"Twelve-year-old Grace Forcier and her friend Arthur, taken out of school and put to work in a Vermont textile mill in 1910, are championed by their teacher who urges them to write the National Child Labor Committee, an action only Grace seems to realize will have serious repercussions." Winthrop conveys vividly the desperation, danger and hardship that families faced as mill workers. Their world is bleak and hopeless, bearable only through family bonds and caring people such as Grace's teacher and Lewis Hine, the photographer who recorded children laborers. This is a well researched, well written novel, one of my absolute favorites this year. An excellent read aloud or assigned reading choice.
Other good books on this subject are Russell Freedman's "Kids at Work" and of course "Lyddie" by Katherine Paterson.
No comments:
Post a Comment