Through Different Eyes: An Immigrant's Heroic Journey, 1889-1909

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Summary: A journey through time!
Review: After completing "Through Different Eyes" I felt a part of the journey; I was right there with the immigrant child throughout her impelling story. A gifted author, J. Barbara Alvord's very personal, vivid, detailed and historically-correct vision of her grandmother's difficult and emotional journey from her homeland to America is reminiscent of the joys, hardships and opportunities experienced by so many of our own family members. The story left me wanting to know more about Anna Barbara's adult life; the ultimate compliment to the talneted writer's story-telling ability,

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Summary: Anna Barbara Mrkvicka Kups, Immigrant
Review: Educator/Writer J. Barbara Alvord has written a book that captures your interest in its very first line: "It was pouring rain that day in April 1992, as I stood on Ellis Island...". "Through Different Eyes" spells out the poignant and loving story of her grandmother Anna who arrived at Ellis Island, knowing no English, in 1903. Alvord has created for us a touching biography of Anna, a 14 year old peasant girl who was uprooted from her small Czech farm community to face the rowdy melee that was New York City. Six weeks later she made the long, slow trip across the country to an Iowa farm.
One of Alvord's notable skills is her ability to effortlessly weave into the book the historical events in Europe and this county during 10 years of Anna's life. In addition the epilogue lists occurrences in her story starting where the book ends. Despite upheavals in her life, Anna continues to live on until 1956.
Alvord's piercing eye, her years of research, and her superb writing skills have yielded an infinitely compassionate book of her beloved grandmother, an immigrant.

Rating:
Summary: Anna Barbara Mrkvicka Kups, Immigrant
Review: Educator/Writer J. Barbara Alvord has written a book that captures your interest in its very first line: "It was pouring rain that day in April 1992, as I stood on Ellis Island...". "Through Different Eyes" spells out the poignant and loving story of her grandmother Anna who arrived at Ellis Island, knowing no English, in 1903. Alvord has created for us a touching biography of Anna, a 14 year old peasant girl who was uprooted from her small Czech farm community to face the rowdy melee that was New York City. Six weeks later she made the long, slow trip across the country to an Iowa farm.
One of Alvord's notable skills is her ability to effortlessly weave into the book the historical events in Europe and this county during 10 years of Anna's life. In addition the epilogue lists occurrences in her story starting where the book ends. Despite upheavals in her life, Anna continues to live on until 1956.
Alvord's piercing eye, her years of research, and her superb writing skills have yielded an infinitely compassionate book of her beloved grandmother, an immigrant.

Rating:
Summary: Treasure this True American Experience
Review: J. Barbara Alvord manages to make history come alive in this biographical tribute to her Czech grandmother. Honest and painstakingly researched, including a visit to the archives in the Czech village of her grandmother's birth, it encompasses the childhood and young married life of Anna Mrkvicka. The book resounds on every page with wit, truth, and human interaction that are all brought to life in vivid images. Impossible to choose favorite passages, I will name some that may be more universal in interest to readers. Those would include the Czech village with its strict school run by unforgiving nuns, and its burdens and realities of village life; the astounding Atlantic Ocean ship voyage to Ellis Island and the days waiting on the Island; life in the early 1900s in New York; and the harsh family hierarchies found in the "simple" farm life of central Iowa. Through Different Eyes weaves a complex history with a loving, gutsy, sometimes humorous, always grippingly real look at the early 20th century American immigrant experience. A pleasurable mix of a young woman's determination, spiritualism, and ability to meet significant life challenges; this book belongs in every family's library somewhere near Louisa May Alcott and Willa Cather. It is one of only a few books that I relish rereading.

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Summary: Alvord's book will make you laugh and cry
Review: Through Different Eyes is skillfully written. The book is based on the author's grandmother's life as an immigrant. What I like best about the book is that it reads like fiction and educates like non-fiction. The details and descriptions make the times and places come alive. I fell in love with the main character. All the characters add to the richness of the story and make you want to keep reading. The book was an emotional experience that evoked all my senses. It will hook you on the first page.