Gail R. (abigailsdaughter) reviewed on + 201 more book reviews
This is part of a series for children, in which two stories back-to-back deal with the same events through different eyes. Teen-aged Lizzie and her 9 year-old brother work 15 hours a day at an English cotton mill in 1842 - their father has been fired for speaking up for better working conditions. When Timmy is badly injured at work and Lizzie is fired too, they join with other workers to try to force the owners to treat them fairly.
The other half is through the eyes of the mill owner's son, Josh,whose loyalty to his family is strained by his long friendship with Lizzie, and his innate sense of fairness.
I felt the ending, where Josh is determined to treat the workers better at the mill he has inherited, was a little idealistic, but the depiction for children of industrial class struggle at that period of history is pretty well done.
The other half is through the eyes of the mill owner's son, Josh,whose loyalty to his family is strained by his long friendship with Lizzie, and his innate sense of fairness.
I felt the ending, where Josh is determined to treat the workers better at the mill he has inherited, was a little idealistic, but the depiction for children of industrial class struggle at that period of history is pretty well done.
