
  I’m left wondering at the end of this book. We learn about Dominic’s past and his ancestors, but then there’s no mention of them dying out or being alive when he gets back to the present. Wouldn’t he try to find out something. There was another brother, wouldn’t there be the possibility of some other family out there? It just didn’t settle my questions good enough. So I was a tad disappointed in the end.
  
• 
  Anna

  The orphan of Ellis island was a very interesting book, and I think this book can help you understand how people used to live, and how they suffered to come to America, on these ships, that are really dirty and no clean water to drink.
  I kind of enjoyed reading this book because I really wanted to understand how Italy people immigrated
  to America, and how their life was like separated from their family.
  
  
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  Jessica Vogt

  In my 5th grade class we read this together. Since we where working on a Immigration report it fit in well. I liked it because how true the history was and Elvira Woodruff didnt make the history up or anything. Also my report was based on Italian immigrants since I do have Italian in me. I loved the imagination the characters had in the book.
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  Stacie

  I'm mixed about this book. The story is good and sad. Dominick travels back and finds his family that came to America from Italy. However, in the present it seems like it was just a dream and no closer was made for the reader. Granted Dominick gets a sense of worth and pride for family, however I wanted him to find family in the present to live with. :(
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  Katie

  I listened to the audiobook of this over the course of a few days, just for simple escapism while doing chores. Sure, the story is at times predictable, but it does have its charm. My younger self would have absolutely adored this, since it combines both time travel and orphans - two subjects I always wanted to read about.
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  AMHarriman

  Read this book to my third grade class, and they LOVED it! Had lots of opportunity for reviewing comprehension strategies, learning new vocabulary, and understand life lessons! And greatest of all, it had my kids excited and wanting to keep reading!
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  Stephanie

  I LOVED THIS BOOK!!!!!!!!!!! :) IT WAS AMAZING! i recommend it to anybody who is Italian and has ancestors that came from Italy to Ellis Island a long time ago.
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  Anne-Marie

  I have no idea if this book is actually good or not anymore, but kudos to the author for wowing my second-grade self.
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  Random Scholar

  There were so many parts of this story that made me cry. From Dominic meeting his great grandfather through time travel to his discovery of how hard life was for his grandfather in Italy around the turn of the century, I found myself crying at almost every page. This book gives a very powerful glimpse into what life was like for many immigrants at the turn of the century. During Dominic's visions he had when he fell asleep in a museum during a class trip, he was able to see touch smell and taste what life was like for his ancestors before they came to America.
  
  My favorite thing about this story was that it showed the hope that millions of immigrants had when they traveled to America in hope of a better life. It also did a very good job of describing just how much harder their lives were historically before immigrating to America. This can be a great story to show the history of why America was considered the greatest country in the world and why millions of people from around the world wanted to come here. I fear that we are living in times when many children are being subliminally conditioned to hate living in America when we still have a lot more freedom and opportunity than many other countries in the world. This book may be an interesting conversation starter on what we have to be grateful for and patriotism in general. This book can also be a great text for social studies classes and creative writing as a possible genre in historical fiction. I would recommend this book to students in fourth grade though it can certainly be read out loud to younger audiences as well.
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  Allie R

  In this thrilling time-travel novel, Dominic Cantori is currently an orphan living in present day New York City. Dominic has had his share of foster families and is always wishing for a family of his own. When his 5th grade class travels to Ellis Island for a field trip, the park ranger asks the students to share their family heritage. To avoid the embarrassment of not knowing information about his family, Dominic decides to hide in a janitor’s closet. He falls asleep and when he wakes up, Ellis Island is empty! He roams the quiet museum and begins to listen to the recorded voices of immigrants in an exhibit when suddenly, a voice on the recording responds to Dominic! Next thing he knows, Dominic wakes up and has been taken back into time to Italy in 1908. Dominic meets three other orphan boys, Francesco, Salvatore and Antonio. The boys welcome Dominic to their famiglia and have many adventures together in Italy. When the boys learn that they have tickets to America—specifically to New York City, Dominic joins them on their adventure. Over the course of the story, Dominic learns what it feels like to be in a family who loves him and he also learns about his own family heritage. Will Dominic return to the New York he knows and loves, or will he be stuck in the New York of 1908?
  Elvira Woodruff’s historical fiction novel is exciting and will teach readers about the challenges many immigrants faced during the immigration boom. I would recommend this book to teachers who teach immigration and students grades 3-7.
  
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  Vanessa C

  Summary: This book was about an orphan named Dominic. His class when to the Ellis Island Museum and he got very upset, hid in a closet and fell asleep. When he woke up his class was gone, the museum was closed, and he was alone. He started to wander around and he listened to the stories of the immigrants. One of the immigrants started to talk to him through the phone and he ended up traveling back in time to Italy in 1908. He met 3 brothers that were also orphans and he became very close. After a series of events Dominic ended up figuring out one of the boys was his great-grandfather! He then traveled back to his own time and was placed into a family that wanted to foster him and maybe adopt him.
  Reflection: I loved reading this book with my class! It was so captivating and fun to read. The class loved reading it and they did not want to stop. I love how it talks about immigration and why people left their home country to go to the United States.
  Teaching: I would use this book to teach immigration. It is a 5th grade standard and it is great way for them to connect to the topic of immigration. When we were talking about immigration with this book we talked about why the brothers wanted to leave for America and I was able to tell them why my grandpa and parents immigrated to the United States. It gave them different perspectives and stories about immigration and they were able to understand immigration a lot.
  
