Bread and Roses, Too

by Katherine Paterson

Hardcover, 2006

Status

Available

Local notes

Fic Pat

Barcode

1190

Collection

LS/FICTION [F]

Tags

Strikes and Lockouts, Labor Unions, immigrant, Survival, PURCHASED_ACQUIRED in 2018-19, INVENTORY LS 2022_23, Author's B-Day in October, ship_boat_shipwreck

Genres

Publication

Clarion Books (2006), Edition: 1st, 275 pages

Description

Jake and Rosa, two children, form an unlikely friendship as they try to survive and understand the 1912 Bread and Roses strike of mill workers in Lawrence, Massachusetts.

Subjects

Awards

Language

English

Original language

English

Original publication date

2006

Physical description

275 p.; 5.5 inches

Media reviews

KLIATT
Claire Rosser (KLIATT Review, September 2006 (Vol. 40, No. 5)) Everything Paterson writes is excellent. This historical novel is about the strike by workers in Lawrence, Massachusetts in 1912. In some ways it is a continuation of the theme of her novel Lyddie, about a mill worker in Lowell,
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 Massachusetts in the mid-19th century. She tells of two young people's experience over the several months of the strike. It's interesting because neither of them, Rosa or Jake, is an enthusiast for workers' rights; they just get swept up in the events surrounding them. Rosa's mother and older sister are workers who are completely committed to the strike. Rosa is slightly ashamed of them, their poor English, their risk-taking. Jake is a worker himself, abused by his drunken father, illiterate, a petty thief. The two are sent with other children from Lawrence to Barre, Vermont, to socialist families supporting the strikers by taking in the starving children, taking care of them until the strike is over. An Italian American couple takes in Rosa and Jake, who are pretending to be brother and sister. The man, an accomplished stone worker and nobody's fool, soon suspects Jake is lying, but his response is unexpectedly kind. The way Paterson works in the historical details that are known--the terrible plight of the workers and their families, the evolution of the strike, the support from the growing labor movement around the country--is moving and sound. She speculates on how the slogan of the strike, Bread and Roses, Too, came into being, which fits in nicely with her characters and their feelings.
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KLIATT
Pat Dole (KLIATT Review, July 2007 (Vol. 41, No. 4)) In 1912 in the mill town of Lawrence, Massachusetts, immigrant workers are being exploited by greedy mill owners. An additional pay cut finally ignites a general strike that is ruthlessly suppressed by local police and militia. Rosa Cerutti, the
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 young daughter of a poor Italian widow, is so bright that her mother and older sister work in a mill to support the family so that she can have the luxury of going to school. When the anti-strike violence escalates dangerously, the strikers decide they must send their children away from Lawrence to cities where union members have agreed to shelter them for the duration. Rosa is destined for Barre, Vermont. Jake, an illiterate, desperate, abused boy she has met accidentally, persuades Rosa to pretend that he is her brother so that he can get on the train with her and escape to a new life. With the new name of Salvatore, Jake is warmly welcomed along with Rosa by an older Italian couple in Barre, who shower them with new clothes and good food. All the while, though, Rosa is in an agony of fear for the safety of her mother and sister, especially when she finds out that they have been jailed and her little brother taken away from them. In the end the plot is neatly wrapped up. Narrator Raver has a grand time portraying the effusive Italian women who figure prominently in the story (based upon a true incident) and she voices an Irish priest and a rough-spoken boy with equal ease. Category: Fiction Audiobooks. KLIATT Codes: J--Recommended for junior high school students. 2006, Listening Library, 6 cds. 7 hrs.; Vinyl; plot, author, reader notes., $39.00. Ages 12 to 15.
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User reviews

