Shift Happens: The History of Labor in the United States

For readers of Stamped and An Indigenous Peoples' History of the United States for Young People, Albert J. Mann's Shift Happens: The History of Labor in the United States is an accessible and comprehensive YA history of the way the labor movement has shaped America and how it intersects with many of the major issues facing modern teens.

“Mann explores the often oppressive, abusive, and bloody history of labor conditions and the merciless rise of capitalism with wit, snark, and comprehensive context.... Riveting, enlightening, infuriating, and timely: compulsory reading.” -Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

""Its edgy title may attract attention, but it's the compelling narrative and enlightening content that will keep readers engaged from cover to cover."" -SLJ (starred review)

""In other hands, the snarky, conversational tone might feel like an adult's overreach, but Mann's simmering anger and clear passion for the working class will inspire readers just as much as the union leaders and organization efforts she covers."" -BCCB (starred review)

“Mann's introduction to the history of labor is full of sharp, galvanizing points that will keep readers engaged and help them look critically at some of our entrenched systems.” -ALA Booklist

“The narrative's laser focus on organizing heroes and essential employees, and the power of unions and striking workers to enact change, results in powerful storytelling.” -Publishers Weekly

You need to work to live.

That's the truth for most people, and plenty of people in power have been abusing that truth for centuries.

Long before the first labor unions were formed, workers still knew what exploitation looked like. It looked like the enslavement of Black people. It looked like generations of children dying in dangerous jobs. It looked like wealthy people hiring private militaries to attack their employees.

But workers have always found a way to fight back. Lokono tribespeople resisted Columbus and his colonizers. Enslaved people led walkouts and rebellions. Textile workers demanded a wage that would let them have fun, not just survive. Miners died for the right to unionize. From 30,000 young seamstresses striking in the early 1900s to Uber drivers organizing for change today, people have learned we're stronger when we are united.

Shift Happens is a smart, funny, and engaging look at the history of the worker actions that brought us weekends, pay equality, desegregation, an end to child labor, and so much more.

1144214002
Shift Happens: The History of Labor in the United States

For readers of Stamped and An Indigenous Peoples' History of the United States for Young People, Albert J. Mann's Shift Happens: The History of Labor in the United States is an accessible and comprehensive YA history of the way the labor movement has shaped America and how it intersects with many of the major issues facing modern teens.

“Mann explores the often oppressive, abusive, and bloody history of labor conditions and the merciless rise of capitalism with wit, snark, and comprehensive context.... Riveting, enlightening, infuriating, and timely: compulsory reading.” -Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

""Its edgy title may attract attention, but it's the compelling narrative and enlightening content that will keep readers engaged from cover to cover."" -SLJ (starred review)

""In other hands, the snarky, conversational tone might feel like an adult's overreach, but Mann's simmering anger and clear passion for the working class will inspire readers just as much as the union leaders and organization efforts she covers."" -BCCB (starred review)

“Mann's introduction to the history of labor is full of sharp, galvanizing points that will keep readers engaged and help them look critically at some of our entrenched systems.” -ALA Booklist

“The narrative's laser focus on organizing heroes and essential employees, and the power of unions and striking workers to enact change, results in powerful storytelling.” -Publishers Weekly

You need to work to live.

That's the truth for most people, and plenty of people in power have been abusing that truth for centuries.

Long before the first labor unions were formed, workers still knew what exploitation looked like. It looked like the enslavement of Black people. It looked like generations of children dying in dangerous jobs. It looked like wealthy people hiring private militaries to attack their employees.

But workers have always found a way to fight back. Lokono tribespeople resisted Columbus and his colonizers. Enslaved people led walkouts and rebellions. Textile workers demanded a wage that would let them have fun, not just survive. Miners died for the right to unionize. From 30,000 young seamstresses striking in the early 1900s to Uber drivers organizing for change today, people have learned we're stronger when we are united.

Shift Happens is a smart, funny, and engaging look at the history of the worker actions that brought us weekends, pay equality, desegregation, an end to child labor, and so much more.

27.99 In Stock
Shift Happens: The History of Labor in the United States

Shift Happens: The History of Labor in the United States

by J. Albert Mann

Narrated by Sandy Rustin

Unabridged — 9 hours, 20 minutes

Shift Happens: The History of Labor in the United States

Shift Happens: The History of Labor in the United States

by J. Albert Mann

Narrated by Sandy Rustin

Unabridged — 9 hours, 20 minutes

Audiobook (Digital)

$27.99
FREE With a B&N Audiobooks Subscription | Cancel Anytime
$0.00

Free with a B&N Audiobooks Subscription | Cancel Anytime

START FREE TRIAL

Already Subscribed? 