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  Jaclyn Muse

  In a heartwarming tale of an orphan experiencing embarrassment, this historical fiction novel focuses on the importance of staying true to who you are. Targeted for grades 4-6 this story focuses on the life of young Dominic Cantori as as he meets an older Italian Immigrant who transports him back in time to Italy in 1908. The Orphan of Ellis Island focuses on the theme of family and friendship that are easy for elementary school students to identify with. For teaching purposes, this would be a great novel to model as a read aloud with popcorn reading, or in small literature circle sized groups for differentiated instruction. Teachers can provide guiding questions to ensure engagement and participation in the lesson as well as focus on key words students may not know in the story. This would help focus on context clues which is a skill that will be beneficial on future summative and formative assessments.
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  Vicki

  It's hard to say much about the book that the blurb doesn't have without giving spoilers. I didn't realize this was a fantasy/sci-fi book until I just now added it to my shelves. lol
  
  I can see why young people would like this one. I only had audio, so not sure about the spelling of the names, but after Dominick goes to Ellis Island with his class and ends up hiding. He listens to the recorded voices of immigrants who'd left them, and he ends up asking questions when one voice answers him. Dominick eventually ends up waking up in Italy in 1908. There he meets three brothers: Antonio, Salvatore, and Francesco who are also orphaned and want to go to America.
  
  Oh, and there was a GIANT involved too, but I can't even guess at his name's spelling. lol I can definitely see kids freaking out but not too much.
  
  The brothers told Dominick he is "family" now and that's all Dominick ever wanted...family.
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  Kristie Leaphart

  This is a novel written in 1997 about an orphan named Dominic Cantori. He's been in and out of foster homes since he was a baby. Dominic is on a class trip to the Ellis Island Immigrant Museum when he gets upset and runs away from the group. When he wakes up, he's alone in the museum, and he picks up a display phone that has voices of immigrants telling their stories. To his surprise someone starts talking to him and before he knows what's happening, he's transported back in time to 1908 in Italy.
  This story is about family. Family isn't always who you're born to. Dominic learns some hard lessons along his journey.
  The author tells a little about her family history in the back of the book, which is interesting as she has immigrant ancestors.
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  Diane

  Dominic is an orphan who has moved from foster home to foster home, looking for a family. He has been shuffled so often that he has learned not to open up to people. When his class takes a field trip to Ellis Island, he so desperately wants to fit in that he makes up a lie about his heritage. He regrets it immediately, and ducks out of the tour. When he awakens and emerges from his hiding place, he is transported back to Italy - where he meets the Candiano brothers: Francesco, Salvatore and Antonio. Soon he discovers that their lives as orphans in 1908 are even more difficult than his, but it seems better because they are a family.
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  Lynn Davidson

  This is a great story about an orphan boy, Dominic, who had no siblings and didn't make friends. He was shuffled from foster home to foster home, so became quiet, shy, and very lonely. He very much wanted to belong to a family. One day his class at school visited a museum where his classmates shared about their ancestors who were immigrants. He didn't know anything about his relatives, so he ran, hid in a closet and fell asleep. While he was sleeping he went back in time to Italy in 1908, and there he became friends with three young brothers and also learned about his own family. Lovely ending to this story.
  
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  Jennifer

  Dominic's life is not going well. His foster family is moving out of state and he will soon be moving AGAIN to a new family. But Dominic is tired of not fitting in. On a class field trip to Ellis Island, wanting to avoid the secret of his lack of family history from getting out, he skips out on the tour and finds himself in another part of the museum. Before Dominic realizes it, he is transported to Italy in 1908, where he not only makes friends but also learns about his own history.
  
  This was a nice story, even in its brevity. In fact, its shortness means that it's easy to pick up and revisit without having to give up a lot of time, and this is a book that I would definitely like to revisit. Listening to the audiobook was nice because the narrator - Lloyd James - does a wonderful job and really pulls you into the story.
  
  If you like historical fiction with a little bit of magic, give this story a go. I would be willing to bet that you'll enjoy it.
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  Ellen

  Great historical fiction brings a completely new experience to today's reader and brings it completely within their grasp. The Orphan of Ellis Island does that for us on multiple levels. Dominic shares his experience as a foster child moving from family to family, apart from friends, and dreaming for connection. Left behind on a field trip to Ellis Island Museum, he dreams of the family he longs to have. Waking up in 1908 Italy, he finds more than he ever hoped for - and takes the reader into the turn-of-the-century immigrant experience in a fascinating way.