LibraryThing member eduscapes
One of the many things I like about Paterson is the way she can bring characters alive for readers. I'm particularly drawn to her historical fiction. Her books always make great titles for literature circles and social studies connections. Bread and Roses, Too is set during the 1912 labor strike in
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 Lawrence Massachusetts. Some of the children of strikers were sent on "vacation" to Vermont to escape the potential violence. Like so many great historical fiction novels for young people, it made me want to learn more about the real people and events. I immediately went to the Library of Congress website to find photographs of the strike.
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LibraryThing member Catnelson
Twelve-year-old Rosa Serutti's Italian immigrant mother and older sister have joined the strike, and many children -- including Rosa and her new friend, Jake -- are sent away to live with other families in other towns until the strike is over.
LibraryThing member jnogal
There were a few sentences MISSING from one of the pages toward the end of the book. The story was pretty good, but I wasn't too into it.
LibraryThing member temorrison
This is a story about two very different young children that have to grow up during the mill strike of 1912. The young girl is Rosa,and the young boy is Jake. They come from two very different family backgrounds. Rosa's family is Itailian, and Jake's father is an alcholic. Both of the children have
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 a hard time with the strike and how their families are dealing with it. Jake and Rosa are taken in by the Gerbati family to try and help not only their families, but themselves. The story continues to talk about the struggles that immigrant families go through throughout the story. But in the end, everything works out for the best for both children. This is a wonderful book to have in the class to teach children about the struggles that immigrant families go through. This also is a very historical book that could be used in a history lesson.
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LibraryThing member brittneywest
I felt that this book was an excellent representation of American history. It retells the events of one of the infamous factory strikes of 1912. The book revolves around Jake and Rosa. They are children forced to live with another family unitl the strike is over, as suggested by their family.
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 Eventually through turbulent trials and tribulations, Rosa is back with her family and Jakes helps others with finding themselves. This book is reccommended for readers in the 4th grade and up.
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LibraryThing member mdkladke
This is a good back about how hard times used to be. Although they are still a little hard today, some people don't have to go through what Jake and Rosa went through. Both of their families are suffering through the mill strike of 1912, Jake and Rosa move into another house until the strike is
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 over to help their families. Everything finally works out and the children are back with their families.
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LibraryThing member dreamerenglish2
Bisi C.- This book is about two children, Rosa and Jake, who are trying to survive during a strike in Lawrence, MA. The two have to be sent to Vermont with some other children until the strike is over. It is a sad book about hardship and struggle but eventually things begin to get better for the
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 two. I thought it was suspensful and emotional for both the characters. The point of view coming from each character changes every 2 or so chapter so it let's you see how the strike effected both their lives and their roles in. It contains some mild language but just barely. AMAZING histroical fiction book.
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LibraryThing member frood42
Young Rosa is anxious about her mother and sister's involvement in a strike of mill workers in Lawrence, Massachusetts; in the same town, Jake, a young mill worker now on strike, is trying to survive.

