4/5 stars
Tundra Books, 2013
197 pages
MG Historical
Source: Received an e-ARC via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
I'm a huge historical fiction fan so I always try to stay aware of the newest books for young readers especially when they're in an atypical time period. We've seen a lot of the Edwardian age and the 1920s lately, especially seeing some glamour from the period but a lot less about the darker side like the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire that anchors this book.
The book opens in Kiev 1905 and follows a Jewish family escaping a pogrom by moving to Berlin where they plan to save up to eventually reach America. This occurs in 1910 when daughter Miriam arrives and quickly gains employment at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory where the infamous fire occurs.
Honestly I thought a lot more of this book would focus on the fire but the majority of it is on their life in Europe, facing prejudices, looking forward to a freer life in America. It covers all the work they do to save up enough money and the rumors they sift through about what life might be like once they arrive. I thought some elements definitely seemed sugarcoated or simplified for its target audience. As a sometimes cynical reader, I was consistently surprised by how nice everyone was. I kept thinking maybe someone would try to rob Miriam or physically threaten her and while such occurrences are referenced, she is mostly safe as she can be.
The ending was especially interesting. It is an epilogue jumping forward to 1933 Nazi Germany and looking at Miriam's nephew. I loved how it reinforced the themes of bigotry against Jewish people which has been so important throughout the book as well as following up on some foreshadowing from earlier in the book. At first I thought it was odd or that it was serving as set-up to a sort of sequel to this book but upon further reflection, I found it satisfactory.
While I found this book quite pleasant, it didn't have the emotional punch to the gut I would have liked to really connect with its contents. Everything just felt so young. I feel like this may be better suited for its target audience, which I would classify as middle-grade. It could serve as an introduction to the period, to antisemitism, to life for immigrants, to labor conditions, etc.
Other Opinions:
Flashlight Commentary
Ms. Yingling Reads
Glad it was interesting but sad that it didn't deliver on the emotional deep end
ReplyDeleteI expected to just cry and cry (especially because I was in an emotional place) and I just didn't.
DeleteI like reading historical fiction. I would read this one if it focused more on the fire (how it started, how it was put out, how people made it out or died...).
ReplyDeleteI did like how fires were incorporated throughout the history but since the publisher summary focused more on the factory fire, I wanted more of that aspect.
DeleteI think I would want a book like this to have more of an emotional punch, too. Well, who am I kidding, I always want books to have big emotional punches, hah.
ReplyDeleteSomewhat related....Have you read Sydney Taylor's All of A Kind Family, btw? They're fictionalized stories of the author's childhood growing up in a poor Jewish neighborhood in the early 1900s. They're just everyday stories about growing up, but I love them SO much. You learn a great deal about Jewish customs and culture, and the stories are just very authentic and sweet.
Wendy @ The Midnight Garden
YES-I love All of a Kind Family (I remember the cleaning game with the buttons so vividly!) I read and reread that as a kid and it might be fun to pick it up now just to reminisce.
DeleteI love that you review books like this. I love HF but it's always so hard to know which ones to try. This one definitely sounds good, but the lack of emotional punch makes me think that I might skip it. But if it fell into my lap I'd definitely give it a try. Actually if it works well for middle grade it might be one that I could read aloud to my kids in a couple years and would make for some great discussions. I think I'll keep it in mind for that.
ReplyDeleteI would love to know what your kids think of it if you do decide to try it out. I feel that as an adult reader, it was not substantial enough for me since I do know quite a bit about these time periods.
DeleteConsidering the topics, I would have expected it to be much more emotionally draining. It is an interesting time period, but I think I'd also want something grittier.
ReplyDeleteI wanted something grittier (great word choice!) too-it was just too young.
DeleteI do want to read more historical fiction, but I think I'm better suited for the YA/adult books under the genre. Some MG probably does very well with the topics, but I just think a lot of it would like this one...just too young and not "harsh" enough, if that makes sense.
ReplyDeleteI think I tend to prefer MG fantasy and contemp to historical-I like the freedom to go to darker places since our history is filled with such stories.
DeleteHmm. I really like historical fiction as a genre, but I tend to be pretty cynical too-- and when people are overly nice I'm all like, well, WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME. So I don't know how I would take all the nice people, but this sounds like a really good read overall. Awesome review, girly!
ReplyDeleteI'm the same way with nice people though I wish I wasn't so skeptical sometimes-I don't want to be too much of a cynic.
DeleteI love historical fiction, but based on the title and the cover I'm really surprised that it doesn't have that much to do with the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire. And the fact that it spans almost 30 years worries me a little. I'm wondering if the concept is just too ambitious for 200 pages…
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for stopping by! Jen @ YA Romantics
As I reflect more on it, I feel like the book is more about fire touching the lives of Jewish people throughout history but the publisher synopsis made it sound more like the factory fire so therein lies my confusion.
DeleteI wouldn't mind reading about the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire but as an avid historical fiction reader MG might not have enough 'guts' for me if you know what I mean.
ReplyDeleteI've read some other books about this fire and found them much more engaging for an adult reader-you'd probably be better off searching out one of those.
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