Years ago, when I was around the age range for this book, I picked it up and read it. I fell in love with it, but that was in part because I was fascinated by the time period and history. For Labor Day, I decided to go back into the depths of my memory and review this book as best as I could. I don't remember all the details and I might be leaving out some, but I reread this book over and over again for a few years so I have a relatively solid memory of it.

In 1912, Rosa is a twelve-year-old schoolgirl who lives with her mother, older sister, and baby brother. Her mother and older sister work in a large factory where the pay is very low and the conditions are terrible. Rosa is a good student at school and is very much an obedient child in school - sometimes to the point of annoyance for me. She adores her teacher and wants to emulate her. Her teacher is American born and does not understand the immigrant experience, so she conveys ideas to her students about their families that one may find problematic, such as assimilation. Rosa is a first generation Italian American and so is living the immigrant experience with her family. But she wants to be like her teacher and she is therefore ashamed of her family.

Jake is a thirteen year old boy who lives with his father in a shack. His father often gets drunk and beats him severely. Jake spends a lot of time wandering around Lawrence. He used to go to school but then dropped out. I thought his personality was a bit stronger. He has prejudices against immigrants, taught to him by his dad, who is American born.

After his dad dies, he wanders around the neighborhood, not knowing what to do next. Then he meets Rosa and she let's him sleep in her apartment, with the quid pro quo that he has to be out as early in the morning as possible so that no one else notices. The two keep up close contact.

One day, Rosa is at school when she hears marching and chanting. The workers are going on a strike that will go down in history as one of the pillars of the early 20th century labor movement. Her teacher immediately tries to convince the students not to strike and
Rosa, in a sort of adoration, listens to her. When she comes home, she is horrified to hear that her mother and sister will be striking. She is conflicted and is not vehemently against the strike; however, she tries to convince her family not to strike.

Jake, on the other hand, is not against the strike and follows it with some excitement.

At some point, the town of Barre, Vermont, invites all the children of Lawrence to come to Barre to stay with host families, in support of the strike. Rosa is signed up to go to Vermont. Jake sneaks onto the train to go, but has no permission slip. He encounters Rosa and together they pretend to be brother and sister. They are taken in by a very nice old couple, the Gerbatis. However, the Gerbatis have some sad secrets of their own, too. Their son died and they are still haunted by his death. Jake isn't very good at acting, and eventually his secret is found out by the Gerbatis. However, the Gerbatis take pity on him and adopt him as their son. The book ends with Rosa going back home and Jake staying in a hurried way that leaves you wondering what happens next.

It is a good book - well written, not badly paced, relatively interesting. However, I am going to agree with most critics and say I found the two main characters to be bland - especially Rosa. Realistically, Rosa might well have been anti strike, as a child facing discrimination who just wants to be treated well and who adored her somewhat unfair teacher. She is believable and Paterson does a good job of illustrating both her and Jake's youth. Jake was also believable - his awe and excitement about a heavy protest like the strike truly illustrates the child he is - though with him being thirteen and Rosa being twelve, they understand some of the emotional importance of what is going on, too.

I also feel like the book could have been longer. I didn't like the ending - not that it was bad, it was great! But it was truly a cliffhanger. I wanted to know what happened next and I wish the author had written a sequal.

Reading the book at age 10, I got a sense of the time period, but the emotional importance of the strike was not very understandable to me. I have no idea how well this book could communicate that to older kids, but it seemed relatively well done in terms of that to me. I would say that its reading level is more geared towards fourth or fifth graders; however, to understand the messege the book brings, one would need to be at least in sixth grade to learn a lesson from it about the importance of workers' rights and the discrimination against immigrants from Italy (and other places, though the immigrant experience featured in this book is Italian American). For example, there were a few ethnic slurs in the book. I'm all for teaching children from a very young age to recognize bigotry and understand the severity it brings; however, not every nine and ten year old may understand the weight of these words. Perhaps the author could have done a better job communicating the severity of the discrimination, while tailoring it to younger people.

The book certainly had its pitfalls, but overall it was a good book and seemed relatively well researched.

Many people who know union history have heard of the Bread and Roses strike, and may be aware of the urban legend stating that the name is derived from a photo where a woman in Lawrence, MA is holding a picket sign that says "We want bread, yes, and roses too..."

This book tells the fictional story of the family, and mainly the children, of the woman holding that sign. Paterson weaves accurate history into this fictional account by documenting the strike, those that were framed, the Wobblies role, Big Bill Haywood and Elizabeth Gurley Flynn's involvement -- and more importantly, the surrounding communities that took in the children and housed them as the strike wore on.

In this book we gain an insight to why people who were on the verge of starving chose to strike, how languages and ethnic tensions withered away in the name of solidarity, and how this strike of women, men and children reached international fame.

And at the core, it is the children's story, and their perspective.

Newish book from the author of "Bridge to Terabithia" about a factory laborers strike in the early 20th century, a part of American History I don't know much about. It was interesting to learn of some of the things that were going on during that period of time while following the story of two kids who happen to become friends. The book reminded me a lot of "A Tree Grows In Brooklyn"--one of my all time faves. It wasn't as good as ATGIB, but still good.