“But she didn’t know as he knew how the whole world could break into a thousand little pieces, all buzzing, all whining, and no one hearing them and no one seeing them except himself.”
———————
The first sentence that tells us the passengers are going from the stench and throb of steerage to stench and throb of New York tenements lets us know this new life isn’t easier and our characters will face significant challenges. 

We also know that Albert and his wife are disconnected and have diverged even more in their time apart. David’s father is an angry stranger from their moment of introduction and remains as such for much of the novel. 

There are so many moments David has to navigate like the sexual abuse from another child, his mother‘s confusing relationship with Luter, and growing up as an immigrant Yiddish-speaking Jew in New York. Having David’s perspective as the focus of the novel keeps us as emotionally confused and in the dark as him, especially about the adults in his life. David is also trying to understand religion and the meaning of God while surrounded by different interpretations. 

I think this is an excellent study of childhood terror and rationality. Everything feels like the most important experience ever to David, which is a really essential feature of a child’s lack of perspective. The showdown between David and all the adults was a very clean way to wind together all of the plot points and hints about history. 

This was such an engaging book, and I found myself really rooting for him as he continued to grow and understand himself and the world.