Sarah Wanlass (Children's Book and Play Review, December 2006)
Newberry Award winner, Paterson is up to her usual standard in Bread and Roses, Too. This novel centers on a young Italian girl and an American boy who become entangled in the events of the "Bread and Roses" strike of Lawrence, Massachusetts. Rosa and her immigrant family live in Lawrence. Rosa's mother and older sister work at the wool mill; her father recently killed in a mill accident. Young Jack Beale also works at the mill to support himself and his abusive, alcoholic father. When factory owner, Billy Wood, lowers the already low wages, his workers have had it--they can barely make ends meet as it is! A strike is organized and both Jack and Rosa's family join in. Soon, the town is in chaos and Rosa is filled with inner turmoil--confused and worried for her family. What if her sister and mother get hurt in the strike? What will happen to her and baby Ricci? Eventually, as the town gets more violent, the strike organizers arrange for children to be sent to homes in outlying cities for safety. Both Rosa and Jack end up on a train to Barre, Vermont, where they learn lessons of love, trust, and kindness. Bread and Roses, Too closely follows the history of the 1912 Lawrence strike and the role the people of Barre, Vermont played in helping the strikers. It is a wonderful addition to any elementary or middle school collection. It works perfectly as a curricular tie-in between social studies and literature. Readers will enjoy experiencing this time period along with the characters. Rating: Excellent. Reading Level: Intermediate; Young adult. Category: Historical fiction. 2006, Clarion, 275 p., $16. © 2002, Brigham Young University.

Mary Quattlebaum (Children's Literature)
With compassion and grace, this two-time Newbery Medalist recreates a little-known period of American history--the mill workers’ strike of 1912 in Lawrence, Massachusetts. Rosa and Jake are two youngsters caught up in these desperate times. Rosa’s Italian-American mother and older sister join fellow mill workers to protest dangerous mill conditions while schoolgirl Rosa feels shamed and confused by her teacher’s description of the strikers as destructive rabble-rousers. Orphan Jake lives by his quick wits on the street. This book documents the historical strike and tells the intertwined tales of Rosa and Jake. To keep their children safe, the stikers begin sending them to stay with strangers, and so Rosa finds herself on a train to Barre, Vermont (Paterson’s current home) to live with the Gerbatis family in a stone-cutting community. Jake comes, too, masquerading as Rosa’s brother. Young fans of historical fiction will cheer as these two confront and overcome hardship after hardship, earning their own happy endings--for Rosa a return to her beloved family in Massachusetts, for Jake the embrace of a new family in Vermont. 2006, Clarion, $16.00. Ages 8 to 12.

Joan Kindig, Ph.D. (Children's Literature)
It is 1912 and Rosa and her family live in cramped quarters in Lawrence, Massachusetts, after her father dies. Despite every able-bodied child and adult working in the textile mills, the family and its boarders are hungry and poor. When the mill workers strike, in the legendary Bread and Roses strike, Rosa's mother leads the charge. But Rosa is terrified that the violence will escalate and she will lose those dearest to her. Rosa, along with other children of striking workers, is sent to a sympathetic union town where she is placed with an elderly Italian couple to be cared for. Jake Beale, Rosa's friend, has joined her, posing as her brother, and unexpectedly finds himself at home for the very first time. This period piece is rich in detail, background relating to mill conditions is striking, and Rosa and Jake are wonderfully three-dimensional. The resolution of the strike and the well-being of Rosa and Jake make for a satisfying ending. 2006, Clarion, $16.00. Ages 10 to 14.

Kirkus (Kirkus Reviews, August 1, 2006 (Vol. 74, No. 15))
Known as the Bread and Roses strike, the 1912 mill workers' protest against working conditions in the mills of Lawrence, Mass., is the historical context for Paterson's latest work, a beautifully written novel that puts a human face on history. When young Rosa Serutti, looking for shoes she's hidden, meets Jake Beale sleeping in a trash pile, the two become acquaintances and, eventually, part of a family of sorts. When conditions in Lawrence turn dangerous, "shoe girl" Rosa and "Rosa's rat" Jake are among the many children sent "on vacation" to host families in cities such as Philadelphia, New York and Barre, Vt., a part of American history not often covered in textbooks. Readers will be totally wrapped up in the stories of Rosa and Jake, Mrs. Serutti and older daughter Anna, both active in the strike, and Mr. and Mrs. Gerbati, the host family in Barre. The history is neatly woven into this story that explores the true meaning of community and family in hard times. A fine historical note provides additional background. Paterson at her best-and that's saying a lot. (acknowledgments) 2006, Clarion, 288p, $16.00. Category: Fiction. Ages 10 to 14. Starred Review. © 2006 Kirkus Reviews/VNU eMedia, Inc. All rights reserved.

