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Summary
Summary
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.
Reviews (5)
Publisher's Weekly Review
When immigrant Clara Lemlich arrived in New York City, she was "dirt poor, just five feet tall, and hardly [spoke] a word of English," but she wasn't short on tenacity and determination. After becoming employed as a garment worker and witnessing firsthand the deplorable factory conditions, she began to organize her fellow workers. Markel doesn't sugarcoat the obstacles and injuries Lemlich faced as she went on to lead the "largest walkout of women workers in U.S. history." Sweet incorporates images of assorted fabrics and stitch patterns into her tender illustrations, brightening the lives of workers whose reality was bleak. Author's agent: Anna Olswanger, Liza Dawson Associates. Ages 4-8. (Feb.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Horn Book Review
The plight of early-twentieth-century female garment workers is brought to life in this biography of labor leader Clara Lemlich. To escape persecution in their native Ukraine, the Jewish Lemlichs immigrated to New York City, where young Clara quickly found work in a shirtwaist factory. Outraged by the dangerous and unfair working conditions, Clara successfully instigated a citywide strike. 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. Clara's story is accentuated by Sweet's vivid illustrations, many of which are presented on fabric scraps or torn paper with borders of machine stitching. Particularly riveting is a bird's-eye view of a factory floor filled with hundreds of workers set opposite a series of spot illustrations highlighting some of the dreadful conditions the women endured (including being locked in during the day -- the cause of the horrific Triangle shirtwaist factory fire deaths). For those wanting to know more, an author's note and source notes follow the story. monica edinger (c) Copyright 2013. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Booklist Review
*Starred Review* In the winter of 1909, a brave girl named Clara Lemlich, only five feet tall, picketed for workers' rights. She arrived in America along with hundreds of other immigrants from eastern Europe, hardly speaking any English. But instead of her father being hired, it's Clara the factories want, and off she goes to make women's clothing in a garment factory from dawn till dusk. The conditions are appalling: If you prick your finger and bleed on the cloth, you're fined. If it happens a second time, you're fired, and more. While the men at the factory don't think girls are strong enough to strike, Clara proves them wrong, eventually leading the largest walkout of women workers in U.S. history. Markel's informative text buzzes with details of the oppressive conditions and neatly plays up Clara's can-do spirit, but she perhaps tries to cover too much territory, and as a result, omits some crucial explanations (e.g., why can't Clara's father get hired?). However, Robert F. Sibert Medalist Sweet (Balloons over Broadway, 2011) creates punchy, vibrant collages that make up for any shortcomings. The zingy images masterfully (and appropriately) incorporate fabric and stitches as well as old images of checks and time cards. One particularly moving picture is seen from above as row upon row of workers toil away. A detailed note about the garment industry and a selected bibliography conclude. This book has fighting spirit in spades you go, Clara!--Kelley, Ann Copyright 2010 Booklist
School Library Journal Review
K-Gr 3-This picture-book biography of Clara Lemlich, a spitfire who fought hard for better working conditions, is an engaging, informative introduction to her activism as well as to the deplorable state of the U.S. garment industry in the early 1900s. Ukrainian-born Lemlich came to the United States with her parents to escape the Kishinev pogrom of 1903, only to be thrust into another appalling nightmare: the American shirtwaist factories. She began on a small scale to encourage her coworkers to strike, but at a union meeting, when even men wouldn't call for a walkout, she rose and shouted to the large gathering that the time for a strike was now, inspiring tens of thousands of women to leave their stations in the factories. Markel's style is clean and clear, making Lemlich's story accessible to a young audience. 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. This spirited account concludes with additional material on the garment industry and a solid bibliography. A first purchase.-Alyson Low, Fayetteville Public Library, AR (c) Copyright 2013. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
A sparkling picture-book biography of the dauntless organizer of the titular strike. Immigrant Clara Lemlich was tiny and spoke little English, but she not only worked to support her family in a factory that made women's clothing, but read and studied at night. When the male workers talked about a strike to protest their fearsome working conditions, they thought the girls weren't strong enough to join them. But it was Clara who finally--in Yiddish--called for a general strike. She was arrested 17 times and beaten, but the strike won the right to unionize for workers in many factories (but not the Triangle Waist Factory, whose gruesome fire claimed 146 lives in 1911). Markel's text is well-supported by Sweet's watercolor, gouache and mixed-media images, some clearly based on archival photographs. What catches the heart are the bits of stitching on cloth ribbons that outline or accent some of the pages and the sweet, determined faces of these girls. They were girls indeed, some as young as 12, most in their teens and early 20s. A bibliography of primary and secondary sources and a note about the garment industry fills in some more background, including Clara's further work in the labor movement, and the fact that 70 percent of the workers were between 16 and 25 and that most were Eastern European Jews and Italians. Very fine indeed. (Picture book/biography. 5-9)]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
