by Pam Berkman
“He’s a miscreant,” Mac said. “He was running around the island looking for trouble. We’ll begin the deportation hearings as soon as possible.”
“Deportation?” Dr. Rose said.
It was just as Minsha feared. They were going to send Yusef back.
No, they aren’t, she thought. Not if I can help it. She’d thought finding Leila was the only important thing. But what good was it if she found Leila and Yusef lost his family?
We’re family. We help each other, Leila had said. We don’t leave anyone behind.
And if Mac and Tom could do this to Yusef, they could do it to anyone else they wanted, unless someone stopped them.
Family is everywhere, Esmeralda had said. Hadn’t Minsha and Yusef made it all the way here on the ship together and escaped the hospital, and saved Esmeralda? Family is even more than Yusef and Esmeralda and Teta and Mr. Khoury, Minsha realized. It was the dog and turtle who helped her in Beirut, and Twitch, and Amal and Camila. It was every immigrant who ever walked through that Registry Room.
She had an idea. It wouldn’t help her, but it could help Yusef. It could help every immigrant who would ever come to Ellis Island.
She had to show the doctor what Mac and Tom had done! No matter what happened to her.
She barked for all she was worth. “Liars!” she woofed. “Thieves! Thieves! Thieves!”
“How on earth did that dog get in there?!” Dr. Rose said.
“I can tell you all about it, doctor,” meowed Henrietta eagerly. Dr. Rose didn’t pay any attention. She strode right up to the cupboard and opened it.
Minsha shot out like an arrow.
“Goodness!” cried Dr. Rose.
“Good girl, Minsha!” Yusef yelled. “Run! Save yourself!”
Minsha didn’t run for the door. She aimed straight for Tom’s pocket. Mac saw where she was going. He lunged for her. But right before he reached her, a furry gray shape scuttled up his arm. Esmeralda jumped on top of his head. Mac yelped and tried to grab her. Yusef shoved Mac hard. Esmeralda growled and leaped away.
Minsha wasted no time. Her sharp teeth tore Tom’s pocket open with a satisfying R-I-I-I-I-I-P. She felt the threads snap apart.
The silver necklace spilled out onto the floor. Right in front of Dr. Rose.
Dr. Rose’s voice was hard and cold.
“That is a silver coin necklace,” she said. “Where would you two get something like that? No inspector on Ellis Island would be carrying that around in their pocket! You two took it from an immigrant trying to get into the country! The commissioner said that someone was stealing from immigrants. Does this boy know? Is that why you have him locked up in here?”
“Yes!” Minsha barked.
“Thief,” Yusef said.
“Doctor—” Tom began.
“Quiet,” said Dr. Rose. He was. Minsha was too. So was Yusef.
“I’ll have you know my parents and I came to this island and walked through that Registry Room twenty-five years ago,” she said. “I will under no circumstances let you send this boy away just to cover up what you’ve been doing. I will be reporting the two of you to the commissioner immediately.”
Tom was staring at the ground. Minsha thought he might even be ashamed. But Mac was looking at Minsha. And his eyes were full of hate.
“What about that dog?” he said. “It should be locked up.”
“That’s for sure,” Henrietta Henry meowed. She rubbed against Dr. Rose’s foot.
Minsha lowered her head. She had lost her chance to find Leila. But at least Yusef would get to be with his family.
“As long as a dog stays out of my hospital and the Registry Room, she’s not breaking any rules I know of,” said Dr. Rose. “Especially a dog as helpful as this.” She rubbed Minsha’s head right between her ears.
Minsha couldn’t believe it. Dr. Rose wasn’t going to lock her up! Her tail wagged hard.
“So there,” Minsha woofed at Mac. Then she lifted her lip at Henrietta. “So there to you, too,” she said to the cat. Henrietta snarled back and slunk out of the room.
Tom and Mac eyed the door. Dr. Rose stepped in front of it. Minsha did too.
“Don’t even think about it,” Dr. Rose said.
