Lost in the Empire City
Quill Tree Books, HarperCollins
October 29, 2024
buy the book
audio book narrated by
Jonathan Myles
if you liked this book, try:
What’s this book about?
When Santo’s father left their tiny town in Italy for America, he made Santo promise to keep their family together until he has enough money to bring the rest of them to the US.
It takes a few years, but Mama finally gets word that their family can join Papa. Santo couldn’t be more excited to go to America — and to see his father again. However, Santo gets separated from his mother and siblings at Ellis Island, and he is left to fend for himself on the mean streets of Manhattan. Santo doesn’t speak English, he doesn’t know anyone, and he has nowhere to go. He has no money and no help.
While searching desperately for a clue as to where his family has gone, Santo gets caught up with a gang of boys who steal to stay alive. But when an unexpected betrayal leaves Santo scrambling, it will take all the street smarts he’s gained to find a way back to his family.
Resources
VIDEO: “A Film from 1974 Offers a Rare Glimpse Inside an Abandoned Ellis Island,” Phil Buehler and Steve Siegel, The New York Times, 28 May 2024 (may be behind a paywall)
Story Behind the Story
“Immigrants,” Avi, Word Craft, 8 Oct 2024:
“If you are learning about the United States of America, you are learning about the history of immigrants to North America. The first Europeans (Vikings) came to America in 1021, and the most recent immigrants came, well, today.” (read more)
“Where Research Takes Me,” Avi, Word Craft, 28 May 2024:
“When you write historical fiction, such as I do, my research can take me anywhere and generally does. Such searches are helped by a wonderful truth: there seems to be a book, an article, or a memoir about anything and everything. Search, and you will find, something the research librarian in me loves to do. Indeed, I have a family reputation for spouting odd facts that have no particular relevance to anything, other than to fill a lull in the table conversation.” (read more)
Awards and Recognition
Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection
Reviews
After five years apart, 13-year-old Santo Alfonsi, along with his mother and siblings, leaves his small Italian village home to join his father in 1910 America. Upon his arrival following a wretched ocean journey to New York City, Santo is separated from his family and must make his way alone in the unfamiliar, crowded metropolis. Determined to discover his loved ones’ fates but lacking the resources to do so, he falls in with the Downtown Dukes, a child street gang, and encounters danger at every turn. Santo counts himself fortunate to be saved from potential imprisonment by wealthy, kindly Mr. Ashbury—until he finds out that Mr. Ashbury is a thief of higher caliber than the Downtown Dukes. Now Santo must extricate himself from a life of crime before it’s too late. Atmospheric and richly detailed, this historical adventure depicts the chaos and confusion of early-20th-century N.Y.C. through the eyes of an inexperienced yet capable narrator. Avi (The Secret Sisters) maintains a razor-sharp level of tension, desperation, and claustrophobia as Santo narrowly escapes danger time and again in his quest for his family and a place to belong. (Publishers Weekly, starred review)
Separated from his family while immigrating to America, a teenage boy must learn to survive in New York City.
When Santo Alfonsi was about 8, he promised his father he’d care for his family until they could all be reunited in America. Five years later, following an arduous journey from their Italian village, Santo’s mother, brother, and sister are detained at Ellis Island. Officials send Santo ahead, but when the ferry arrives, his father is nowhere to be found. With no money and little knowledge of English, Santo is left to fend for himself until a child gang leader takes him under his wing. Together, they commit petty crimes, until a chance encounter with a wealthy gentleman changes Santo’s fate. Welcomed into the home of the affluent Ashbury family, Santo glimpses the prosperous America he’s dreamed of. Still, his goal remains firm: to find his family and honor his promise to his father. Avi guides readers through Santo’s immigration journey, capturing the hopeful belief in an America paved with gold, the perilous Atlantic crossing, and the harrowing experience at Ellis Island that leads to Santo’s struggle on the streets. In a world where he has little control, Santo strives to navigate his way. Early-20th-century New York City comes to life through vivid descriptions of its people, smells, and sounds. The first-person narrative deepens the immersive experience.
A gripping tale of one young immigrant’s resilience and determination. (Kirkus Reviews)
When Santo is eight, his father emigrates to the United States and charges the boy with protecting their family. Despite many hardships (hunger, sickness, death of family members, and illiteracy), Santo succeeds well enough until, five years later when the family lands at Ellis Island, he becomes separated from his mother and siblings. When Papa fails to meet him, Santo wanders New York City alone, joins a gang of child thieves, and eventually is recruited by a wealthy art thief. Santo knows what he is doing is wrong but feels trapped by his situation. Avi’s descriptions of the marvels of New York City circa 1910 (electric lights, the subway, central heating, and indoor plumbing) are juxtaposed against the harsh realities of life for immigrant kids on the street, many of whom have little choice other than a life of thievery if they want to survive. As with Avi’s other historical titles, the pacing is brisk (filled with increasingly perilous situations) and tension builds to a satisfying, if somewhat unlikely, conclusion. (Kay Weisman, Booklist)
buy the book
if you liked this book, try: