The Memory Coat

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Drawings by Michael Dooling.

When the Tsar's soldiers invade their Jewish community, Rachel and her family flee from Russia to America. But what they fear most is facing the inspection station at Ellis Island. For any wrong move there could cause one or all of them to be turned away. Hoping to make a good impression, the family pleads with cousin Grisha to let them replace his tattered old coat with a new one. But Grisha refuses. His mother had made the coat for him just before she died, and it still holds the powerful memory of her love. A harrowing experience upon their arrival threatens to separate the family. But it's Rachel's cleverness and Grisha's cherished coat that ultimately keep them together.

The Memory Coat was chosen by Pennsylvania Library Association's Carolyn Field Committee to share this year's award along with Laurie Halse Anderson for her book Speak.

From The Hungry Mind Review

The Memory Coat traces the courageous journey of a family of Russian Jews as they uproot their lives, abandon their homeland, and make their way to New York in search of religious and economic freedom. Woodruff's carefully chosen text and Michael Dooling's rich, realistic illustrations put young readers in the thick of it, by honestly depicting the sights, sounds, and smells of the immigrant experience.Yet the book takes on more than one family's physical experience crossing borders: it also encourages children to understand and appreciate the powerful landscapes of memory and imagination. As a result of the hardships they endure, the central characters, Rachel and Grisha, possess powerful inner lives. Grisha, for example, who "had been orphaned when he lost his parents in an epidemic... would run to the alley behind the synagogue where he could be alone to grieve."Grief, however , is not the only experience these children share. During the day they are often left alone to play, tell stories, and revel in their own creativity. We are told that each takes great comfort in the imaginary worlds they create together. "Rachel loved to tell stories.And her cousin Grisha loved to draw pictures to go along with them...And once they began, the game could last for hours." In the end, acts of the imagination- such as storytelling- provide a release for the children.Woodruff's tale encourages children to explore their imagination while acknowledging the emotional responsibility that often comes with remembering the hardships of the past. The portrait of immigrant life that emerges in The Memory Coat is complex, even handed, and above all, thoroughly enjoyable. The experiences of Rachel and Grisha demonstrate to readers of all ages that although a willingness to remember difficult events is emotionally tough, one's ability to create a promising future is sometimes the greatest form of liberation.