Factory Girl.

Linda Ludke is a children’s librarian at the London Public Library.

In 1912, Emily Watson’s family circumstances force her to leave school at 12 years of age and find a job. Six chapters vividly recount the deplorable working conditions Emily endures in a garment factory and her spirited struggle to help her family survive poverty. Into this fictional story, Barbara Greenwood seamlessly weaves historical commentary that explores the plight of new immigrants, the creation of urban slums, and the work of social reformers and union activists.

Lewis Hines’ famous photographs of exploited child workers bring a stirring immediacy to the text: a boy whose face is covered in coal dust stares unflinchingly ahead after finishing a 12-hour shift; an exhausted-looking girl in ragged dress is dwarfed by heavy machinery. A timeline at the end of the book chronicles the “Long Fight” to end child labour and includes Craig Keilburger’s 1995 Free the Children efforts.

This compelling and moving book is highly recommended.