Scan barcode
Reviews
Brave Girl: Clara and the Shirtwaist Makers' Strike of 1909 by Michelle Markel, Melissa Sweet
stenaros's review against another edition
3.0
Read for Librarian Book Group
A picture book that takes us into the early 20th century advocating for better factory conditions through the eyes of a brave girl. Though I felt that there was no solid sense of time (how much does Clara age over the progress of the book?) I thought this was a good introduction to factories and the labor struggle. The illustrations were interesting, using textiles as well as other media to tell the story.
A picture book that takes us into the early 20th century advocating for better factory conditions through the eyes of a brave girl. Though I felt that there was no solid sense of time (how much does Clara age over the progress of the book?) I thought this was a good introduction to factories and the labor struggle. The illustrations were interesting, using textiles as well as other media to tell the story.
mslibrarynerd's review against another edition
5.0
This book makes me cry every time I read it to my son, I can't help it. I love stories of union organizing because the strength and courage it takes people to give up their livelihood and put themselves at risk for abuse for the benefit of justice gives me hope for the future. With vibrant illustrations and a wonderful story, why wouldn't I be proud to teas of Clara's bravery.
laura_mcloughlin's review against another edition
4.0
I really enjoyed this one. It offers a glimpse at an important part of history and tells the story of a brave young women who was one of the leaders on the Shirtwaist Makers' Strike. This a pretty wordy picture book, covering a very serious subject. I think it would interest kids slightly older than my preschooler.
jshettel's review against another edition
5.0
Outstanding picture book biography about a young girl who had the courage to stand up for what she knew was right.
azajacks's review against another edition
4.0
I support independent bookstores. You can use this link to find one near you: http://www.indiebound.org
faeriedrumsong's review against another edition
4.0
Everything is making me teary today. Great info, great tie-in for lessons on
Unions
Workers rights
Women's rights
The turn of the century 1900
#BecauseOfThemWeCan
#IfItWasDoneToWhiteWomenJustImagineNonWhiteWomen
#WeAreAllInThisTogether
Unions
Workers rights
Women's rights
The turn of the century 1900
#BecauseOfThemWeCan
#IfItWasDoneToWhiteWomenJustImagineNonWhiteWomen
#WeAreAllInThisTogether
jennybeastie's review against another edition
4.0
Solid biography of Clara Lemlich and her inspirational strike-leading activities among the shirtwaist workers in New York. Not focused on the Triangle factory fire, but great example of direct, individual action making a big difference.
backonthealex's review against another edition
5.0
When Clara Lemlich emigrated to the United States with her family in the early 1900s, she didn't speak much English. She was a young girl who should have been in school, but instead, she took her sewing machine and went to work as a seamstress in a factory to help out her family when her father couldn't get work.
Clara may have been one of thousands and thousands of young garment workers in New York City and throughout the country, but Clara was also smart and ambitious. So she signed up for night classes after working a back-breaking day sewing garments. The work was hard, the pay was low and the punishments for mistakes were harsh.
Some of the male garment workers wanted to become part of a union so they could strike for better conditions, but they thought the girls too weak for that kind of action. Not Clara!
At one of the union meetings, none of the men called for a strike. So Clara did - in Yiddish! The next morning, garment workers in New York City went on strike. It lasted through the winter. During the strike, Clara paid dearly at the hands of the police, who beat, handcuffed and jailed her (17 times). Still, she kept on. And the strikers got support - from rich women, from college students, even the newspapers wrote about them. Finally, the 1909 NYC strike ended, the workers unionized, got better wages and a shorter workweek, inspiring garment workers in Philadelphia and Chicago go on strike, too.
Written in appealing, upbeat language, Michelle Markel's biography of Clara Lemlich's is an accessible, inspiring story for young readers. Her message is clear - you can make a difference, you can bring about change. It feels like a message that she is basically directing at girls, though boys can certainly benefit from it, too.
And lucky kids of today! When I learned about unions in school, it was a rather boring, unrelatable unit of social studies. But in only 32 pages, Markel has managed to change all that. She put a face on the lesson, personalized it and was lucky enough to have Melissa Sweet illustrate her words.
And Melissa has done, as usual, a superb job of it. The illustrations are done in watercolor, gouache, and mixed-media, and are based on both her imagination and old photographs of the actual events. The pictures all look like sewn pieces of fabric, right down to the stitching around the edge. In the background of both text and fabric swatch, are all kinds of nice touches related to sewing. It all works so wonderfully well with the text.
There are two pages of backmatter in Brave Girl. First, there is more information about the garment industry and its unions. And second, there is a select bibliography along with the primary sources used.
Brave Girl is definitely a book not to be missed.
This book is recommended for readers age 5+
This book was borrowed from the NYPL
This review was originally posted at Randomly Reading
Clara may have been one of thousands and thousands of young garment workers in New York City and throughout the country, but Clara was also smart and ambitious. So she signed up for night classes after working a back-breaking day sewing garments. The work was hard, the pay was low and the punishments for mistakes were harsh.
Some of the male garment workers wanted to become part of a union so they could strike for better conditions, but they thought the girls too weak for that kind of action. Not Clara!
At one of the union meetings, none of the men called for a strike. So Clara did - in Yiddish! The next morning, garment workers in New York City went on strike. It lasted through the winter. During the strike, Clara paid dearly at the hands of the police, who beat, handcuffed and jailed her (17 times). Still, she kept on. And the strikers got support - from rich women, from college students, even the newspapers wrote about them. Finally, the 1909 NYC strike ended, the workers unionized, got better wages and a shorter workweek, inspiring garment workers in Philadelphia and Chicago go on strike, too.
Written in appealing, upbeat language, Michelle Markel's biography of Clara Lemlich's is an accessible, inspiring story for young readers. Her message is clear - you can make a difference, you can bring about change. It feels like a message that she is basically directing at girls, though boys can certainly benefit from it, too.
And lucky kids of today! When I learned about unions in school, it was a rather boring, unrelatable unit of social studies. But in only 32 pages, Markel has managed to change all that. She put a face on the lesson, personalized it and was lucky enough to have Melissa Sweet illustrate her words.
And Melissa has done, as usual, a superb job of it. The illustrations are done in watercolor, gouache, and mixed-media, and are based on both her imagination and old photographs of the actual events. The pictures all look like sewn pieces of fabric, right down to the stitching around the edge. In the background of both text and fabric swatch, are all kinds of nice touches related to sewing. It all works so wonderfully well with the text.
There are two pages of backmatter in Brave Girl. First, there is more information about the garment industry and its unions. And second, there is a select bibliography along with the primary sources used.
Brave Girl is definitely a book not to be missed.
This book is recommended for readers age 5+
This book was borrowed from the NYPL
This review was originally posted at Randomly Reading
sarahrusty's review against another edition
3.0
The story of a brave girl who fought for her rights and the rights of others has a strong voice and fantastic illustrations.