Brave Girl: Clara and the Shirtwaist Makers' Strike of 1909

Brave Girl: Clara and the Shirtwaist Makers' Strike of 1909
by Michelle Markel, illustrated by Melissa Sweet
Balzer + Bray, 2013. Unpaged. Biography

Clara Lemlich came from Ukraine to the United States with her family in the early days of the twentieth century hoping to go to school and improve her chances in life, but her father couldn't find work so she got a job as a garment worker in one of New York's clothing factories. Conditions there were hardly fair; in fact, they were brutal. For only a few dollars a month, young immigrant girls worked in stuffy factories with locked doors. Only two toilets, one sink, and three towels were available to serve 300 workers in Clara's factory, from daylight to dark. But determined to improve herself she goes to school and to the library at night, and after one glass of milk and a few hours sleep, goes back to work. The rest of the book details Clara's work as a union organizer who finally provoked her fellow garment workers to go on a general strike that finally brought some justice and equity to the nation's immigrant workforce. Melissa Sweet's illustrations are cheerfully evocative of the time, and a long end note describes for young people how labor unions helped give modern workers a five-day work week with overtime pay.

Comments

Review: Faker

Faker By Gordon Korman New York: Scholastic Press, 2024. Fiction. 214 pages. 12-year-old Trey is used to starting over at a new school -- he has the routine perfectly memorized: make new friends, introduce his dad to the wealthy parents of his new friends, and "Houdini" themselves out of there before they get caught running their latest scam. Trey's dad is a master con artist, and Trey has just been promoted to full-partner. Their new scheme for the next big score brings them to the affluent suburb of Boxelder, TN where Trey's dad has cooked up a fake electric car company for investors to buy into. The only problem is that Trey is starting to grow tired of moving around and never putting down roots, especially after forming a fast friendship with Logan and developing a crush on Kaylee, a socially conscious girl in his class. As Trey longs for a normal life, is there any way he can convince his dad to get out of the family business? Gordon Korman is a perennial favorit

Review: The Frindle Files

Frindle Files By Andrew Clements New York: Random House, 2024. Fiction. 198 pages. In 1996 Andrew Clements wrote a story about a kid who invented the word “frindle” (another word for “pen.”) The Frindle Files is the sequel that takes place many years later. Josh is a student in Mr. N’s class. He and his friends can’t stand the fact that Mr. N makes them all write their homework down on paper with a “blue or black pen” and “neatness counts.” Josh is a computer geek and loves to do all his homework on the computer. In the midst of trying to find a way to make Mr. N accept the students' desire to do homework online, Josh comes across some information about Mr. N that links him to the word “frindle.” Now Josh and his best friend must decide what to do with the information and if they are willing to stand up to Mr. N’s antiquated way of doing homework. Kids who love the original book will highly enjoy this new edition. It is a continuation to the story in that it shows what ha

Review: Life After Whale

Life After Whale Written by Lynn Brunelle Illustrated by Jason Chin New York: Holiday House, 2024. Informational. Have you ever wondered what happens after a whale dies? In this beautiful book, you'll discover what happens for years after a whale's death. The book begins by introducing the blue whale and talking a little about its life. It moves quickly on to a whale's death, where his body first falls to the very bottom of the ocean floor. You'll meet the scavengers, first big then smaller as the years progress that eat the whale's decomposing body until finally it is used as a food source for krill which are then eaten by blue whales. In addition to being an excellent resource to discussing the animal circle of life, this book is a work of art. Jason Chin's watercolor and gauche illustrations will have readers dissecting every detail and flipping through for a further look. Kids who love animal facts will be absolutely enthralled by this tale.

Provo Library Children's Book Blog

Search This Blog