The Girl Immigrant, by Patricia Ruiz Steele, is a wonderful biography of the author's family, specifically Manuela, the author's grandmother. Manuela's family comes from Spain, and they were promised a new life, education for their children, homes and jobs, if they immigrated to Hawaii to work on sugar plantations. After a few years living in Hawaii, the family chooses to continue their adventures by moving to California. The book is filled with family photos, legal documents, and other historical elements to round out the family history, from the family's early days to Spain, to moving to the United States. Patricia Steele writes with a lot of passion for her family history, and gives you a sense of what life was like in early 20th century Hawaii and California.

Manuela's adventures as "The Girl Immigrant" was heartbreaking at times. I really felt like I got to know her family and her life as she shared her adventures with me. I felt her pain and heartbreak when she did, and shared her joys when she was happy. How a multi-generational family separates from one another, knowing that they will never see or hear from each other again, and move halfway across the world with a bunch of young kids and babies, with next to no earthly possessions, I'll never know. The "Girl Immigrant" brings you back into another time and place, reads more as a biography and a history book then a memoir, and will make you wonder if the author will write a sequel on the rest of Manuela's life.

“Reviewed by Anastacia Zittel for Readers' Favorite”