Claire Rosser (KLIATT Review, September 2006 (Vol. 40, No. 5))
Everything Paterson writes is excellent. This historical novel is about the strike by workers in Lawrence, Massachusetts in 1912. In some ways it is a continuation of the theme of her novel Lyddie, about a mill worker in Lowell, Massachusetts in the mid-19th century. She tells of two young people's experience over the several months of the strike. It's interesting because neither of them, Rosa or Jake, is an enthusiast for workers' rights; they just get swept up in the events surrounding them. Rosa's mother and older sister are workers who are completely committed to the strike. Rosa is slightly ashamed of them, their poor English, their risk-taking. Jake is a worker himself, abused by his drunken father, illiterate, a petty thief. The two are sent with other children from Lawrence to Barre, Vermont, to socialist families supporting the strikers by taking in the starving children, taking care of them until the strike is over. An Italian American couple takes in Rosa and Jake, who are pretending to be brother and sister. The man, an accomplished stone worker and nobody's fool, soon suspects Jake is lying, but his response is unexpectedly kind. The way Paterson works in the historical details that are known--the terrible plight of the workers and their families, the evolution of the strike, the support from the growing labor movement around the country--is moving and sound. She speculates on how the slogan of the strike, Bread and Roses, Too, came into being, which fits in nicely with her characters and their feelings. It doesn't hurt for us all to be reminded of the conditions of workers who have no rights, and how the labor movement in the US changed our society for the better. This novel, just as Lyddie does, fits in well with studies of US history, especially cultural and economic history. Category: Hardcover Fiction. KLIATT Codes: J*--Exceptional book, recommended for junior high school students. 2006, Houghton Mifflin, Clarion, 275p., $16.00.. Ages 12 to 15.

Shawn Kerbein (Kutztown Book Review, Spring 2008)
A 1912 union strike in the Lawrence, MA textile mills causes friction in an immigrant family. To escape the poverty and danger caused by the strike, the youngest children are sent to foster families. This is a fictionalized account of the “Bread and Roses” strike at the Lawrence, MA textile mills, told from the point of view of the children. (This would be a good book for current teenagers to read, to realize how easy their lives are today.) The story is easy to read, and pulls you in from the very first chapter. The characters are well developed, the plot moves along, and the story is very engrossing. This would be a wonderful book to have in a middle school collection and would be a good addition to a social studies or history unit. Category: Historical Fiction. 2006, Clarion Books, $16.00. Ages 10 to 15.

Donna Knott (Library Media Connection, February 2007)
Life in the textile mills is brutal. The hours are long and fraught with danger, yet the pay is not enough to keep most families fed and clothed. Rosa's father was killed in an accident at the mill, and she has only her mother and older sister to take care of her and her baby brother. The atmosphere around the neighborhood becomes charged with talk of a protest against the dishonest mill owners. Things become so dangerous for children that many of them are sent to live with families in Vermont and New York until things settle down. For the first time in many years, Rosa has a full stomach and warm clothes, but she is worried about her mother and sister who have joined the protesters. Paterson has written yet another excellent novel for young adults. The characters are very well-developed and believable. The plot is a little confusing with the jumping from character to character in each chapter, but once you get into the rhythm of the story it is not a problem. Paterson also includes historical notes about the strike of 1912, which is the setting of the story. Recommended. 2006, Clarion Books, 288pp., $16 hc. Ages 13 to 15.

Elizabeth Bush (The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, March 2007 (Vol. 60, No. 7))
The 1912 strike in the Lawrence, Massachusetts woollen mills finds Mama and Anna, the two breadwinners of the Serutti family, out among the protesters, young Rosa Serutti near frantic for their safety, and life-hardened Jake Beale little better than a street urchin now that he has no paycheck to bring home to his abusive, alcoholic father. Rosa and Jake’s lives brush briefly when she grudgingly allows him to spend a couple of nights in their cramped but heated rooms—a kindness he repays by swiping some of their food. Later, the two are thrown together again when many of the strikers’ children are sent to out-of-town host families to avoid the growing hostilities, and Rosa and Jake end up in Vermont in the care of Italian stonecutter Mr. Gerbati and his wife, Rosa under her mother’s orders and Jake as a stowaway under an assumed name. Roughly the first half of the novel revolves around the strike and Rosa’s anxieties, with walk-on appearances by labor leaders Elizabeth Gurley Flynn and “Big Bill” Haywood, while the second half shifts to life at the Gerbatis and Jake’s ambivalence toward the couple, who offer him both the care and the strict discipline he has never experienced. An awkward supporting cast and a deliriously happy ending are less than convincing; moreover, with backstory about the wage cuts that ignited the strike relegated to endnotes, Paterson dodges the irony of how protective legislation that promises long-term benefits to women and children can result in short-term havoc to individual families’ means of support. Nonetheless, she remains a smooth storyteller, and this is an informative exploration of a key moment in U.S. labor history. While this title isn’t up to the standard of Lyddie (BCCB 2/91) or Auch’s Ashes of Roses (BCCB 7/02), it may get younger readers launched on labor problem fiction. Review Code: Ad -- Additional book of acceptable quality for collections needing more material in the area. (c) Copyright 2006, The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois. 2006, Clarion, 275p., $16.00. Grades 5-8.

