Haddix, Margaret Peterson.
UPRISING
New York : Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, c2007.
IL YA
ISBN 1416911715

(2 bookstalks)

Have you heard of the Triangle Shirtwaist factory fire of 1911?  Many young women were working at the factory when fire broke out.  These girls were trapped in the fire by locked doors and insufficient fire escapes.  In the end, 146 girls were killed in the fire.  An investigation faulted the working conditions of the factory as well as the locked doors as leading to the fire.  This tragedy led to new laws about working conditions in factories.  But did you know that many of the girls who worked at the factory had walked out 13 months before to protest the conditions at the factory?  They were fighting for the right to unionize as well as for safer conditions.  Uprising follows three girls who meet during the strike.  They come from different backgrounds -- two immigrant factory workers and one rich girl who wants to help.  The three become good friends and fight for the good of all -- until the end.  Who will survive and who will perish?

Booktalk #2

The noise was deafening, the heat was intense, and the smoke was getting thicker and thicker. The girls were fighting for every breath; they were fighting to survive.  March 25th 1911, the Triangle Shirtwaist factory fire, a tragedy that should never have happened.Follow three young girls as they live through one of the most tumultuous periods in early 20th century America.