Tenement: Immigrant Life on the Lower East Side

by Raymond Bial

Hardcover, 2002

Status

Available

Call number

J 307.76 BIA

Publication

HMH Books for Young Readers (2002), Edition: Library Binding, 48 pages

Description

Presents a view of New York City's tenements during the peak years of foreign immigration, discussing living conditions, laws pertaining to tenements, and the occupations of their residents.

Barcode

4133

Language

User reviews

LibraryThing member megan_henley
Tenement is the non-fiction telling of the hard living immigrants faced in the lower east side tenements in New York City. They were very small flats with no more than two rooms. They were often very dark and smelled of garbage. Because there was no running water and garbage piled high, many people
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became sick with diseases. "Infant slaughterhouses" was a term often used to describe the tenements because of how many babies died of disease. Jacob Riis, a social reformer, worked hard to improve the living conditions of the people. Often times people looked back on their years in the tenements and had fond memories.

This is a great book to read along with a history lesson on this time in history. The pictures help get a better understanding of what the conditions looked like and how people had to live. This book helps to give a student further knowledge on an issue that might have been skipped over quick like without as many details in a normal classroom lesson.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. I am not really a fan of history, but this book made it more interesting to read. The pictures gave a clearer idea of how the people really were living in the tenements. Bail wrote the book in an easy to read and easy to understand manor without the extra boring details. I would recommend this being read to students of all ages in their history classes.
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LibraryThing member emilee
good quote 'one half of the world does not know how the other half lives
LibraryThing member ChelseaRose
I like that this book offers an intriguing amount of information that would get readers more interested in this subject. I also appreciate how relevant the subject of immigration is currently, and how themes in this book could be used in examining our current state. Very interesting!
LibraryThing member jkessluk
I believe this book is intended for kids in the middle school age, and would be a good book for them to read, otherwise it was just an OK book. The photographs throughout the book were good but never really showed any extremes; for example the author mentions several families living in a tiny area
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but never shows pictures of this. The book does a good job at not just talking about the living situations but other things immagrants go through; but the lack of showing any extreme photographs or subject matter made it lack a little something.
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LibraryThing member awinkler
This book was similar to the book Immigrant Kids but it focused more on the housing of immigrants and less about the lives of children back then. The books shared some of the same photos. There were photos of tenements from the time, and also recreated photos using everyday items that would be
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found in an immigrants apartment.
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LibraryThing member jllwlsh
I found this book to be of the utmost importance for the young reader. It is informative and beautifully executed. Bial truly captures the essence of these hard times, by his use of descriptive language, and detailed pictures.
LibraryThing member marlasheffel
Interesting and informative book about what life was really like for the people who came to America for a new life. The pictures are straight out of the museum, literally, and give a view that the reader just wouldn't be able to really understand by reading about it. Great book that anyone over the
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age of about 13 should read.
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LibraryThing member mariasegoviano
It's an eye awakening book for young readers. The United States has always been known as the land of opportunities where dreams come true. However, that hasn't always been the case and until this day still keeps on being proven wrong. It just comes to show, that in order to get where you want to
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be, one needs to overcome any obstacles presented in ones way. One needs, not to give up on the ultimate goal and ones dreams. A great book to compare with today's New York. New York back in the 1880's to New York present, so much has changed.
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ISBN

0618138498 / 9780618138494

UPC

046442138499
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