Brave Girl: Clara and the Shirtwaist Makers' Strike of 1909

Description

When Clara Lemlich arrived in America, she couldn't speak English. She didn't know that young women had to go to work, that they traded an education for long hours of labor, that she was expected to grow up fast. But that did not stop Clara. She went to night school, spent hours studying English, and helped support her family by sewing in a factory. Clara never quit. And she never accepted that girls should be treated poorly and paid little. So Clara fought back. Fed up with the mistreatment of her fellow laborers, Clara led the largest walkout of women workers in the country's history. Clara had learned a lot from her short time in America. She learned that everyone deserved a fair chance. That you had to stand together and fight for what you wanted. And, most importantly, that you could do anything you put your mind to.

Michelle Markel loves writing narrative nonfiction. She's the author of Brave Girl, which won the Bank Street Flora Stieglitz Straus Award and the Jane Addams Children's Book Award for Younger Children, and was also chosen as an NCTE Orbis Pictus Honor Book. Her recent titles are Hillary Rodham Clinton: Some Girls Are Born to Lead (on the Amelia Bloomer Project List of feminist literature) and Balderdash!: John Newbery and the Boisterous Birth of Children's Books. She lives in Woodland Hills, California. You can visit her online at www.michellemarkel.com. Melissa Sweet is one of Australia's most respected specialist health journalists, and has been covering health and medical issues for over 15 years. She is a columnist and feature writer with The Bulletin and Australian Doctor magazines. She has also published widely in medical literature, with articles appearing in the British Medical Journal, The Medical Journal of Australia, and Australian Prescriber. Previously, Sweet has worked for the Sydney Morning Herald and Australian Associated Press. This is her third book.

"The zingy images masterfully (and appropriately) incorporate fabric and stitches as well as old images of checks and time cards ... This book has fighting spirit in spades-you go, Clara!" -- Booklist (starred review) "Readers are treated to solid information with a buoyant message about standing up for what is right. Sweet has created an outstanding backdrop for Markel's text with a vibrant collage of watercolor, gouache, blank dress-pattern paper, bookkeeping pages, stitches, and fabric pieces." -- School Library Journal (starred review) "Sweet incorporates images of assorted fabrics and stitch patterns into her tender illustrations, brightening the lives of workers whose reality was bleak." -- Publishers Weekly (starred review) "In her simple but powerful text Markel shows how multiple arrests, serious physical attacks, and endless misogyny failed to deter this remarkable woman as she set off on her lifelong path as a union activist." -- The Horn Book "Markel ably brings to life the plight of immigrant garment workers and Clara's courageous advocacy." -- Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books