A Sky Full of Song
An untold American frontier story . . .
North Dakota, 1905
After fleeing persecution in the Russian Empire, eleven-year-old Shoshana and her family, Jewish immigrants, start a new life on the prairie. Shoshana takes fierce joy in the wild beauty of the plains and the thrill of forging a new, American identity. But it’s not as simple for her older sister, Libke, who misses their Ukrainian village and doesn’t pick up English as quickly or make new friends as easily. Desperate to fit in, Shoshana finds herself hiding her Jewish identity in the face of prejudice, just as Libke insists they preserve it.
For the first time, Shoshana is at odds with her beloved sister, and has to look deep inside herself to realize that her family’s difference is their greatest strength. By listening to the music that’s lived in her heart all along, Shoshana finds new meaning in the Jewish expression all beginnings are difficult, as well as in the resilience and traditions her people have brought all the way to the North Dakota prairie.
HONORS:
Association of Jewish Libraries Sydney Taylor Honor Award
Western Writers of America Spur Award
Will Rogers Medallion Award
New-York Historical Society Children’s History Book Award Finalist
High Plains Book Award Young Reader Finalist
High Plains Book Award Woman Writer Finalist
A Bank Street College of Education Best Book of the Year, Outstanding Merit
Boston Authors Club Notable Book
PJ Our Way Author Incentive Manuscript Award
REVIEWS:
This heartwarming, beautifully written middle-grade historical novel about an untold American frontier story is destined to be a cherished classic.
“Frequent parallels to the Little House series accentuate how different Shoshana’s experience is from the White, Christian, mythically American lives of her classmates . . . . A moving, gently kind coming-to-America story. A lesser-known Jewish American history offers a plainspoken message about assimilation and self-love.” —Kirkus Reviews
“Meyer layers richly detailed depictions of Jewish traditions, stunning descriptions of the landscape, and a highly sympathetic narrator to convey an underreported historical arc.” —Publishers Weekly
“This character-driven storyline shines in descriptive passages . . . . A Sky Full of Song is a thoughtful piece of middle-grade historical fiction featuring a sympathetic protagonist from an underrepresented community.” —Shelf Awareness
“Fleshes out the diversity of the pioneer experience.” —School Library Journal
“A different kind of prairie story has arisen, one that seeks in some manner to correct the past.” —The Wall Street Journal
“[A] beautifully written novel that also touches on the forced removal of Native Americans.” —Book Riot
“Gorgeous, immersive prose captures the closeness of the family’s village, the ever-present threats of violence, and the vastness of the Great Plains. The tension between those who want to preserve their customs and those who want to assimilate as soon as possible is a common theme in Jewish immigration stories, one that Meyer makes fresh and tangible through her focus on a little-known experience and her weaving of music into the story.” —Historical Novel Review
