Amer­i­can Girl Pub­lish­ing has com­bined some of their pre­vi­ous­ly pub­lished Re­becca sto­ries into one ​“clas­sic” vol­ume as part of their Befor­ev­er Rebec­ca 1914 series, which is, in turn, part of a larg­er series of Beforever books which fea­ture their his­toric char­ac­ters. This one, The Sound of Applause, repris­es Rebecca’s adven­tures as she wel­comes her new immi­grant cousin, Ana, and helps her improve her Eng­lish; as she fig­ures out how to rec­on­cile her Jew­ish cul­ture with pub­lic school expec­ta­tions; and as she learns to thrive amid bustling fam­i­ly and neigh­bor­hood life on the New York’s Low­er East Side while she aspires to and pre­pares for a bright future in the years ahead. Read­ers who are already famil­iar with the Rebec­ca books will find noth­ing new here; for those who are encoun­ter­ing this char­ac­ter for the first time, this is a fine intro­duc­tion. As in the Rebec­ca series as a whole, the writ­ing is clear, acces­si­ble and invites read­ers into Rebecca’s world in an appeal­ing and homey man­ner. Sol­id back­ground about Rebecca’s time and place and a glos­sary are includ­ed in notes at the back of the book.

Rec­om­mend­ed for ages 8 – 11 if read­ers have not read the books in their orig­i­nal format.