• Winner of the European Union Prize for Literature • Translated into 12 languages • Very timely with the current immigration crisis a daily news item • A rare combination of historical education and reading pleasure • On November 12, 1954, Ellis Island, the gateway to America, shuts it doors after processing more than 12 million immigrants since opening in 1892. Today, an estimated 40 percent of all Americans can trace their roots through Ellis Island • Fictional diary for the last nine working days on Ellis Island written by the last immigration officer to leave the island