This historical fiction novel portrays the mill strike in Lawrence through the viewpoints of two
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 adolescents connected to, but not directly involved with, the strike. Though the strike is a strong presence in the novel, the main focus is the personal turmoil and changes these children experience as the strike progresses. Authorities Rosa was taught by her mother to obey-- the Catholic church and her schoolteacher-- have condemned the strike as sinful and dangerous, and Rosa fears her mother's involvement will destroy her family both morally and physically. Jake, though a mill worker, is too hungry and cold to become concerned with the strikers' ideals, and occasionally tries to cross the picket lines. By focusing on the children and their concerns, this novel excellently portrays a significant historical event from the perspective of an everyday individual, and shows what the children experienced while their friends and families tried to change the world. There is some implied violence and one especially disturbing scene that may make the book unsuitable for very young readers, but it is appropriate for upper level middle school or junior high readers.
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LibraryThing member hollyhox
Historical Fiction. The 1912 “Bread and Roses” textile mill strike in Lawrence, Massachusetts, is seen through the eyes of Rosa Serutti, a 12-year-old immigrant, and 13-year-old Jake Beale, a child laborer in the mill. After a wage cut, Rosa’s mother and older sister go on strike while Jake
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 is fired, earning the ire of his alcoholic, abusive father. When the strike turns violent, Rosa and Jake are sent to live temporarily with a family in Vermont. Jake’s prickly exterior falls away as he learns to trust his new father figure, while Rosa’s impatience with her mother’s old-world ways becomes a moot point when her life is in danger. Paterson has written a very realistic historic fictional account of the labor movement. The shifting point of view between Rosa and Jake allows each character to be well-developed. The plot moves along nicely and the setting rings true, but it’s the sense of injustice that ties the children’s perspective to the strike going on around them.
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LibraryThing member ToriVic
Good, very real, sweet.
LibraryThing member Jessie_Bear
Paterson compellingly presents the story of the Lawrence mill strike of 1912 through the point of view of two affected children, Rosa and Jake. Adding the second protagonist provides more perspective on living conditions and tension between classes as well as ethnicities, and there is a turning
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 point in the story where the main protagonist becomes the secondary protagonist and vice versa. Although Jake appears early on throughout the novel, Rosa’s inner turmoil over the strike propels the first half of the book as Paterson convincingly puts the reader at the crossroads of Rosa’s concerns of wanting to be a “proper” American and Catholic while staying true to her immigrant family. Paterson makes brilliant use of Rosa’s school teacher to further this tension, turning pro-strike and true American into an either/or binary. Rosa’s happy ending is when the strike eventually ceases, but it is Jake who grows and develops more as a character, changing throughout the book. Paterson’s secondary characters are somewhat unevenly developed given their importance. For instance, although Rosa’s school teacher was given sufficient characterization and development, Rosa’s older sister was somewhat underdeveloped, which is surprising considering her role in the book. However, it is clear that this book has been well researched and Paterson does a nearly seamless job of integrating her characters into her setting in a convincing manner. Bread and Roses, Too reads as a solid work of historical fiction and can be read alongside or in compliment to Lyddie, an earlier work of Paterson’s with some common elements. This book is recommended for children ages ten to twelve.
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LibraryThing member AmberTheHuman
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
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 narration. Interesting, though, from a historical perspective.
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LibraryThing member br14elmo
In "Bread and Roses, Too" Rosa and her friend Jake are living in the middle of a strike. The strike was caused because the mill workers weren't getting paid enough including Rosa's mother and sister. Eventually, the strike got violently out if control and Jake and Rosa get offered to be sent to
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 Vermont until the strike is over. Jake's dad doesn't approve of Jake leaving, so he is forced to sneak onto the train. When Rosa finds him she tries to convince him to get off the train, but he does not. Rosa knows that this won't end well, so Jake pretends to be her brother and changes his name to Salvatore (Sal). Keeps reading to find out what happens to Rosa and "Sal" when they begin to live in Vermont.
I really enjoyed this book. There were a couple times when I got a little bored, but there were random plot twists that recaptured my attention. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys historical fiction and I rate it 5/5 stars.
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LibraryThing member micahmom2002
A historical novel based on the Bread and Roses strike. I enjoyed it.
LibraryThing member pennsylady
a story based on real events surrounding a 1912 labor strike in Lawrence, Ma
a heartwarming fictional look at history in the making
LibraryThing member Salsabrarian
In Lawrence, MA, the immigrant workers of the wool mills go on strike to demand better wages and conditions. The story focuses on two young teens: Rosa, who fears the consequences of her mother and sister’s participation in the strike, and Jake, a mill worker and the son of an abusive, drunk
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 father whom he escapes by sleeping in the streets. As the strike progresses, the worker parents decide to send their children away “on vacation” to be cared for by other families with the help of the union. Thirty-five of the kids, including Rosa are sent to Barre, VT. Jake, on the run after discovering his father is dead and fearing the police may be after him, sneaks on to the train thinking he is headed for New York. Rosa pretends Jake is her brother and they are taken in by an elder Italian couple, the Gerbatis. In the midst of fear, anger, and skepticism glimmers love and hope. Lib notes: Some ethnic slurs, such as “wop.”
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LibraryThing member GEMaguire
Story of Rosa Serutti and Jake Beale and the 1912 Mill Worker's strike in Lawrence, MA. This book provides a realistic view of the life of mill workers. Descriptions of tenement life, social economic divide. Introduces Bill Haywood, Elizabeth Gurley Flynn, multi-nationality worker unity, labor
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 songs, and the various tactics used by the Mill company to undermine the strikers.

Grades: 4-8

Classroom use: Social Studies, research skills, worker rights, factory conditions, primary sources, character and values, culture and diversity, friendship
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Pages

275

Rating

½ (98 ratings; 3.7)

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