Customer Reviews

Uprising

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Written for a teen-aged audience, Uprising by Margaret Haddix is an historically accurate and informative book that adults too will find captivating.

Set in 1910-11 New York City it tells the story of three girls from various social strata's who are brought together by an unusual set of circumstances. Chapters alternate between each of the girls and the reader gains an understanding of the plight of factory workers subjected to low wages and unsafe working conditions from the individual perspectives of each of the narrators.

In this eye-opening saga based on real events the workers organize and strike for better pay and safer working conditions at the Triangle Shirt Factory, but it is only a disasterous fire at the factory that costs the lives of hundreds of people that ultimately brings changes to the American labor movement and gives birth to organized unions.

History coupled with tales of friendship, loyalty and love brings humanity and reality to the story of Bella, Yetta and Jane and provides an understanding of what it took to survive in the sweat shops of the early 1900's.

This masterfully crafted presentation of one of the worst workplace disasters in our history should be on everyones "must read" list.

I've always enjoyed Margaret Peterson Haddix's work, and when I saw that she was tackling the story of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire, I suspected she might be up to the challenge. I was correct -- Haddix deftly weaves the story of three girls of very different backgrounds, who all share the common thread of the Triangle factory.

Bella is a poor girl from Italy, who speaks no English and is at the mercy of the "padrones" and others who would take advantage of her. Yetta fled the Russian shtetls, escaping before she was killed in one of the violent pogroms. Jane is from a life of wealth and privilege, and finds herself involved with the other two girls simply because she's tired of being ornamental and useless.

The three come together in the New York City of 1910, and their story unfolds against the backdrop of the industrial revolution. Women's suffrage, immigrants' rights, and union rebellion are their New York, and when fire erupts in an unsafe building, tragedy ensues. Through it all, Haddix has you feeling the desperation of these girls, involved in a disaster that changed the face of American industry. The last four chapters in particular are heartbreakingly beautiful, and by the time you finish the book you'll have a whole new appreciation for the nameless and faceless girls who helped form our nation a hundred years ago.

I found this book when looking through the new books on the library shelf. I am a history buff, so when the cover said it was about an event that changed US history, I thought, why not! I started it and couldn't put it down. I read it straight through and LOVED EVERY MINUTE OF IT!!!! I came to school the next day telling my partner teacher about the book and how I hadn't even heard of the event before. She said that she hadn't either until a few years ago she read an amazing book titled Ashes of Roses by Mary Jane Auch on the same subject. So, needless to say we swapped books!

Haddix does a wonderful job of taking you into the lives and times of three girls (fictional) involved in the fire. She does a wonderful job of bringing in history, and making you want to research and know more after the book is over. She brings in so much of the history surrounding this incident also, including the union strike, and the women suffragist movement. Truly a captivating book!

This is a literary masterpiece. It is exactly what I have in mind when I go to the library or the bookstore looking for a "good" book to read. It is just phenomenal. It captures the girls' personalities in a way that makes them so believable and real. And I found my eyes welling up so many times throughout the book as I shared in their hopes and dreams. Even though the book is marketed as being of middle-school reading level, being a law school grad I didn't find it to be childishly written or anything of the sort. Quite the opposite, I was entranced from beginning to end.
The plot centers around three girls, each from different stations in life, who unite and become friends while struggling with the horrors of the shirtwaist factory and the confines of proper ladylike behavior during the turn of the century. If you never read another book the rest of the year, you must read this one. You simply must.

This is a great book for all ages, it gives me a good sense about what happened and really how hard it was for women and their rights, and also working conditions. This is one of the many great books by Magaret Peterson Haddix. You'll fall in love with the characters immedietly, very suspenceful and has a great moral to it. Hope you enjoy!

I bought this book for my daughter (age 12) and read it before she did. I read it in a single night and could not stop crying through the last chapters. I was so moved by Haddix's portrayal that I did some research and convinced my daughter's Social Studies teacher to allow me to do a presentation on the centenial of the fire. (3/25/2011) While Bella, Yetta and Jane are fictional characters, they are closely related to real people from that day. For example, Max Blanck's two young daughters really were at the factory the day of the fire -- as was their French governess, who in the book is Jane. The story is absolutely heartbreaking, and the end note comparing the fire to 9/11 reminds us that history isn't something dusty and remote.

"Uprising", was the most powerful book that I read this summer. The author's character development was superb! As a sixth grade teacher I continually search for new read aloud books to share with my students. I strongly recomend this book for older grades and book groups. It would make a great discussion book!

This is the second best book I have ever read (Pride and Prejudice being the best). I felt really involved in the lives of the characters so much so that at the end I didn't just cry, I sobbed hysterically.
As a teenager you always here how "tough" life used to be, or how "hard they used to have it". And it's all so cliche that I just brush it off. This book really clearly shows the poverty and oppression of immigrant women at this time. The stories are so vivid and threadbare that it stands in sharp contrast to the author's other books.
Every part of the book is thoroughly intelligent and the the author writes what would actually happen to someone in this situation even if the truth is horrific to someone like me.
Above all this book swept me away from my modern, suburban, pampered existence to a cold, filthy, small apartment in New York City shared by three girls.

Margaret Peterson Haddix is a wonder author. I've read many of her books, but this is one of my favorites. The story of these young women bring to life the hardships and trials faced by many of the immigrants of our great nation. It is realistic, educational, and most of all, entertaining. I didn't want to put it down and felt myself being drawn into these courageous women's lives as if I were there.

On March 25, 1911, the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory burned down, killing 146 garment workers, mostly women, mostly immigrants, and of an average age of 19. The largest industrial accident ever in New York City, this incident is in every U.S. History textbook. This fire changed the idea that in a free country, government could not regulate business. Locked doors, decrepit fire escapes, short fire ladders and hoses that couldn't spray water high enough prevented the workers from finding safety. This tragedy shocked the nation and spurred the recognition of the International Ladies Garment Workers Union.

This is what students will learn in their textbooks. But in Margaret Peterson Haddix's book of historical fiction, readers will get to know the people who lived (and died) around this event. The Triangle Shirtwaist Fire is so much more than a story about government regulation of business. It is a story about the irony of the American dream. People came (and still come) to this country to have the freedom to find a better life. So often, the pursuit of that better life has meant finding a way to profit handsomely from someone else's labor. Such was the case with the institution of slavery, with indentured servitude, and with factory labor. One hundred years after this fire, remnants of this irony still tear at this free nation's dream.

Haddix has been a popular author in my middle grade classrooms. Her Shadow Children Series, futuristic fantasy about population police hunting down illegal third children, was well-liked and read avidly by both boys and girls. So far I have given Uprising to a few ninth grade girls. Even though they were not fans of historical fiction, they all really liked this book. One of them commented that it didn't matter what the genre or the subject matter was, really good writing can make any book worth reading.

When students ask why they have to study history, they are told they need to understand history in order not to repeat it. Well-written historical fiction like Uprising delivers that understanding by giving young readers fully dimensional people who lived the history. Appropriate for readers as young as sixth grade, Uprising is a book I would recommend for anybody who likes to learn something about history while reading a great story.
Gaby Chapman