Living On Sisu: The 1913 Union Copper Strike Tragedy

by Deborah K. Frontiera

To twelve-year-old Emma Niemi, life may be hard, but it is basically good. She has finished sixth grade and is nearly a young lady. Her father pushes tram cars full of copper ore in a Calumet and Hecla Mine and has saved almost enough money to buy land for a farm.
In the summer of 1913, Emma's life, and the lives of everyone in the region, will be changed forever by a violent strike against the mining companies in Houghton and Keweenaw counties of Michigan's Upper Peninsula. A friend whose father is not on strike will be forbidden to talk to her. Another will die in the terrible Italian Hall tragedy on Christmas Eve. Only the character trait the Finnish people called sisu will help her and others in the region live through this terrible tragedy.

Genres: History

248 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2009

About the author

Deborah Frontiera, who grew up in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, has lived in Houston, TX since 1985, and taught in public schools until 2008. Eric and the Enchanted Leaf: The First Adventure was an Honor book for the Texas State Reading Association’s Golden Spur Award in 2005. The second in that series, Eric and the Enchanted Leaf: A Visit with Canis Lupis, won the North Texas Book Festival’s children’s book award in 2007. In 2010, her middle grade book, Living on Sisu: The 1913 Union Copper Strike Tragedy, won First Place for historical fiction in the Purple Dragonfly Awards. Poems and articles have appeared in a variety of publications. She teaches part time for Writers In The Schools in the greater Houston area. Her most recent book is, The Nature of Life, a collection of poems and photos. View all her books on her website at: www.authorsden.com/deborahkfrontiera

Reviews

[Carol Valchine · Rating 5 out of 5]

After taking a memory trip up to Kewanaw Peninsula in honor of my grandparents who were born and raised there and their Finnish heritage,I picked up this book Living in Sisu. Sisu means people who have grit and determination in life’s difficult times. I thoroughly enjoyed reading history of Finnish people working in the Copper Mines. I have gained an even greater appreciation of my Finnish roots. Very enjoyable and enlightening read.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I bought this to give to my almost-12-year-old granddaughter who was very interested in the Italian Hall disaster when we first took her to Calumet. Of course I had to read it too. :)
My mother grew up in Lake Linden; her family is all from there as well as Calumet and Laurium. I have visited at least 50 times and grew up fascinated with the area and its history. I know Calumet well enough to be able to picture the streets mentioned, and I appreciated the fact that Emma had a French-Canadian friend, as that is my ancestry.
My only complaint is with the proofreading, or lack thereof. At one point, as family is served "desert." "Ishpeming" is misspelled, and "Jaako" appears on one page as "Jakko." Publishing companies apparently no longer have budgets that allow proofreaders. I've volunteered to do it for free, but no one has taken me up on it yet. :)
This is a great book to introduce young readers to the historic events of this place and time. A few years after they read this, they will appreciate "Women of the Copper Country."

[Cynthia K · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am glad to see a book written for young adults based on a true, however tragic event. I read this book as an assignment for a children's literature class and will now pass it on to someone else.I thought the book as great and glad I came in contact with it. I do think it is important to point out , as the title states, it is a tragedy.

[Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you know me, you know I love anything upper peninsula of Michigan. The book is an easy read, more like a young reader type of book. I just loved it due to me knowing the locations, the history (history buff here), and the fact that my ancestors came from this exact region of the upper peninsula and worked in a copper mine shaft.

[Eric · Rating 3 out of 5]

I kept thinking this book is written in an amateurish, simplistic fashion. Then I would remember that the format is supposed to be that of a 12 year old keeping a journal during a historic period in the life of our country. The author does take pains to present the story in a balanced fashion, so it's a nice mix of mining history as well as life for the struggling lower economic and social classes of the period. Having read Joseph Heywood's "Red Jacket", which takes place in the same area at the same moment in history, I had been wondering about which of his characters were real and which were fiction. Turns out most of the central figures in his work of fiction were real and, according to this book, were presented pretty accurately. This is a quick, interesting read.

[Maria · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kudos to Deborah Frontiera for writing a young adult book about this Michigan tragedy. It is a great book to read no matter what your age--and I love it. Being a retired educator I see the value in sharing local history, duh, make that national history. She richly deserves awards for her insightful manner in relating the Christmas Eve deadly event. Woody Guthrie, on the other hand, has layed claim to the "1913 Massacre" in a musical bent, his tune may be memorable, but not all of his lyrics are accurate.

[J.D. Holman · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent historical fiction about what happened in Calumet (Red Jacket) when the miners went on strike, including the Italian Hall tragedy of Christmas Eve, 1913. It is very well researched. I happily reviewed it at http://moonlit-librarian.blogspot.com...

[Kristiina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well written and very accurate. Glad someone wrote a young adult novel based on an important historic event in the Keweenaw's History.

[David Gregorich · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of my all time favorite books. I love it's historical value and how Deborah Frontera puts everything together. You can see things from the characters perspectives easily.