Horn Book (The Horn Book Guide, Spring 2007)
This tale is about two children caught up in the 1912 Bread and Roses Strike in Lawrence, Massachusetts. Jake labors in the textile mills, and Rosa goes to school while her mother and sister toil. Both Jake and Rosa are unwilling coattail participants in the labor action. The themes (e.g., children forced by circumstance to an unnatural self-reliance) are familiar--but nobody does them better. Category: Intermediate Fiction. 2006, Clarion, 275pp, 16.00. Ages 9 to 12. Rating: 2: Superior, well above average.

Laurren Kresge (The Kutztown University Book Review, Spring 2007)
Set in 1912, during the strike in the mills of Lawrence, MA. Rosa finds herself in disagreement with her mother and older sister, as they join the protest against unfair labor practices. Meanwhile, Jake Beale who is jobless because of the strikes runs around attempting to keep himself from starvation and away from the hands of his abusive alcoholic father. The strike conditions become worse and arrangements are made for children to leave Lawrence temporality. Rosa is sent to an older couple in Vermont. Jake thinking he has snuck on a train headed for New York City finds himself on the train to Vermont and he convinces Rosa to pretend that he is her older brother. A great historical fiction book that gives the reader a closer look on what it was like to live in 1912 during this mill strike in Lawrence, MA. A student can relate to the children in the story and is provided with a child’s perspective on the whole event, which helps make, the historical event more meaningful to a young adult. Category: Historical Fiction.. 2006, Clarion Books, $16.00. Ages 10 to 14.

Laura Baker (The Lorgnette-Heart of Texas Reviews (Vol. 19, No. 3))
Veteran storyteller Katherine Paterson uses her talents this time to tell of the 1912 mill workers’ strike in Lawrence, MA, and of the sympathetic response of the town of Barrie, VA. Rosa’s mother and older sister work in the Lawrence mills, slaving to keep one step away from starvation. So does Jake Beale, an underage boy working to keep his abusive, alcoholic father at bay and himself alive. When the workers strike, it becomes a war of wills between workers and owners. Rose is very afraid. She is scared her mother and sister will be arrested or worse for their participation in the marches. As things turn ugly, the children of Lawrence are sent to willing families in other towns. Rosa finds herself thrown together with the waif Jake as the two are taken in by an older Italian family in Barrie, VA. The two children’s lives intertwine as Rosa and Jake each learn about hardship and strength and the value of human relationships. Katherine Paterson is well known for her many prize-winning novels for young people. This new title is of no less quality. It is more of a historical novel than her other books, focusing on events and conditions in America’s early industrial years. She brings true people into her story, but the strongest sense of history is conveyed through her characters, something only good fiction can do. The reader senses the perspective of the workers, the contrasting actions of the mill owners, and the conflicted attitudes of the middle class who sympathize with the laborers yet demand the goods they slave to produce. The reader also sees how immigrant families lived, the crowded conditions, the constant hunger, and the daily grind that never lets up. Through it all is the bond of family and the yearning for something better, a need for a living wage as well as the promise of a future, a need--as the strikers’ slogan proclaimed--for “bread and roses, too.” This book focuses on the strike itself and its regional impact. For more on actual mill conditions, pair it with Lyddie, another Paterson novel about a young woman who goes to work in a mill shop in Lowell, MA. Katherine Paterson is one of those authors whose work always goes deeper than the surface, and any book from her is one to acquire and treasure. Fiction, Highly Recommended. Grades 4-7. 2006, Clarion Books, 275p., $16.00. Ages 9 to 13.

Susan Levine (VOYA, December 2006 (Vol. 29, No. 5))
The 1912 textile mill strike in Lawrence, Massachusetts, known as the Bread and Roses strike, is seen through the eyes of twelve-year-old Rosa Serutti and thirteen-year-old Jake Beale. Rosa's father was killed in a mill accident, and her mother and older sister work in the mill, affected by the horrible working conditions and the recent cut in hours and pay. Rosa goes to school and is influenced by her teacher's comments against the strike. Jake is a mill worker, supporting himself and his alcoholic father. Rosa and Jake meet in a trash heap where he is spending the night away from his abusive father and where Rosa is looking for her shoes. The mill workers, most of whom are immigrants, suffer greatly from the winter cold and lack of food, clothing, and shelter, but they are determined to remain united against the mill owner. They receive assistance from outside groups, and as the strike continues and violence grows, sympathizers in other cities invite the strikers' children into their homes. Rosa is sent to Barre, Vermont, assisting Jake in escaping from Lawrence by saying that he is her older brother. The two live with the wonderful Gerbatis, finding comfort and caring. Paterson creates well-developed characters who invite empathy. The terrible conditions under which they lived-the stink; the dust and filth; the lack of food, heat, or any bit of comfort-all are described in detail that increases understanding of the suffering and courage of the strikers and those who helped them. Their story is history made memorable. VOYA CODES: 4Q 3P M J (Better than most, marred only by occasional lapses; Will appeal with pushing; Middle School, defined as grades 6 to 8; Junior High, defined as grades 7 to 9). 2006, Clarion, 288p., $16. Ages 11 to 15.