FLESH & BLOOD SO CHEAP: THE TRIANGLE FIRE AND ITS LEGACY

Marrin, Albert.  Flesh & Blood So Cheap:  The Triangle Fire and Its Legacy.  New York:  Alfred A. Knopf, 2011.  ISBN 978-0-375-86889-4.

 

Plot Summary

Flesh & Blood So Cheap:  The Triangle Fire and Its Legacy relates the tragic events on March 25, 1911, when a fire ripped through the factory filled with workers who were trapped inside.  It remained the most horrific workplace catastrophe in New York's history until September 11, 2001.  Flesh & Blood So Cheap also describes the uphill battle immigrants face and the inhuman working conditions they were, and still are, forced to endure.

 

Critical Analysis

Much could be said about the respect given to the writings of Albert Marrin.  The National Humanities Medal Award was given to Marrin in 2008 by the President of the United States.   Marrin was credited by the President "for opening young minds to the glorious pageant of history."  He has received many awards and honors including the James Madison Book Award for Lifetime Achievement and the Washington Post Non-Fiction Award for an outstanding lifetime contribution that has enriched the field of children's literature. 

In writing Flesh & Blood So Cheap:  The Triangle Fire and Its Legacy, Marrin draws from several valuable resources which are too numerous to list.  He utilizes multiple endnotes in each chapter to further solidify the accuracy of his research for this book. 

Flesh & Blood So Cheap contains a table of contents with the following:

• Prelude  From the Ashes

1. Huddled Masses
2. Into the Magic Cauldron
3. Flesh and Blood So Cheap
4. An Overflow of Suffering:  The Uprising of the Twenty Thousand
5. The Third Gate:  Fire at the Triangle
6. A Stricken Conscience
7. The Price of Liberty

• Bibliography
• Notes
• Picture Credits
• Index

The index is quite extensive with a multiple-page listing for various terms which would be of interest to the reader.  The book is designed in a way that the reader could start on any chapter and read the chapters in virtually any order.

The photographs, which were on at least half of the pages in the book, were the most impressive thing about Flesh & Blood So Cheap.  All of the photographs were black and white; however, considering the time period recorded in this book, the non-colored pictures were to be expected.  The captions and historical tidbits given with each photograph allowed the reader to glean a tremendous amount of knowledge without even glancing at the text.

Marrin gives many historical facts in the book.  The life of a sweatshop worker was constantly in danger.  "In 1911, for example, over 50,000 people died on the job -- that is, about 1,000 each week, or 140 a day, every day."  The conditions were so poor, even the consumers suffered the consequences.  "Infected workers coughed constantly, spewing the disease-causing bacteria onto the garments they were making.  In that way, tuberculosis spread from the worker to the consumer."  If the working conditions weren't bad enough, those who fought for better pay and conditions faced even worse repercussions.  Sweatshop owners, who were immigrants themselves, hired gangsters to control their workers and strike fear into their hearts.  "For example, they charged four dollars to blacken a person's eyes, ten dollars for breaking a nose, twenty-five dollars for a stabbing, and one hundred dollars and up for murder."  It is facts like these which cause the reader to understand the pitiful plight of the immigrant sweatshop workers.

The climax of Flesh & Blood So Cheap is the graphic description of the events of The Triangle Fire where 146 workers, mostly young Italian and Jewish women, perished on March 25, 1911.  Marrin concludes his book with a comparison of The Triangle Fire to the KTS Textile Mill Fire in Bangladesh.  On February 23, 2006, fire engulfed the three-story structure killing 91 people.  This same story is unfortunately repeated in the history of many developing countries today.  Better working conditions are needed to insure the safety of so many young, innocent lives. 

Every year a chalk brigade walks around New York writing the names of those who lost their lives in The Triangle Fire.  It is important to remember the mistakes of the past; otherwise, we will be doomed to repeat them in the future.  Marrin does a remarkable job in helping us all to remember the tragic story of The Triangle Fire in Flesh & Blood So Cheap:  The Triangle Fire and Its Legacy.

