Five children, from five different cultures and in five different decades, grow up in the same building on the Lower East Side of New York City.

A celebration of five different cultures on the Lower East Side, seen through the eyes of five families who live in the same building over the course of a century.

Jenny Weinstein and her family arrive on a steamship from Russia in 1913. Jenny writes letters in Yiddish to her grandmother, while practicing her English in her new neighborhood. By 1933, when Anna Cozzi and her Italian family move into the building, Jenny has become a teacher in Anna’s school. Then Jose Marte moves in during the 1960s, Maria Torres in the 1980s, and Wei Yei in the LowerEast Side of today.

Perfect for early elementary students, this cross section of American history celebrates themany diverse cultures that make up our nation—from the food we eat,to the ways we worship,and the families we love.