The Bobbin Girls

The Bobbin Girl Hardcover – May 1, Emily Arnold McCully (Author, Illustrator) Ten-year-old Rebecca supplements her family's meager income by toiling as a "bobbin girl" in s New England.
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Thanks for telling us about the problem. Return to Book Page. The Bobbin Girls 4. Alena wants nothing more than to spend the rest of her life with her childhood friend, Rob. However, Rob's wealthy father tries to force them apart and they run away together. When they are discovered life becomes even harder—Rob is sent away to school and Alena has to start work in a bobbin mill.

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The Bobbin Girls

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Dec 10, Meg rated it liked it. Not a bad book. It is a good story and based around here in Cumbria where I live so that was interesting.

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Not something I would read again but I enjoyed it! Read it with our Book Club at the Library. Sep 01, Chrissie rated it liked it. I felt it was a slow start and it took me a while to get into it but it improved as I went along. Megan Tooze rated it it was amazing May 13, Barry Lockett rated it really liked it Aug 10, Lorna Joyce rated it it was amazing Jun 15, A rated it really liked it Jun 06, Margaret Gracey rated it really liked it Jul 19, Eileen rated it it was amazing Feb 15, John Mellan rated it liked it Jan 20, Louisa Moore rated it it was amazing Feb 17, Carol Dennett rated it liked it Apr 03, Joyce matthews rated it really liked it Jul 11, This historical fiction is set in Lowell Massachusetts and depicts the struggles of young girls growing up in an industrial city designed to produce textiles.

It accurately depicts the conditions under which they toiled and lived out their lives. It shows their struggles against prevailing authority of the time, to get better working conditions using the power of their collective voice. The issue of Child Labor is also front and center as the main protagonist is only 10 years old. I found the illustrations to be very telling as well. I gave it to my 9 year old to read for his quiet time and he was immediately depressed. If there is a drawback, it is this: You will find the conditions under which these girls toiled and lived All in all it serves to illustrate the darker side of what it means to be an industrialized, successful capitalist nation.

6 Elements of Social Justice Ed.: The Bobbin Girl

If studying the American Industrial Revolution or Labor Movement, a good book to pair this with would be "Mother Jones and the March of the Mill Children" which is a historical photographic essay on this subject. It is not a long book and would make an excellent companion to give historical context.

The Bobbin Girl by Emily A. McCully is an empowering story about women working during the Industrial Period in Lowell, Massachusetts. Lowell was one of the first industrial cities used to produce cloth, and women were hired to work in the factories in deplorable conditions.

The Bobbin Girl

Factory owners hired women to work in the factories because it was one of the few places women could work; therefore, the owners got away with paying women much less than they would have paid men. In this story, Rebecca goes to work at the age of 10 to help her widow mother pay bills to run a company boardinghouse.

Surrounded by young, working women, Rebecca becomes empowered by the young women staying at the boardinghouse, especially Judith. After factor owners decide to cut the already low wages they are paying the women who work at the mill, Judith leads a "turnout.

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The women follow her, but over the course of the next week, some return to work out of fear, while others pack up their belongings to return home. Rebecca feels that all hope is lost when she sees her idol, Judith, packing up her bags to leave town. Judith comforts her and assures her that they were not defeated, and that she is not giving up the fight for for what is right, and Rebecca agrees to do the same.


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There are many reasons why I liked this book. First, the author did a wonderful job connecting history to a suspenseful and meaningful book. A young girl, Rebecca works in a textile mill.

Lil girls bobbin

She experiences harsh conditions of her coworkers and is left with a conflict. Her coworkers want to rally and fight against these labor laws in order to get the life they deserve, however Rebecca doesn't want to lose her job. Another reason why I liked this book so much was because of the illustrations. The illustrations were clear depictions of what was happening in the text and I was able to see the facial expressions throughout each character in the story.