Awards and Honors

• Flora Stieglitz Straus Award from the Bank Street College of Education for a distinguished work of nonfiction which serves as an inspiration to young people, 2012
• Amelia Bloomer Project annual list recognizing Flesh & Blood So Cheap as a well-written book with significant feminine content, 2012
• Sydney Taylor Notable Book by the Association of Jewish Libraries, 2012
• Booklist Editor's Choice:  Books for Youth, 2011
• National Book Award Finalist, 2011

Review Excerpts

"The writing is compelling and detailed, and the author effectively manages to bridge the gap between detached expository writing and emotionally charged content. For those looking for an intriguing, readable account of a turning point in history, or doing research on immigration, this is a useful and thoughtful addition to any American history collection."  Jody Kopple, School Library Journal 5/1/11

"The highly readable book design features black-and-white photos on every double-page spread as well as newspaper accounts and biographical profiles.  Sure to spark discussion, this standout title concludes with source notes and suggested-reading lists that will lead students to further resources for research and debate ."  Hazel Rochman, Booklist 4/1/11

"Marrin's message that protecting human dignity is our shared responsibility is vitally resonant."  Publisher's Weekly 1/17/11

Other Books by Albert Marrin

Years of Dust:  The Story of the Dust Bowl

The Great Adventure: Theodore Roosevelt and the Rise of Modern America

Sitting Bull and His World

Visit his website for more information:  http://www.albertmarrin.com/

Book Connections

Worlds Afire:  The Hartfield Circus Fire of 1944 by Paul B. Janeczko

Bread and Roses, Too by Katherine Paterson

The Bobbin Girl by Emily Arnold McCully

Connection Activities

•  Collect books such as The Triangle Fire by Leon Stein, The Triangle Fire:  A Brief History with Documents by Jo Ann E. Argersinger, or Through Women's Eyes/The American Women's Movement 1945-2000/The Triangle Fire by Ellen Carol Dubois.  Have students create a poster of all the information they learned from these books.
• Listen to the sound recording of Flesh & Blood So Cheap:  The Triangle Fire and Its Legacy (ISBN 978-0-385-36152-1).  Allow time for the students to reflect on what they have heard and how that makes them feel.

KAKAPO RESCUE: SAVING THE WORLD'S STRANGEST PARROT

Montgomery, Sy.  Kakapo Rescue:  Saving the World's Strangest Parrot.  Ill. by Nic Bishop.  Boston [Mass.]:  Houghton Mifflin Books for Children, 2010.  ISBN 978-0-618-49417-0.

Plot Summary

On the brink of extinction, the last 91 kakapo parrots on earth are given protected sanctuary on Codfish Island off the coast of New Zealand.  Scientists, researchers, and volunteers converge to spur the population growth of the largest and most vulnerable parrots in the world.

Critical Analysis

What do you call an eight-pound giant bird that can't fly and walks everywhere foraging for food at night?  Sounds like an opening for a joke, but the fact that there are fewer than 100 of these birds in existence today is no laughing matter.  The mating season of the kakapo parrot is almost as rare as the bird itself.  At one time, there were millions of these gigantic parrots roaming the earth.  Now, only by the selfless efforts of a few men and women, the kakapo are struggling to remain in existence.

Sy Montgomery gives us a bird's eye view of these vulnerable birds.  She is an expert in her field and has written many award-winning books.  Kakapo Rescue is the fifth book Montgomery and Bishop have developed for Houghton Mifflin's Scientists in the Field series.  The other four books can be seen in the list of other books below.  In addition to on-site observation and research for Kakapo Rescue, Montgomery gleaned background information from the following sources:  Hoki:  The Story of a Kakapo by Alison Balance and Gideon Climo; A History of the Birds of New Zealand by Sir. Walter Buller; Back from the Brink:  The Fight to Save Our Endemic Birds by Gerard Hutching; and The Kakapo by Jenny Jones with photographs by Rod Morris.  Emma O'Neil, the team leader for the National Kakapo Recovery Team, read the manuscript for Kakapo Rescue to ensure its accuracy.

Kakapo Rescue:  Saving the World's Strangest Parrot is organized into the following chapters:

     1.  The Strangest Parrot in the World

     2.  The Extinction that Almost Happened

     3.  An Island a World Apart

     4.  Secrets of the Nest

     5.  Life at "Sealer's Bay Resort & Spa"

     6.  Triangulation and Tragedy

     7.  Flossie's Wardrobe Change

     8.  Feedout Vollies

     9.  Hatch Watch

     Final Glimpse.  Blessing at Cyndy's Lookout

A table of contents would have been helpful; unfortunately, this book did not contain one.  It did, however, have a detailed index in which one could search for a specific term with ease.  Although informational books are not necessarily meant to be read from cover to cover, the reader may have a difficult time following the guided saga of the kakapo's plight without first reading it in the order it is written.  For example, in chapter 6, tragedy strikes the camp.  If the reader has not journeyed through the sleepless nights of the volunteers and researchers in their ever vigilant efforts, the weighted significance of this tragedy is lost.  Once the reader has read the entire book, it is possible to skip from chapter to chapter in no particular order.

