1910. Pownal, Vermont. At 12, Grace and her best friend Arthur must leave school and go to work as a “doffers” on their mothers’ ...
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Mar 09, 2008
Kay
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An outstanding book that I picked up in the children's section of my local library. The haunting photo on the book jacket drew my attention, and I just had to read the story.
It turns out that the photograph is rather famous; it was taken by Edward Hines and still resides in a museum. He had taken pictures of immigrants arriving at Ellis Island, and became curious about what happened to them after arriving in the U.S. He "followed" them to the towns they settled in and di More...
It turns out that the photograph is rather famous; it was taken by Edward Hines and still resides in a museum. He had taken pictures of immigrants arriving at Ellis Island, and became curious about what happened to them after arriving in the U.S. He "followed" them to the towns they settled in and di More...
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Aug 07, 2008
Karin
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As a kid, I loved historical novels and I would easily read a book in a day if it was about "the old days!" Counting on Grace is one of those books -- I couldn't put it down. Grace is a child living in Vermont in the early 1900's. She leaves school at the "old" age of 14 to work in the mills in order to help her family. Money is very tight and every member of the family is needed to make ends meet. The story takes you into the mills and very quickly you realize how hard it wa
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Aug 10, 2011
Ann
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It is 1910 and twelve year old Grace knows she soon must join her mother, father and older sister who work in the textile mill in Pownal, Vermont. But Grace is smart and one of the "best readers" in her class so she hates the idea of having to leave school. But when her father becomes ill, Grace must leave school and begin to help support her family. Grace's friend, Arthur, is also forced to start work in the mill after his father's death. Grace is resigned to her fate but Arthur t
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Nov 02, 2010
N_maheenayub
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Aug 29, 2009
Phair
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This was wonderful! I live near a city with a big French Canadian/textile mill history -there is also a Museum of Work and Culture which celebrates that heritage- and despite the fact that this book was set in Vermont it could as easily have taken place in Woonsocket RI. The audio's reader, Lili Gamache managed to sound like a child without being cutesy and her French Canadian accents were spot-on. This would be a great curriculum read for any child studying our not always shining industrial h
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Mar 04, 2009
Sam
rated it: 
I picked this book up from the children's book section of the Bookmobile. The picture on the cover is what caught my attenion. After reading the book it was noted that the picture was taken by the famous photographer, Lewis Hine, and is displayed in a musuem as part of an exhibit of child labor photographs.
This book is a historical fiction that occurred in the early 1900's and is written in the first person. The book is about a young girl, about 9 years old, that worked in the tex More...
This book is a historical fiction that occurred in the early 1900's and is written in the first person. The book is about a young girl, about 9 years old, that worked in the tex More...
Sep 21, 2010
Ann
rated it:
I just re-read this book which I purchased from the author several years ago at a genealogy conference in Massachusetts. Her presentation was about how she was inspired by the photo of the little mill worker girl pictured on the cover, to write the book. After she wrote the story she felt impressed to find out who the girl really was. That story is just as good at the fictional story and is included in the back of this edition.
The reason this book interested me is that I have a great More...
The reason this book interested me is that I have a great More...
Feb 25, 2009
Nomi
rated it:
A wonderfully researched and extremely moving and vivid (fictionalized) account of life in the Vermont textile mills in the early 1900s. This book also provided a pleasantly surprising homage to documentary photographer Lewis Hine and his work. Grace is a dazzling and resilient narrator, trying to survive the poverty in her French-Canadian village and family while still clinging to a future when she will be liberated from mill work. She is caught between trying to do right by her family and cont
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Apr 29, 2010
Belinda
rated it:
I was drawn to this story because I practice labor law. This is the story of child labor in the early 1900’s in Vermont. The families work in a textile mill and live in mill housing and shop at mill stores. The children are pulled from school and sent to work in the mill, no later than twelve, even though they cannot get valid work permits until they are fourteen. This happens because every available body is necessary to keep the mills running and the parent caught up on their debts to the m
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Jun 10, 2009
Arthur
rated it:
I read this book because I had read about Lewis Hines' project photographing child laborers and was intrigued by what I found out about "the real" Grace, whose name was Addie Card.
North Pownal, Vermont, where the story takes place is only a stone throw from where I live and my wife's grandfather, who was also a French Canadian, actually worked in that mill around the same time Grace/Addie would have been working there. His family also lived on French Hill, as did Grace and her More...
North Pownal, Vermont, where the story takes place is only a stone throw from where I live and my wife's grandfather, who was also a French Canadian, actually worked in that mill around the same time Grace/Addie would have been working there. His family also lived on French Hill, as did Grace and her More...
