This seemed like exactly the kind of book I would enjoy, but the pace moved so quickly that I could barely connect with the characters. And as much as I wanted to root for her, I found Sylvia's journey to be kind of unrealistic.

There was also a lot of telling, but not much showing. For example, Sylvia's family made such a big deal about her big sister marrying a Protestant, but when Sylvia finally got an opportunity to meet the guy, it happened off page.

This was one of the better books I've read so far for the middle grade genre in 2025. It deals with the parentification of young girls in an immigrant community in 1910 Midwest America. All Sylvia wants is to go to school but when her sister runs away with another man to escape raising her siblings, Sylvia is told she must fill her sisters shoes and is unenrolled from school. She runs away and out of all things she end up learning about public libraries. One of the best things to happen in this lifetime.
This book was sad and heart retching at times but in other moments it made feel like all you need is a community around you and you can face anything.

This was a really good story with important messages. It's about the freedom of choice and the importance of libraries. And especially how important having opportunities and access to libraries are to immigrants.

This book shows the true meaning of wanting to be free from the past and start a new life. Also, escaping from a place that you cannot stay.

Stanislava was stuck in a Slovene community. She finds a library book and discovered something. Inside the book that Stanislava is reading shows a character named Katinka who adopts an American name Katie. Katie wants to live the American dream and is in college. Stanislava wants that dream too. She adopts the name Sylvia.

Then Stanislava’s sister Stina runs away due to the fact that she’s a caretaker. Stanislava’s parents made her give up school to take over Stina’s place. She made the decision to run away and live out her dream.

The book is a good historical read.