Five-year-old Elisa lives with her parents in an apartment in the city of Lisbon, Portugal. She doesnt know it at the time, but her family is poor. She feels rich with the love her family shares with one another. In Elisas Journey, author Lisa Isabel Costa Kane shares her story of growing up in a country ruled by hardship and a cruel dictatorship. She tells about being raised in a place where young girls were taught to embroider, sew, cook, clean, marry, and have children. It was a world where educating girls and women was frowned upon. Filled with stories of exciting and sometimes scary adventures, Elisas Journey offers a look at one little girls family of love and loss, animals and friendship, politics and arrests, and danger and accomplishments. Kane tells how she came to America, leaving behind everything she owned and started a new life with nothing but memories. The story of her journey communicates the importance of family, love, and hope.