“You heard her!” squeaked a voice at Minsha’s paw. Esmeralda Delilah the Third squinted up at Minsha.
“Is that a rat?” Dr. Rose said.
“Oops! See you later,” said Esmeralda, dashing out the door. She looked over her shoulder once.
Family is everywhere, her toothy grin seemed to say.
18 The Kissing Post
The next morning Yusef and Minsha ran past the kissing post down the stairs from the Registry Room. Families who had been apart for a long time hugged and kissed when they saw each other there. Yusef’s father, a big man with eyes like Yusef’s, was holding his arms wide. Yusef ran to him and his father hugged him tight. The whole family had come to get him.
“Don’t forget Minsha!” called Yusef. His father picked her up and hugged her too. He smelled like Yusef. Minsha licked his face to say hello.
The night before, Dr. Rose and the commissioner of Ellis Island had Mac and Tom arrested. And it turned out the commissioner liked dogs. Minsha spent the night on a blanket on his kitchen floor. Henrietta Henry didn’t like it at all. But she stuck to walking by Minsha every few minutes and giving her suspicious stares.
Dr. Rose herself had made sure the lung specialist saw Yusef first thing that morning. He said Yusef did not have tuberculosis and could leave Ellis Island for the city. He did say that Yusef had something called a respiratory infection from the bad air below decks on the ship. Yusef’s family used some of their precious money to pay for medicine so it didn’t get worse and turn into something called pneumonia.
“Now, you take all that medicine, young man,” Dr. Rose said. “Or I’ll want to know why.”
When the interpreter repeated what Dr. Rose said, Yusef’s eyes got wide. He nodded.
The commissioner had something to say too. He came to the kissing post to shake Yusef’s father’s hand.
“We’ve suspected someone was taking things from immigrants for some time,” he said. The interpreter repeated it. “But we weren’t able to catch the thieves. Now we have. Justice is restored on Ellis Island because of this boy.” Minsha stood proudly at Yusef’s side. “And of course,” added the commissioner, “because of this dog.”
He shook Yusef’s hand. When Minsha held up her paw, he shook it too.
“I think there are good people and bad people everywhere, Minsha,” Yusef said into her ear. Minsha thought so too.
Minsha knew Yusef would be well. And he and Teta and Mama and Soussou and Chadi and Bibi and Mansour were all together again.
But even though she was happy for them, she felt like there was a big emptiness inside her. Would she ever see Leila again, she wondered?
Epilogue
Little Syria, New York City
Minsha trotted beside Yusef through the busy streets of Little Syria. Yusef was carrying bread from the bakery home to his mother. That was his job.
The bread was warm from the oven. The scent of it rose from the napkin it was wrapped in. It smelled delicious. Minsha’s mouth watered.
They had been in Little Syria for two weeks. Yusef was much better. Teta and Yusef’s mother were already doing work sewing. They worked from the first morning light until the sun went down. Yusef’s father sold tea throughout the neighborhood. He walked around with a huge shining tea urn strapped to his back. Teta always came outside for a few minutes at lunchtime to have some tea.
Minsha stuck close to Yusef. Esmeralda had been right. Somehow, Yusef had become part of her family. So had Esmeralda, and Mr. Khoury. But a part of her was sad. She missed Leila. She had looked and looked for her when she arrived in Little Syria. But there were so many people and smells that she hadn’t been able to find her.
“There’s Baba and Teta!” cried Yusef. He ran to his father and Teta and kissed
them both. Minsha sniffed at Teta’s embroidered handkerchief. Teta always kept it tucked in her apron.
“Break me off some bread, Yusef,” his father said. He smiled as he chewed the warm bread. Minsha sat at his feet, hoping he’d drop some crumbs.
Then she heard a girl’s voice.
“What a pretty handkerchief,” the girl said. “Look at all the colors.”
Minsha’s big ears twitched. Her nose sniffed and sniffed. Her tail waved. She would know that voice and that scent anywhere. She was on her hind legs barking before she knew it.
“Leila! Leila!”
The girl whipped around. Her mouth dropped open.
