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Haddix, Margaret Peterson. 2007.

Tell me about the fire.

I honestly don't know what took me so long to get around to this one. Okay, that's a half-truth. It got put on the bottom in a box that got put on the bottom in a pile of boxes. That happens more frequently than I'd like. But they can't all be on the top on the top. The only reason you're seeing a review of this one at all is that I finally went to the library and checked it out.

Uprising is very straightforward. It makes no apologies for being what it is: a heartbreaking story of an all-too-true tragedy, the fire at the Triangle Shirtwaist Company. In the first chapter, we meet two survivors--a Mrs. Livingston--and a young woman named Harriet. Harriet had been just a girl--five to be exact--when the fire occurred. (And her presence at the factory that day was circumstantial--just happened to be there visiting her father, the owner of the company.) Now as a grown-up, or an almost grown up on any account, Harriet is on a quest to discover the truth about the past, her past, her father's past, his role in the tragedy.

It is a book that addresses many "issues"--women's rights--the suffrage movement included; the plight of the immigrant--the prejudices and discrimination not to mention the language barriers and the poverty; workers' rights--the need for unions to protect the rights of the employees from greedy and corrupt employers. The truth isn't pretty. To be an immigrant. To be a factory worker. To be living in the tenements. Not pretty at all. It was harsh and ugly and all-too-real for the characters we meet.

Our story is narrated by three girls--two of whom will meet an untimely end; we just don't know which two. Bella. Yetta. Jane.

"We did not know one another for long," Mrs. Livingston says. "We had so little time." This is both a lament and an accusation. After all these years, she still wants the story to end differently. Three girls meet, become friends, struggle, find happiness, and have their lives go on and on and on until they are three old ladies in rocking chairs. It just didn't happen that way. Mrs. Livingston stares off into the distance, off into the past, off into a time when she didn't know the fire was coming. "The story begins like so much else," she says slowly. "With hope. Hope and dreams and daring..." (4-5)

Each of the girls make for a compelling narrator--particularly Yetta and Bella. Bella is an Italian immigrant. Yetta is a Jewish immigrant--I am almost certain she's from Russia. When Bella first arrives in New York, she mistakenly learns Yiddish thinking that she's learning English. It takes some convincing too for her to realize her mistake! Two girls, two different natural languages, yet they share so much in common. Jane? Well, she's a rich society girl. How does Jane become mixed in with a bunch of poor immigrants who can barely speak English? I'll let you discover for yourself!

Richly detailed, this is a novel with haunting power. It is so good.

Other reviews: Abby, A Year of Reading, A Patchwork of Books and Sara's Holds Shelf, The Reading Zone, Teenreads.com,

© Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

Lundebrek, Amy. 2008. Under the Night Sky. Illustrated by Anna Rich. Tilbury House Publishers.

Under the Night Sky is a picture book story of a single working mom and her son taking time to be spontaneous and enjoy the wonder and spectacular beauty of the natural world around them. In this case, it is the northern lights--the aurora borealis--that they are enjoying together side by side. It is moments like these that make special memories, a life worth living. The illustrations by Anna Rich are nice. I love the colors and tones. They complement the text well. As to the text, I enjoyed it as well. The story was a good one--a mother and son seeing each other and the world in a new way, sharing these unplanned moments together.

© Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

Taylor, Brooke. 2008. Undone.

Undone is a story of friendship and grief. Kori and Serena are best friends. Though when they first met they appeared to come from very different worlds. Now, after several years of close friendship, the girls are inseparable. In fact, the girls are becoming more difficult to tell apart. Serena, our narrator, could never imagine a day could come where she'd be separated from Kori. But Kori's tragic death hits Serena hard. Serena decides one way for her to deal, to cope with her friend's death is to complete her friend's list. A list which started as a school assignment--to list five things they would never dream could really happen--takes on a whole new meaning. What's on Kori's list? 1. Sing with Bleeder Valve. 2. Get a tattoo. 3. Work things out with Shay. 4. Confront D. 5. Tell Serena. The list doesn't make a whole lot of sense to Serena--there are mysteries to be solved, secrets to be discovered. Serena is not alone--although she may feel it at times. There are a few people--two guys especially--who become rather important to Serena on her journey. Then, of course, there is the friction between Serena and her mother, Destiny.

First sentence: There they were--the worst words in all of the English language, scribbled in my mother's perky handwriting. "Let's Talk." I snatched the Post-it off the refrigerator door and glared at it. It didn't matter who said them--parent, teacher, or police officer--nothing good ever came of those words. (5)

Undone is well written. And it's a good book--a very good book even. A fact which is neither here nor there is that this one is set in Colorado. I seem to have stumbled across a few books this year set in Colorado--just something odd that I've noticed with this years reading.

© Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews