Bread and Roses, Too by Katherine Paterson

Rosa and her Italian immigrant family live in Lawrence Massachusetts where her mother and older sister Anna work in the mills since the death of Rosa's father. While her mother and sister work, Rosa attends school where she is the best and brightest in her class and works hard to become as American as she can. Native born Jake has received little schooling and works in the mill so that his drunkard father can keep his supply of alcohol. When the mill workers of Lawrence go out on strike, life changes dramatically for both Rosa and Jake and their lives intertwine as they struggle to survive. Katherine Paterson is known for her well-written, meaningful fiction and this is no exception. The story's complicated and slow moving plot will limit its teen readership, however. The narration alternates between the perspectives of Jake and Rosa- neither of whom are completely reliable narrators. Both children's struggles during the strike are depicted honestly and realistically. Rosa fears for her mother and sister's safety and opposes the strike while Jake supports the strike but struggles to feed and shelter himself as he tries to escape the wrath of his father. Their journey to Barre, VT where they find shelter and love is touching, particularly in the case of Jake.