Jacqueline Dembar Greene

In the late 1500s, while Don Fernando, the conductor of the Royal Orchestra of Barcelona prepares for a concert to celebrate Spain's colonies in the New World, his son Rafael secretly practices playing the Shofar to help Jews, who must hide their faith from the Inquisition, to celebrate Rosh Hashanah. Includes historical facts and glossary.

While celebrating her brother's Bar Mitzvah on Coney Island, nine-year-old Rebecca Rubin disobeys by going off on her own, leaving her cousin Ana, a recent immigrant, alone.

Ten-year-old Rebecca Rubin is injured during a strike at the sweatshop where her uncle and cousin work when she tries to give a speech, while keeping a big secret from her family.

Tommy, who recently moved to America from Israel, is teased because he does not know English well and so does not speak loudly, but when a police officer visits Tommy's class with a police dog that only understands Hebrew, friendship blooms.

"Rebecca Rubin is growing up in the bustling city of New York in 1914. She dreams of being a star on the silver screen, but her performance this year is on the stage at school. She has to share the spotlight with her cousin Ana, though, and Rebecca fears the audience will laugh instead of applaud. Will Ana hurt or help the performance? Then, being included in a special plan fills Rebecca with joy. But what act of kindness teaches her the true meaning...

Volunteering at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden in the early 1900s, Jewish cousins Rebecca and Ana must find the real culprit when they are unfairly blamed for a series of mishaps in the Japanese garden. Includes an essay on urban gardening and public botanical gardens in the early 20th century.

In these six stories from the uplifting American Girl series, a young girl living in 1914 New York learns what it's like to grow up in the big city. Rebecca Rubin has big dreams of becoming an actress, but her parents don't think girls are cut out for performing. As Rebecca searches for alternatives, she finds new ways to fulfill dreams that she never thought possible.

When Rebecca attends summer camp in the country because of the spreading polio epidemic in New York City, she is troubled by a bully in her tent and another fellow camper who is strangely secretive.

"Rebecca is thrilled to spend the day at a real movie studio, and when a super, spectacular opportunity presents itself, she is quick to volunteer. But how will this scene play out? Then, on a visit to Coney Island, Rebecca gets the chance to use her acting skills to lighten the mood in an embarrassing situation--and her climbing skills to rescue someone in a dangerous spot. But a factory tour makes Rebecca believe her skills are needed there, too....

Kidnapped from their parents during the Portuguese Inquisition and sent to work as slaves at a monastery in Brazil, two Jewish sisters attempt to make their way back to Europe to find their parents, but instead become part of a group founding the first Jewish settlement in the United States.