The Factory Girls: A Kaleidoscopic Account of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire

by Christine Seifert

Overview

The twentieth century ushered in a new world filled with a dazzling array of consumer goods. Even the poorest immigrant girls could afford a blouse or two. But these same immigrant teens toiled away in factories in appalling working conditions. Their hard work and sacrifice lined the pockets of greedy factory owners who were almost exclusively white men. The tragic Triangle Waist Factory fire in 1911 resulted in the deaths of over a hundred young people, mostly immigrant girls, who were locked in the factory.

Told from the perspective of six young women who lived the story, this book reminds us why what we buy and how we vote really matter.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781541579620
Publisher:	Lerner Publishing Group
Publication date:	08/01/2019
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	204
Sales rank:	985,232
File size:	9 MB
Age Range:	14 - 18 Years

About the Author

Christine Seifert is a native North Dakotan, a professor at Westminster College in Salt Lake City, Utah, and a young adult writer. She is the author of the YA novel The Predicteds, as well as the nonfiction books Whoppers: History's Most Outrageous Lies and Liars and The Endless Wait: Virginity in Young Adult Literature. She writes for Bitch Magazine and other publications, and has presented at academic conferences on such diverse topics as as writing, rhetoric, Twilight, and Jersey Shore.

Editorial Reviews

2017-04-01
The tragedy known as the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire marked a turning point in the development of the labor movement in the United States.Because many of the victims were just teenagers, the fire that killed 146 young workers has the potential to hold great interest for young readers. This effort focuses primarily on the Gilded Age's economic expansion and decadence, immigration, and the labor movement that emerged to protect workers from the extreme exploitation that arose during the era. Although it includes the stories of several young workers who either survived or were victims of the fire, just three chapters describe the conflagration and its aftermath. Readers seeking a book that focuses on it should look elsewhere. The tone is often casual, often characterized by comments such as "Mechanized factory work paid squat" and describing horse manure accumulating in "big poop piles." ("Poop" occurs frequently.) The book is marred by both poor research and poor writing. Booker T. Washington is incorrectly identified as founder of the NAACP, and noted photographer Lewis Hine (who spent years documenting child workers) is introduced thus: "a reporter by the name of Lewis Hine reported a story of kids who worked on farms." There are few photographs. Sophisticated readers interested in the fire would do better to read David Von Drehle's book for adults Triangle: The Fire That Changed America (2003). Neither fully accurate nor especially engaging. (Nonfiction. 12-18)

Kirkus Reviews