Sign in to Your BN.com Account


Listen on the free Barnes & Noble NOOK app


Related collections and offers

FREE

with a B&N Audiobooks Subscription

Or Pay $27.99

Overview

For readers of Stamped and An Indigenous Peoples' History of the United States for Young People, Albert J. Mann's Shift Happens: The History of Labor in the United States is an accessible and comprehensive YA history of the way the labor movement has shaped America and how it intersects with many of the major issues facing modern teens.

“Mann explores the often oppressive, abusive, and bloody history of labor conditions and the merciless rise of capitalism with wit, snark, and comprehensive context.... Riveting, enlightening, infuriating, and timely: compulsory reading.” -Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

""Its edgy title may attract attention, but it's the compelling narrative and enlightening content that will keep readers engaged from cover to cover."" -SLJ (starred review)

""In other hands, the snarky, conversational tone might feel like an adult's overreach, but Mann's simmering anger and clear passion for the working class will inspire readers just as much as the union leaders and organization efforts she covers."" -BCCB (starred review)

“Mann's introduction to the history of labor is full of sharp, galvanizing points that will keep readers engaged and help them look critically at some of our entrenched systems.” -ALA Booklist

“The narrative's laser focus on organizing heroes and essential employees, and the power of unions and striking workers to enact change, results in powerful storytelling.” -Publishers Weekly

You need to work to live.

That's the truth for most people, and plenty of people in power have been abusing that truth for centuries.

Long before the first labor unions were formed, workers still knew what exploitation looked like. It looked like the enslavement of Black people. It looked like generations of children dying in dangerous jobs. It looked like wealthy people hiring private militaries to attack their employees.

But workers have always found a way to fight back. Lokono tribespeople resisted Columbus and his colonizers. Enslaved people led walkouts and rebellions. Textile workers demanded a wage that would let them have fun, not just survive. Miners died for the right to unionize. From 30,000 young seamstresses striking in the early 1900s to Uber drivers organizing for change today, people have learned we're stronger when we are united.

Shift Happens is a smart, funny, and engaging look at the history of the worker actions that brought us weekends, pay equality, desegregation, an end to child labor, and so much more.


Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

“Mann’s introduction to the history of labor is full of sharp, galvanizing points that will keep readers engaged and help them look critically at some of our entrenched systems.”

- Booklist
“The narrative’s laser focus on organizing heroes and essential employees, and the power of unions and striking workers to enact change, results in powerful storytelling.”

- Publishers Weekly
The AI revolution is here—and Shift Happens is the book young readers absolutely need to understand how to fight back against the people who want to strip-mine their humanity for profit and call it progress.  - Martha Brockenbrough
“Mann explores the often oppressive, abusive, and bloody history of labor conditions and the merciless rise of capitalism with wit, snark, and comprehensive context.... Riveting, enlightening, infuriating, and timely: compulsory reading.”

- Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
"Its edgy title may attract attention, but it’s the compelling narrative and enlightening content that will keep readers engaged from cover to cover."  

- School Library Journal (starred review)
"In other hands, the snarky, conversational tone might feel like an adult’s overreach, but Mann’s simmering anger and clear passion for the working class will inspire readers just as much as the union leaders and organization efforts she covers." 

- Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books (starred review)

Kirkus Reviews

★ 2024-03-23
A chronicle of the area comprising the present-day U.S. beginning in 1492 and told through the history of the labor movement.

Starting with Christopher Columbus—who “fanboyed [Marco] Polo hard” and set out in search of Asia—and moving forward to the union strikes of 2023, Mann explores the often oppressive, abusive, and bloody history of labor conditions and the merciless rise of capitalism with wit, snark, and comprehensive context. Taking a linear approach and covering colonization, slavery, industrialization, two waves of Red Scares, economic depressions, and neoliberalism, the text shows how difficult the fight for workers’ rights has been and how capitalism has depended on oppression. Highlighting incidents that aren’t often taught in schools (such as the Thibodaux Massacre of 1887 in Louisiana and the 1914 Ludlow Massacre in Colorado), Mann explains how government agencies were often employed to restrain and even kill workers who were fighting for their rights and how narratives of union corruption have been utilized to breed distrust. Readers learn that white male workers benefited most often from any progress made in assuring better working conditions and pay. The short, engaging chapters keep the narrative moving along at a quick clip, and the conversational tone makes this a compelling reading that celebrates the ways unions have saved lives.

Riveting, enlightening, infuriating, and timely: compulsory reading. (source notes, bibliography, index) (Nonfiction. 13-18)

Product Details

BN ID: 2940160160832
Publisher: HarperCollins
Publication date: 06/04/2024
Edition description: Unabridged
From the B&N Reads Blog

Customer Reviews