Jul 04, 2009
Megan
rated it:
Grace is a 12-year-old living in a mill town in the early 1900s. She has accepted the fact that she will work in the mill just like her parents and older sister. A persistent teacher and a children's right's activist eventually change her mind. Elizabeth Winthrop made Grace's decision so gradually and naturally that it felt very real. You inwardly cheer each time Grace makes a realization that she deserves better than the mill can offer, yet you understand her reluctance to betray her family
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Dec 06, 2010
Sammy
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this book is about a 11 year old girl who wants to work in the mill but her teacher wants her to learn so she does not listen to her teacher she starts the mill workl. i would feel bad for her becouse she has to work labor becouse she picked it but after a while she does not want to work at the mill becouse its to hard and wants to learn. but her parents still need the money. so her friend arthur starts the mill work with her and cuts his finger on purpes becouse he hates the mill and is very un
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Feb 06, 2010
Tisnue
rated it:
A story about the friendship beetween 12 year olds albert and Grace. Albert and Grace are twelve when they get out of school and join the mill Grace was extied but she was not good bobbin threading cause the machine is way to fast. Albert never liked the mill he would rather be in school and wodering of in a lesson then having all the stress at the mill even though you get two dollars a week helps him and his mom at home he does what he think is right and shereeds his right arm in the machine an
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Oct 25, 2011
Leslie
rated it:
This is the story of a 12 year old girl, Grace, told from her point-of-view as she grows up working in a mill town and how she begins to work there at a young age. It's sad but many of the things that happened to this fictional character are based on true-life events the author, Elizabeth Winthrop, learned about while researching this book. I am now interested in getting a book about the life of Lewis Hine, Kids at Work: Lewis Hine and the Crusade Against Child Labor to learn more about the phot
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Jan 23, 2008
Nitrorockets
rated it:
Everyone says that nobody can count on Grace. Her feet move too much and her brain is always thinking about something else, but it’s not true, and she’s going to prove them wrong. When 12 year old Grace is kicked out of school her family is pleased. That means one more person to work at the mill in turn will mean more food to eat and maybe even a pair of shoes for her. At first Grace is glad to be a doffer for her mother at the mill. Her memories of playing in the factory during the summers are
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Dec 17, 2010
Sandy
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This is a really good YA story about a young girl & her family working at a Vermont Textile mill. As I live surrounded by the skeletons of these old factories - Holyoke, Pittsfield, Brattleboro, N. Pownal, Lowell, Fitchburg - the list goes on - covering so many other towns in the region, I find it really insightful to read this realistic story of a vibrant little girl who wants something more.... Winthrop has based her story on a photograph by Lewis Hine, who photographed extensively in the earl
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May 23, 2010
Shannon
rated it:
I'm always a little skeptical of historical fiction's accuracy. This story interests me, especially because my great-grandparents were French-Canadian immigrants to upstate New York, very close to the geographical setting of this story. I didn't know much about daily millwork in the early 1900s and learned quite a bit about that. Unfortunately, the reader's accent seems very different from the French-speaking immigrants with whom I'm weekly in contact so I found that a bit distracting. An in
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Aug 09, 2011
Liz
rated it:
It was slow reading at first - but I put the blame on this being a children's book.
This is the true story of famous photographer Lewis Hine's battle against child labor in 1910. He wanted proof that American children were working seventy-two hours a week in dangerous conditions for a salary of $2.50.
Even though his partner in crime, Grace, is a fictional character, her story was woven from the girl in Hine's picture on the cover, Addie Card.
This is the true story of famous photographer Lewis Hine's battle against child labor in 1910. He wanted proof that American children were working seventy-two hours a week in dangerous conditions for a salary of $2.50.
Even though his partner in crime, Grace, is a fictional character, her story was woven from the girl in Hine's picture on the cover, Addie Card.
Jul 05, 2011
Zack
rated it:
Enjoyable historical fiction about life in a New England spinning mill in the early 1900s. I started reading this book because I couldn't find the one I was really looking for, but this one was actually pretty good.
(Incidentally, I was describing the book I was trying to find to the Children's Librarian at the local library. I told her that it was a book about kids working in a cotton mill, and she told me that there were quite a few young adult novels that matched that definition. T More...
(Incidentally, I was describing the book I was trying to find to the Children's Librarian at the local library. I told her that it was a book about kids working in a cotton mill, and she told me that there were quite a few young adult novels that matched that definition. T More...
Jul 10, 2010
Amy
rated it:
I was drawn to this book because redemption comes in the form of a photographer. I would have loved to document some of these scenes, but after reading about the process of cameras of the time...I'm not so sure.