“Minsha!” she shouted.
Minsha hurled herself at Leila. Leila held out her arms. Minsha leaped into them, accidentally knocking Leila to the ground. Leila laughed. Minsha couldn’t stop wriggling and licking Leila’s face.
“I can’t believe you’re here!” Leila cried. “How did you get here?”
With Yusef’s help, Minsha wanted to say.
She stopped wriggling. She suddenly wasn’t sure what to do.
Yusef walked over to Minsha and Leila.
“She knows you,” Yusef said slowly.
Leila nodded. “See her collar? Leila Haddad. That’s me.”
“So… she’s your dog,” Yusef said. He sounded sad. “Well, she’s the best dog in the world.”
“I know,” said Leila.
Minsha wanted to cry. She wanted both Leila and Yusef!
“You’re very lucky to have such a wonderful dog,” said Yusef. “We’ve been through a lot together. You better take her home with you, since she’s yours.”
He sniffled.
Leila looked at him a long time. She held out her hand. “We both live in Little Syria. Maybe Minsha can be your family’s dog and my family’s dog together,” she said.
Yusef took her hand.
“I’d like that,” he said. “She can be in both of our families.”
“Everyone here needs to be family,” Leila said.
Minsha jumped joyfully from Leila to Yusef and back again. They petted her head while they talked.
“Well, look who’s here!” said a voice behind them. They all looked up. Mr. Khoury was wheeling a small cart full of vegetables through the street. “Look at what I used the money from the silver necklace for, Yusef! My start in America! Thanks to you and Minsha here!”
With a wave to them, he went on up the street.
The scents and sounds of Minsha’s new home danced around her nose and ears. She looked from Yusef to Leila, and at all the people on the busy streets. Her new family.
Authors’ Note
Ellis Island
Over twelve million people came through Ellis Island from the time it opened in 1892 until the day it closed in 1954. Forty percent of the people in the United States are descended from these immigrants. They came from all over the world.
Many of them were children, including the first people who came to America through Ellis Island. Fifteen-year-old Annie Moore from Ireland was the very first. She came with her two brothers, Anthony and Phillip, who were eleven and seven years old. The commissioner (the person in charge of Ellis Island) gave her a gold piece worth ten dollars. If you go to Ellis Island, you can see a statue of Annie and her brothers.
Usually children came with their parents, but sometimes they came alone. Some were meeting family members. Others were orphans. They were taken care of on the island until immigrant aid societies or sponsors could find homes for them. There was a school on Ellis Island and a playground. And, for a time, a library book cart like the one in our story.
People came to Ellis Island for many different reasons. Many came to the United States to escape wars or poverty, or because there wasn’t enough food where they lived. Others came to join family members who had arrived before them, or for jobs.
Coauthor Pam Berkman’s grandfather entered America through Ellis Island in 1919. Here is a photo of the ship he journeyed there on.
How Did People Get to Ellis Island and What Happened Once They Got There?
People came to Ellis Island on ships from ports in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Caribbean. Once the steamship was invented it took about two to four weeks to make the journey across the Atlantic Ocean. Before immigrants even got on the ships, they had to prove they were healthy and had some place to go in America. Then, when the ship got to New York Harbor, officials boarded it to make sure there were no diseases, like cholera, among the passengers. If the ship was safe, it was allowed to dock in New York along the Hudson River. Passengers who rode in the first- and second-class parts of the ship went through the immigration process onboard. They could then get off and go wherever they wanted. Passengers with less money who rode in the third-class part of the ship had to get on another boat. That boat took them to Ellis Island.
Once they were there, they had to go through two kinds of inspection. First, doctors checked them to make sure they weren’t sick—the doctors wanted to make sure they weren’t bringing contagious diseases to America. They also wanted to make sure the immigrants were strong enough to work and would not have to be taken care of. The doctors saw thousands of immigrants each day, and had to work quickly. They were so fast that their inspection was called the “six-second physical.”
