Fire! The Beginnings of the Labor Movement (Once Upon America Series)
By Barbara Diamond Goldin
Publisher's suggested reading level: Ages 7-11
New York: Puffin Books, 1992
A fictional account of the 1911 Triangle Shirtwaist factory fire in N. Y. C., as seen by Rosie, a young Jewish girl whose older sister escapes but whose cousin does not. In the aftermath of the fire, Rosie accompanies her sister to an ILGWU meeting and shares her hope that the union will secure better conditions for the garment workers.
The Bobbin Girl
By Emily Arnold McCully
Publisher's suggested reading level: Ages 5 and over
New York: Penguin Books, 1996
Ms. McCully spins an engrossing, fact-based tale with feminism and fair labor practices at its heart. Ten-year-old Rebecca supplements her family's meager income by toiling as a "bobbin girl" in 1830s New England. She is one of the thousands of girls and women who endure 131/2-hour days in the stuffy textile mills of Lowell, Mass., the City of Spindles. Rebecca sees first-hand the courage of her co-workers, who all share a dream of building a better life with the money they earn. She also observes the illnesses, injuries and anxiety caused by the harsh conditions and callous mill owners.
Lyddie
By Katherine Paterson
Publisher's suggested reading level: Ages 10 and over
New York: Puffin, 1994
Lyddie Worthen must decide whether to risk losing her job running a loom at a dusty Massachusetts factory--a job she has taken to earn enough money to reunite her family--by protesting the poor working conditions.
Kids at Work: Lewis Hine and the Crusade Against Child Labor
By Russell Freedman
Publisher's suggested reading level: Ages 10 and over
New York: Scholastic, 1995
Lewis Hine, an investigative reporter for the National Child Labor Committee, took photographs that provided dramatic visual evidence that the U.S. needed laws against child labor. Kids At Work features Hines' groundbreaking photos, along with text by Newbery Honor Winner Russell Freedman.
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