Personal Reaction:
I thought this was a good historical novel. It shares about the Lawrence Strike of 1912. There was times were I thought it was a little boring, however at others I could not put it down. It was interesting seeing the family dynamic in this story, because Rosa was against the strike but her mother and sister were joining the front lines.

Purpose:
I think book would be best for students to independently read in 4th or 5th grade. I think the vocabulary is appropriate for those grade levels, while still challenging the students. This book would be a great book for a small literature circle, so the students would read independently but discuss in a small group during class. It would be a great resource to used while teaching a history lesson about the early 1900’s and the unfair labor laws during that time period. The students could also do a project on the conflict of the story, because of the several conflicts that Rosa faces throughout the story.

In 1912, the work week of the mill workers of Lawrence, Massachusetts, was reduced by two hours and so the people went on strike. Bread and Roses, Too is historical fiction focused on two children, one a schoolgirl and sister and daughter of strikers and the other a mill worker and striker himself. The story is told beautifully. It is sometimes a little slow, but that fits the story very well. The ending is absolutely perfect. At the end there is a historical note that reveals that most of the backdrop of the story is completely true (and explains a bit of what is not). I highly recommend this book to middle grade kids learning about the industrial revolution or strikes.

Bread and Roses too was a great book about two young kids with two very different backgrounds. Their similarities and differences all make up the unique relationship that these two characters develop.
This book takes place in the time period of the Bread and Roses Strike in Lawrence, Massachusetts. Jake and Rosa, the two main characters, are both living in Lawrence during the time of the strike. The strike affects Jake and Rosa in two very different ways but it all works out in the end.
Rosa is one of the two main characters in the book. She is a dynamic character and is the type of girl that always follows the rules and is a bit of a perfectionist. She is the only on in her family that is being educated and she is the best student in her class. Her mother, sister, and housemates are all participating in the strike but Rosa believes school comes first so she decides to attend school during all the chaos. As time goes by, Rosa becomes torn on if she should stay in school or help support her mom and sister in the strike. Her teacher and her mother have two very different opinions about the strike and cause Rosa to become confused about whether or not to join the union. Throughout the novel, Rosa becomes very close with Jake and eventually plays a huge role in Jake’s life.
Jake is also a dynamic character in the novel. Jake is a young boy who lives on the streets of Lawrence and with no mother, no one in his family participates in the strike. He steals a lot of things like food, water, money, and whiskey for his pa. He meets Rosa and she is very generous and understanding of him and tries her best to help him out of his dangerous situation. He doesn’t learn his lesson and continues to steal things to provide for him and his unemployed pa.
Rosa gets sent to another place to stay away from the strike and Jake wants to come but he can’t. Rosa unwillingly helps Jake and in the end, changes him for the better. The book is a little slow at first but just keep reading, it gets better.

Just finished this novel tonite, about an hour before going to Gordon College to hear author Katherine Paterson speak. The book was great and Paterson was really great! Amusing, informative and inspiring. I am looking forward to reading more of her work.

The novel, "Bread and Roses, Too" was a fairly entertaining book, I thought. Even though it was quite enjoyable, I got a bit bored and confused. A huge amount of historical context was used, which made the story seem very slow at the beginning. About three quarters of the way through the book, it finally started to get interesting, but I feel like it took too long to reach that "page turning" moment. Once Jake and Rosa finally met up, and things started to climax, I wanted to read more and more in order to find out what happened. It was a great book from that point on.

The book used a fair amount of figurative language, which is always a great way to picture the story. Also, I like how the author incorporated historical context into the story to make it seem real in the time period. I could picture what was happening in my head, which helped me figure out the story a little better. Even though there were many great things about this book, I still feel that I was too bored for too long. I wish that the author would have used a little less historical context. If I hadn't known anything about it or done any research, I wouldn't have understood anything about the first half of the book.

While the writing was a bit simplistic, Paterson relly brought the strikers and families of the 1912 mill-strike in Lawrence, Mass. to life, as well as the immigrant culture of Barre, Vermont, where some of the strikers' children were sent to get them out of danger and keep them fed. The Wobblies' support of their Lawrence brethren was breathtaking - other struggling families sent what was for them a lot of money to Lawrence to pay for soup kitchens at least once a day. For some strikers, this was the only food they had.

I'd love to listen to a group of modern kids discuss this book.

Genre: Realistic/Historic junior fiction

Reading Level: Fluent

Topics & Themes: Bread and Roses Strike of 1912.

Curricular Use: Independent reading.

Social: Strike for workers' rights. Poverty. All nationalities banding together to form protest. Other communities helping to protect the children of the workers. Forming of unions.

Literary Elements: Many conflicts throughout the book: Rosa's internal conflict in dealing with her feeling of the strike, the workers in the strike, Jack and Rosa, Jack's internal conflict, conflict with his father.

Text & Pictures: N/A

I think I shouldn't have read the book jacket - I kept waiting for the train ride it mentioned, and the ride occurred in the second half of the book. And it was just a sad book. The resolution with Rosa feels unfinished. There is no promise that her life will become measurably better. The resolution with her "rat" is drastically better, but that makes Rosa's resolution feel even paler and less hopeful. The history is vivid, and the writing is good. But I was just sad when I finished reading.

کتاب صوتی بدون اجرای ایوب آقاخانی حرام است!

بعد مدت ها ...

چسبید !

Haven't run in to a Paterson book I don't like yet. This was much more recent than that other's I had read. But about an older time. The book comes at you from two perspectives - eventually merging into one shared experience. The book kind of has two parts ... and I feel like that kind of hurts the narration. Interesting, though, from a historical perspective.

Bread and Roses, Too by Katherine Paterson has been chosen as the 2018 Vermont Reads book. The Vermont Reads books are books that are considered "accessible and appealing to a broad range of readers, based on suggestions from scholars, educators, and community members around the state." ([email protected])
Katherine Paterson's writing never ceases to amaze me, and this story that revolves around the lives of two children experiencing the strikes on factories in Lawrence, MA, did not fail. First we meet Rosa, a young girl whose widowed mother has suddenly become involved in the strike, and is seen as a leader by many of the neighborhood women. Rosa is torn between seeing the reason for this strike through her mother's eyes and hearing the harsh words of her teachers who believes the strike is being led by anarchists and Marxists.
The second child is Jake, a son of a drunkard who beats him and steals his pay from the mill to buy booze. Jake gladly joins in the strike at first, but suffers a horrible beating from his father when he finds out, and spends his nights in alleyways, junk piles, or hiding out in churches.
When the children of Lawrence are given the opportunity to leave until after the strike, Rosa and Jake are put on a train heading to Barre, VT, where they will live with strangers, and where their lives will be changed for the good.

Solid historical fiction piece that any age can read, but I’m reading it for tween book group (grades 5-7) and I think that’s the exact right level for a discussion.