If an immigrant passed the medical inspection, they would then talk to an inspector, who might also be called an interrogator. That inspector would ask them questions about where they came from and what they were going to do in America. They asked questions to make sure the immigrants’ answers matched what was on the ship’s manifest, the list of who was onboard. They checked that the immigrants had somewhere to go and enough money to get started. Because many of the immigrants didn’t speak English, interpreters helped them understand what the inspectors were saying.
Almost all immigrants made it through the inspections. Some did not. If the inspectors thought the person was a criminal or couldn’t support themselves, or had nowhere to go, they would send them home. If the doctors thought the immigrant was sick, they would send them to the hospital. The hospital on Ellis Island was one of the most modern in the world. It used the methods Florence Nightingale had invented to make sure germs didn’t spread. Sometimes people stayed just overnight. Sometimes they stayed for months. And sometimes they were sent back home. Families could be separated, which is one of the reasons Ellis Island was called “the Island of Hope and Tears.”
Not All Americans Are Immigrants
Not everyone who lives in the United States came through Ellis Island. Some immigrants came through places like Angel Island in California or landed in America before or after Ellis Island was used. But not all Americans descended from immigrants. When the first European settlers and immigrants came to what is now the United States, Native Americans were already here. Then, during slavery, people from Africa were kidnapped and brought over in slave ships.
Our Story
Yusef and his family come from what is now called Lebanon. Back in 1921, when Minsha’s Night on Ellis Island is set, it was called Greater Syria. Like millions of people before and after them, Yusef’s family came to find a better life. In our story, Yusef and his family came to escape the hunger and poverty that resulted from war.
Corruption on Ellis Island
Most people who worked on Ellis Island were honest, and were truly concerned about the immigrants. We made up the characters of Mac and Tom, but there was also corruption on Ellis Island. Usually it was officials who took bribes to let people skip inspection, or to get through if they were sick. But sometimes inspectors would demand money to let people through. Other people who worked at Ellis Island, like baggage handlers, sometimes cheated immigrants.
Dr. Rose
We made up Dr. Rose. But she is based on two of the first women doctors on Ellis Island. They were Rose Bebb and Rose Faughnan. For a long time, only men were doctors on Ellis Island. Dr. Bebb was the first female doctor, and
she was hired in 1914.
Acknowledgments
When we got the idea for At the Heels of History, we could only have dreamed of working with a team as skilled and supportive as the one at Margaret K. McElderry Books. Heartfelt thanks to the wonderful Nicole Fiorica, whose sharp insights and editorial guidance made Minsha’s story so much stronger. Thank you to Ruta Rimas for bringing At the Heels of History to McElderry and for her editorial guidance on the first two books of the series. Thank you to publicist Milena Giunco, and to Barbara Fisch and Sarah Shealy at Blue Slip Media for helping us share the doggos with the world.
Thank you to illustrator Claire Powell for her beautiful renderings of Minsha and her world. We could not have hoped for a better illustration of our story.
A million thanks to the always brilliant, encouraging, and insightful Mollie Glick and the team at CAA.
Thank you to Nora Boustany, journalist and lecturer at the American University of Beirut, for her cultural review of Minsha’s Night on Ellis Island, her insights and guidance on life in Lebanon and the lives of Lebanese immigrants, and on so many details of names and culture—and thank you to Heather Bourbeau for introducing us to Nora. Thank you to Barry Moreno, librarian and historian at the Statue of Liberty National Monument and Ellis Island Immigration Museum, for talking to us for an hour when we arrived unannounced at the Ellis Island library, reviewing the manuscript for us, and giving us his time to answer our questions via phone and email. Thank you to George Tselos, supervisory archivist at the National Park Service, for sharing his wisdom about Ellis Island and US immigration. Thank you to Patrick Montiary, public programs manager at Save Ellis Island, for the tour of the abandoned Ellis Island hospital and for insights into the lives of the immigrants who stayed there. Thank you to Lorie Conway, director of the amazing film Forgotten Ellis Island and author of the book by the same name, for her help answering our detailed questions on Ellis Island.