The colorful photographs have a life of their own.  Almost every page is adorned with pictures of the forest, dedicated workers in action, various wildlife, and, of course, kakapo parrots.  The pictures allow the reader to visualize what the text is describing.  It is one thing to say that the male kakapo inflates like a football during mating season, it is another thing entirely to see the actual picture of him in his bloated state.  The merging of Montgomery's text and Bishop's photographs allow the reader to transport themselves onto Codfish Island.  It is as if one was experiencing the kakapo parrots firsthand instead of just reading about them in a book.

Montgomery is able to blend the scientific facts of the kakapo's life into a compelling story that draws the reader in.  When writing about the males during mating season she writes, "He'll scream a gravelly skraaarrk---which probably means something like 'Can't you see?  I'm a gorgeous hunk of male kakapo!  Why won't you come out to admire me?'"  When faced with the tragic death of the baby kakapo she says, "I imagine the two human mothers, standing in the dark, the little chick limp in Becky's gloved hand.  I know they must be weeping.  I am weeping, too."  The reader feels the heavy loss for a bird that was unknown to them just moments before.  That is the power of Montgomery's writing.  She make you care about the subject matter.  She invites you to be a part of Kakapo Rescue:  Saving the World's Strangest Parrot.

Awards

Sibert Medal, 2011 

Review Excerpts
 

"As usual, Montgomery's delight in her subject is contagious, and throughout her enthusiastic text, she nimbly blends scientific and historical facts with immediate, sensory descriptions of fieldwork. Bishop's photos of the creatures and their habitat are stunning; an awe-inspiring, closing image of the world's eighty-seventh known Kakapo emerging from its shell captures the miracle of birth, for any species. Like many of the team's previous titles, this offers excellent support for units about animal conservation." Gillian Engberg, Booklist 2010

"Excellent photos and a readable, conversational text provide an intimate look at a concerted effort to save a drastically endangered species unfamiliar to most of the world outside Down Under. Readers who enjoyed this author/photographer team's The Tarantula Scientist (2007) or Quest for the Tree Kangaroo (2006, both Houghton) will gobble up this tribute to ecological science in action."  Patricia Manning, School Library Journal

Other Books by Sy Montgomery

Saving the Ghost of the Mountain:  An Expedition Among Snow Leopards in
        Mongolia
Quest for the Tree Kangaroo:  An Expedition to the Cloud Forest of New Guinea
The Tarantula Scientist
The Snake Scientist

Visit her website for more information:  http://symontgomery.com/

Other Books by Nic Bishop

Digging for Bird-Dinosaurs:  An Expedition to Madagascar

Backyard Detective:  Critters Up Close

The Secrets of Animal Flight

 

Visit his website for more information:  http://nicbishop.com/

 

Book Connections

New Zealand by Carol Ann Gillespie

A Bird in the Hand:  Keeping New Zealand Wildlife Safe by Janet Hunt

Atlas of Rare Birds by Dominic Couzens

Parrots by Casey Horton

Connection Activities

1. Montgomery has provided a plethora of activities that can be used with Kakapo Rescue located at  the following site:  http://symontgomery.com/?page_id=27.  Teachers have permission to copy the worksheets for classroom use.
2. Watch a video about the kakapo parrots such as "The Unnatural History of the Kakapo" or "Kakapo Night Parrot."

WHAT TO DO ABOUT ALICE?

Kerley, Barbara.  What to do About Alice?:  How Alice Roosevelt Broke the Rules, Charmed the World, and Drove Her Father Teddy Crazy!  Ill. by Edwin Fotheringham.  New York:  Scholastic Press, 2008.  ISBN 978-0-439-92231-9.


Plot Summary

What to do About Alice? chronicles the exuberant life and whirlwind lifestyle of Alice Roosevelt, the oldest child of Theodore Roosevelt.  Alice charmed the nation and the world while becoming one of her father's most-trusted advisors.  Perhaps understanding the fragility of life, after losing her own mother two days after Alice's birth, Alice lived every day to its fullest.


Critical Analysis

Barbara Kerley is an award-winning author who has devoted her life to educating children either through teaching or by writing informational books.  In writing What to do About Alice?,  Kerley drew her facts from several reputable resources including Princess Alice:  A Biography of Alice Roosevelt Longworth by James Brough; Princess Alice:  The Life and Times of Alice Roosevelt Longworth by Carol Felsenthal; Crowded Hours by Alice Roosevelt Longworth; and The Letters of Theodore Roosevelt edited by Elting E. Morison.  Carol Felsenthal is credited in Kerley's book for fact-checking the text and artwork for What to do About Alice?. 

