Bread and Roses, Too

By: Katherine Paterson

Narrated by: Lorna Raver

Rosa's mother is singing again, for the first time since Papa died in an accident in the mills. But instead of filling their cramped tenement apartment with Italian lullabies, Mamma is out on the streets singing union songs, and Rosa is terrified that her mother and older sister, Anna, are endangering their lives by marching against the corrupt mill owners. After all, didn't Miss Finch tell the class that the strikers are nothing but rabble-rousers; an uneducated, violent mob? Suppose Mamma and Anna are jailed or, worse, killed? What will happen to Rosa and little Ricci?

When Rosa is sent to Vermont with other children to live with strangers until the strike is over, she fears she will never see her family again. Then, on the train, a boy begs her to pretend that he is her brother. Alone and far from home, she agrees to protect him, even though she suspects that he is hiding some terrible secret.

From a beloved, award-winning author, here is a moving story based on real events surrounding an infamous 1912 strike.

©2006 Minna Murra, Inc (P)2006 Random House, Inc. Listening Library, an imprint of the Random House Audio Publishing Group

Critic reviews

"Stirring and dramatic." (Booklist)
"Paterson has skillfully...created vivid settings, clearly drawn characters, and a strong sense of...hardship and injustice." (School Library Journal Starred)

Moving

I listened to the end of the book on the way to church this morning. It was difficult to go into the service, and I couldn't wait to return to the car. By the time I was back home, the story had ended, but I didn't move from the car. The story characters had a grip on me, and the outcome of their painful situations moved me deeply. This book was a little difficult to get into at the beginning, but oh, the character and setting development Ms. Patterson spends time weaving contributes to the huge impact of the overall story.