The Breaker Boys [Hardcover]

Pat Hughes (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 8 and up | Grade Level: 3 and up

The son of a wealthy Pennsylvania coal mine operator, Nate Tanner resents being shipped off to boarding school. Anger -- mainly at his father and stepmother -- is what gets him there and what prevents him from making friends. Then, in the spring of 1897, it gets him kicked out and sent home. To avoid his family, Nate disappears on his bicycle every day. In this way he meets the breaker boys, who do dangerous, dirty work for his father, separating coal from debris. Nate admires these Polish immigrants, especially Johnny, and longs to become his friend. But the only way is for Nate to hide that he is the boss's son. As Nate and Johnny's friendship marches toward the moment of truth, Nate discovers that the mine workers are plotting a strike. Should he warn his family or protect his friend?

This fascinating second novel features a hero who is blessed -- or cursed -- with the ability to see both sides of a painful issue and to accept that no one is impartial.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 7-9–In 1897, Nate Tanner is kicked out of boarding school and sent home to Hazelton, PA. His mother has died, and his father has married the family's youthful governess. The 12-year-old is lonely and experiences unexplained rage that manifests itself in fights. His father decrees that Nate will work with a tutor in preparation for the next year at another boarding school, and the boy sees a long summer ahead. While on a bicycle ride, he meets up with a bunch of "breaker boys," immigrants his own age who work at sorting coal in the mines owned by Nate's family. Soon, he is playing baseball with them, and he grows particularly close to Johnny. When Nate is invited to a birthday dinner, he begins to wonder about his family's role in the miners' dire living conditions. When the breaker boys participate in a labor strike, Nate witnesses the brutality of management yet must reconcile it with loyalty to his family. Hughes has created a complex protagonist who's likable even when acting "ugly." The author doesn't provide pat answers, but offers the hope that the questions Nate faces will be resolved. Readers–especially boys–will relate to him, and they will learn about coal production and the everyday life of both workers and owners. An author's note discusses the historical events on which this novel is based.–Elizabeth M. Reardon, McCallie School, Chattanooga, TN
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Gr. 5-9. Nate's family owns collieries in Pennsylvania, but Nate keeps his relationship to "the boss" a secret when he makes friends with 12-year-old Johnny, a Polish immigrant who works in the mines, just as he never talks at home about his contact with the mining community. With Johnny's help, Nate gets to spend a day as a breaker boy, and he experiences firsthand the exhausting work in a noisy, filthy colliery. There's big trouble in the mines, and a violent strike is brewing, and when Nate's two worlds collide, the boy must cope with Johnny's and Pa's fury at his betrayal. The outcome is a bit too neat, but Hughes never minimizes the meanness, the anger, and the hurt. Most affecting are the facts about child labor and the social history in the late nineteenth century, as seen through the eyes of a witness to many sides. Pair this with Susan Bartoletti's nonfiction account Growing Up in Coal Country (1996). Hazel Rochman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 8 and up
  
• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR); 1st edition (August 26, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0374309566
• ISBN-13: 978-0374309565
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.8 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #445,396 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Definite thumbs up from a history teacher, January 13, 2006

By 

History Teacher (Bala Cynwyd, PA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Breaker Boys (Hardcover)

I assigned The Breaker Boys to my 8th grade history students during a unit on the Industrial Revolution. I wasn't sure how it would be received, but the kids loved it. It's a coming of age story that the kids can relate to, and it's a historical novel that helps them understand life during the Industrial Revolution. We appreciated how the reader gets to see both sides of the story (the coal mine owners' side and the workers' side), rather than having the common assumption reinforced that workers then were just victimized by mine owners. The book was accessible for all of my students, probably because it interested them, and appealing even to my strongest readers. Teachers, give this one a try. You will not be disappointed.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Compelling and crisply written, February 15, 2006

By 

George R. Carter (Mullica Hill, N.J.) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Breaker Boys (Hardcover)

"The Breaker Boys" is an adventure into an era of U.S. history about which little is known today. Even people who read a lot of history don't tend to focus on turn-of-the-20th-century society -- much less as seen through the eyes of a young boy. That the author would choose to bring this period to life is quite commendable. The book also delves into the ethnicity of the immigrant "breaker boys," explaining how their families had recently arrived from Europe. The book is a much-needed history lesson.
That said, it's an exciting, fast read. It has just enough twists of the plot to be believable while not predictable.
It's so worthwhile for teens to read this kind of book that I called the library and asked the children's librarian to consider purchasing the other two.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Pat Hughes, author of Guerrilla Season, does it again!!, September 7, 2004

By 

Mowgli "Wisconsin Reader" (Waukesha, Wi. USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Breaker Boys (Hardcover)

Loved it!

Pat Hughes has done it again by putting the reader right in the middle of the action. This writers deft ability to make the characters as well as the setting come to life seems to put the reader right there in coal country. You become one of the family. Not just the wealthy Tanner family, but Johnny's family as well. Johnny's family are poor Polish immigrants who work in the mine that the Tanner family owns. Rich or poor this story is about family, friendship, and the trials and tribulations of a young man. Nate Tanner is angry with his family and befriends the young mine workers known as "The Breaker Boys," especially Johnny. Only Nate has a secret. And when Nate finds that Johnny and the other mine workers are planning a strike against his family, this troubled young man must contemplate whom to side with, his family or his friends.


I couldn't put it down! Everything from the clomping of the horses hooves pulling the Tanner family Brougham through town, to the conflict at the Lattimer Mines on September 10, 1897, keeps you right in the middle of Pennsylvania coal country ! Another job well done! Thanks Pat Hughes for another riveting novel!