This book chronicles Alice Roosevelt's life from infancy to her role as the wife of a Congressman.  It is designed to be read from start to finish as there are no chapters or divided sections.  The design of the book is appealing and intriguing, although boys may not wish to read a book which features a girl.  The digital illustrations bring the text to life.  When Alice wanted to see how high her grandparent's sofa springs would send her, the accompanying illustration by Edwin Fotheringham shows a proper-looking little girl, complete with pink hair ribbon, flying high into the air, with added lines to emphasize the height to which she was jumping.  In describing Alice's plight of wearing leg braces and the consequent falls she had,  Fotheringham's use of dots show her fall down the stairs and her quick chase of the boy who dared to laugh at her for falling.  Edwin Fotheringham's dots are most apparent when Alice decides to educate herself in her father's library.  The maze of dots trace her search from shelf to shelf as "she taught herself astronomy, geology, even Greek grammar.  She read Twain, Dickens, Darwin, and the Bible, cover to cover." 

When Alice was seventeen, Theodore Roosevelt became the president of the United States.  Kerley mentions that Alice helped her step-mother by taking on more responsibility of watching her younger siblings.  Fotheringham gives the reader a clear view of Alice's "helpfulness" as the children, with Alice in the lead, are pictured sliding down the White House stairs on trays.  Alice's idea of being a proper hostess was greeting her father's guests when they arrived at the White House.  Alice is seen hiding behind a column on the White House porch holding "her pet snake, Emily Spinach -- which Alice named for its color and its resemblance to a very thin aunt."

Although What to do About Alice? is a children's book, readers young and old will find this book enthralling.  Once the book is started, the reader is mesmerized by the colorful and humorous way Kerley describes the highlights of Alice Roosevelt's life.  Kerley arrests the reader's attention on the first page:  "Theodore Roosevelt had a small problem."  The problem wasn't herding cattle, leading the Rough Riders, killing a grizzly bear, capturing outlaws, being New York's governor, or even serving as the vice president of the United States.  The problem was What to do About Alice?  Theodore Roosevelt summed it up by saying, "I can be president of the United States, or I can control Alice.  I cannot possibly DO BOTH."  Throughout Theodore Roosevelt's many successes in life, he never succeeded in the never-ending dilemma of deciding What to do About Alice?


Awards and Honors

Texas Bluebonnet nominee, 2009-2010


Review Excerpts

"It’s hard to imagine a picture book biography that could better suit its subject than this high-energy volume serves young Alice Roosevelt."  Publisher's Weekly, March 31, 2008

"This book provides a fascinating glimpse into both a bygone era and one of its more interesting denizens as well as a surefire antidote for any child who thinks that historical figures are boring."  Grace Oliff, School Library Journal, March 1, 2008

"Sprinkling her account with well-chosen quotations, she outlines Alice Roosevelt Longworth's childhood and its increasingly outrageous hijinks, as well as the loving (if sometimes exasperating) relationship she enjoyed with her renowned father. Fotheringham's digital illustrations perfectly evoke the retro styles of an earlier age, depicting a confident Alice sailing through life and tackling every challenge with delight and aplomb."  Kirkus Reviews, February 1, 2008


Other Books by Barbara Kerley

The Dinosaurs of Waterhouse Hawkins :  An Illuminating History of Mr.
        Waterhouse Hawkins, Artist and Lecturer
Walt Whitman:  Words for America
A Cool Drink of Water
The World is Waiting for You

Visit her website for more information:  http://www.barbarakerley.com/


Other Books Illustrated by Edwin Fotheringham

The Extraordinary Mark Twain (According to Susy) by Barbara Kerley
Tony Baloney by Pam Munoz Ryan
Mermaid Queen:  The Spectacular True Story of Annette Kellerman, Who Swam
        Her Way to Fame, Fortune, & Swimsuit History!  by Shana Corey

Visit his website for more information:  http://www.edfotheringham.com/


Book Connections

Desk Drawer Anthology:  Poems for the American People by Alice Roosevelt
        Longworth
When Audrey Met Alice by Rebecca Behrens
The World's Fair by T. L. Tedrow


Connection Activities

• Have each student create a bookmark with a drawing from Alice Roosevelt's life on one side and an interesting fact he/she learned about her on the other side.
• Using a globe or world map, pinpoint the different countries Alice visited and brainstorm what is known about that country.