Friday, January 4, 2008

Book Review on Bread and Roses, Too, by Katherine Paterson

I recently (December) had the task of reading a book for English, and having to write an online book review for it, with a recommendation included. I read the book "Bread and Roses, Too" by Katherine Paterson. I really liked it. Since I have nothing to post otherwise, this will be it. I warned you that I might post boring book reviews! :-) Below is my review and my recommendation.


Katherine Paterson’s “Bread and Roses, Too” is a historical fiction book that takes place during an infamous strike during the year 1912, in Lawrence, Massachusetts. The main character, Rosa Serutti, is a young Italian girl who lives with her mother, older sister, Anna and younger brother, Ricci, in a cramped apartment, that is barely heated, and that they have to share with other people as well. Rosa’s mother and sister work in the one of the town’s factories, which is owned by a very wealthy man by the name of Billy Wood. Rosa’s father had died a few years before, which caused Rosa’s other family members to work in the mills. They make very little money, and they have hardly enough food to live. In the book, Mr. Wood suddenly lowers the amount of pay that the mill workers get, and this causes a strike. No one will work anymore. The strikers are even standing up to armed military boys, and Rosa is petrified to find that even her mother is striking. The author shows that Rosa is afraid for her mother and sister by writing:

She wanted to cry out a warning to Mamma, to Anna, to everyone. What are you doing here? They will kill you. You’re nothing to them! Nothing! But the screams were strangled in her tight throat.

In the midst of it, Rosa meets a boy named Jake Beale, who also worked in the mills to earn money for his father and himself. As he also striker, he chooses to live in the streets to avoid his cruel father, and he goes to drastic measures to survive. When Rosa is sent to Vermont to stay with another family away from the strike, Jake sneaks on the train and begs to go with her. She agrees, but half-heartedly, for she fears that the boy holds a terrible secret. The author does a great job with this book by leaving the reader at an edge, waiting to see what will happen, and makes you curious to hear more about this awful time in American history. This book is wonderful, and it captures you and keeps you reading it up to the end.

Recommendation:

I would most definitely recommend this book because I enjoy history and a little bit of adventure, or struggle, and this book really gives the reader adventure. The way the characters have to live fascinates me, and it I find it interesting to see how the world once was. It also makes me thankful for the good life that I live. Though the book is kind of gruesome at parts, it really engages you and makes you feel like you are really living through Rosa’s life. I just couldn’t put this book down. It came with me everywhere! This book is different in from other books partly because of where and when it takes place. I’m sure not many people know about the time in American when the strike happened, and because of that it makes the reader eager to read the book because they are curious. It does include some unpleasant content, and one bad word every now and then, so I think I would recommend this book for readers twelve years old and up. I think people who enjoy a little adventure, realistic fiction, and historical fiction will, without a doubt, enjoy this book. I certainly did!

6 comments:

Wanda said...

Oh Melissa: I absolutely loved to read at your age, and loved to do book reports. You have done an excellent job. I want to check that book out at the Library after hearing you version.

You must be a very good student!!
I'll bet you get an A on that report!!
Good Job! :)

Gudl said...

That sounds like a great book. you really did write a good review, Meliss'.
It is fun to see Wanda on your blogs now! She is such a nice blogger-lady!!
Well done.

Anonymous said...

Yes, Wanda is a nice blogger-lady!
I do enjoy reading, a lot, and although I thought this book review thing would be boring, it acctually wasn't! Thank you for commenting and reading! That's very nice of you.

Anika said...

I like it! It sounds like a good book!

worminator said...

fascinating

Anonymous said...

Well written article.