This was basically about the cotton mills of the great depression. Child labor (and injury) abounds. Most children are forced to drop out of school around the age of 12 to help their parents earn money in the mills. Of course not every child embraces this dynamic (althou More...
This was basically about the cotton mills of the great depression. Child labor (and injury) abounds. Most children are forced to drop out of school around the age of 12 to help their parents earn money in the mills. Of course not every child embraces this dynamic (althou More...
Feb 12, 2009
Cori
rated it:
This was kind of heartbreaking, but good. It's about child labor mills. The author came across a picture of a little girl working in a mill somewhere and from that was fascinated with the whole idea. She did research on the photographer and built this book from that. Kind of cool huh? I was fascinated too.
Jan 14, 2009
Emily
rated it:
I thought this one was a little slow to begin with but half way through I couldn't get enough of it. It was like being whisked away onto French Hill in Vermont 100 years ago, wondering what would happen to the main characters, Grace and Arthur.
The historical details of the characters were so accurate
The historical details of the characters were so accurate
Aug 03, 2011
Michelle
rated it:
From the moment I started this book I was in the middle of daily life with this little girl. Very interesting read about a young girl who works in a spinning/weaving mill at the turn of the century. Gives the reader insight to the attitudes toward child labor in the early part of the 20th century.
Dec 27, 2011
Ms. LaPorte
rated it:
Listened to audio.
The amazing part of this story is the story behind writing the story. If I recall correctly, it orginiated by a historical print found somewhere. The story includes some fact about the photographer.
The story is about children working in the Pownal, Vermont mills 1910.
The amazing part of this story is the story behind writing the story. If I recall correctly, it orginiated by a historical print found somewhere. The story includes some fact about the photographer.
The story is about children working in the Pownal, Vermont mills 1910.
May 05, 2010
Yoonmee
rated it:
Five stars because I really enjoyed this book. Other people have written about its good points, so I won't add too much to the chorus, but I wanted to say I really appreciated the additional information at the end of the book where the author gives the reader background on the photograph of which she based her story and on the photographer who took the picture. Thank you for including that information, Elizabeth Winthrop!
Jun 13, 2009
Tom
rated it:
This is a fascinating YA book portraying the life of a young girl and her transition from a schoolgirl to working as a "doffer" in a textile mill. This book is set in the early twentieth century, and is another look at the hard life we adults make for our children, all too often.
Jun 01, 2009
Heidi
rated it:
I very much enjoyed this book. I felt very involved with the characters, and I was interested in what was occurring in their lives. The story is honest and even brutal at times, but the realism of it is what I loved. How else would I have yet again learned more about something I was only vaguely aware of before? I was disappointed that the book ended, yet I was very happy with the ending and how it was open for me to think of thw possibilities of the characters' futures.
Oct 15, 2008
Prairie
rated it:
This is the story of a young girl who lives in Vermont. Her family is quite poor and works very hard in a mill. Grace is eager to go to work in the mill as she does not think herself a very good student. And her family needs the money quite badly. Her family immigrated from Canada in search of a job when farming proved to be too unreliable. The idea of child labor and working conditions for children and adults during the industrial revolution is very interesting. Grace has much to learn ab
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Jan 22, 2012
Robin
rated it: 
Too harsh and sad for the kiddo. She refused to continue reading it. Knowing it was based in historical fact made her like it less.
I finished it. Grace is a great character, a girl who pushes on against incredible odds. But this book is hard to place. It has graphic description of an injury, and squashed [mean] grown-ups, ruling it out for younger elementary kids, the French and mill-related vocabulary are never defined anywhere in the text, nor is there a glossary. This rule More...
I finished it. Grace is a great character, a girl who pushes on against incredible odds. But this book is hard to place. It has graphic description of an injury, and squashed [mean] grown-ups, ruling it out for younger elementary kids, the French and mill-related vocabulary are never defined anywhere in the text, nor is there a glossary. This rule More...
Mar 02, 2009
Matthew
rated it:
YES for our library.
Students who *love* reading historical fiction will be pulled right into this book. It's got a great hook and, being set in the Depression era, will intrigue readers with its realistic look at child labor laws and child employment in a thread factory.
Unfortunately, I think that many students will be lost in the vocabulary of the factory work. It may be difficult to picture what work the children were doing and where a nonfiction title may include histo More...
Students who *love* reading historical fiction will be pulled right into this book. It's got a great hook and, being set in the Depression era, will intrigue readers with its realistic look at child labor laws and child employment in a thread factory.
Unfortunately, I think that many students will be lost in the vocabulary of the factory work. It may be difficult to picture what work the children were doing and where a nonfiction title may include histo More...
