National Network for Equitable Library Service

"The wild folk in Pleasant Valley were whispering strange stories to one another. If the stories were true, they were most amazing.

Arthur Scott Bailey (1877 – 1949) was the author of more than forty children’s books. “Mr.

Rachel is a Jew living in Kishinev, Russia. At fourteen, she has dreams of being a writer.

It is 1904, and Rachel and her family are leaving Russia to escape the continuing riots against Jews. They take the Trans-Siberian Railway across the country and board a ship to Shanghai.

Rachel, a young Jewish woman from a small town in Russia, has made an incredible journey.