Lyddie (Puffin Modern Classics) Paperback – September 23, 2004

What a fun way for students to connect with working conditions/industrial revolution!

I love it when a historical story makes me feel like I'm living in that time, feeling the different problems of a different age.This one steeps me in pre-Civil War Vermont--and then the noise and confusion of a factory town.I also love when a heroine starts with grit--and grows into something beautiful and strong--as Lyddie does in this story.Anyway, I'd strongly recommend it for people who like historical stories, especially ones that make them think--and sometimes want to cry.

I just finished reading Lyddie by Katherine Patterson which is part of the 5th grade reading list and am disturbed by it's content. It has moral implications we don't want our daughter to be exposed to yet. I have described below situations I'm uncomfortable with:The overseer in the factory repeatedly touches Lyddie's sleeve and whispers in her ear and makes her uncomfortable then...p. 129 the overseer holds Lyddie back forcefully from the others at the end of the day and is moving closer to her face when she stomps his foot and escapes (she is confused about what he intended and they ignore each other afterwards) To an informed reader it seems he intended to rape her.p.153 Diana (the only gentle/helper role model in book) becomes pregnant with a married man and leaves the factory to make it on her own with the baby; the father is a kind doctor who helped Lyddie earlier without sending her a bill... it is explained his wife chose not to live in the factory town so it just happened...p160 the overseer has held back another girl named Brigid alone in the factory in the dark - when Lyddie returns for her friend she finds her crying for mercy from the overseer - Lyddie then shoves a bucket of water over his head and rescues Brigid (what he was doing/intended isn't discussed) To an informed reader it seems he intended to rape Brigid.p171 Lyddie realizes the overseer who is a deacon in his church has her dismissed by accusing her of "moral turpitude" - she looks up the meaning in a dictionary and is disgusted he accused her of something so "vile, base, depraved" (again not intimately discussed but our girls will want to understand what they mean)p172 Lyddie gives Brigid a letter to mail to the overseer's wife if he bothers Brigid again... and gives a letter to the overseer warning she will tell his wife if he does anything to BrigidIn my opinion the apt description of factory life is overshadowed by the moral implications of the book.

The book Lyddie has been assigned to my grandson, a seventh grade student. I often read the books my grandchildre n are reading, so we can discuss the book. I enjoyed Lyddie, a young girl with the weight of the world on her shoulders. A dedicated worker. I just wonder if the children today will appreciate how far we have come to improve working conditions, and enforced child labor laws.I'm looking forward to our discussions.

I like the historical aspect of the book and the rigor would be good for my students. However, there are mature issues that do not need to be brought into the classroom. One young lady becomes pregnant by a married man and has to leave the factory. The overseer likes to put his hands on the working girls when no one is around. I’ve very disappointed that I cannot use this in my classroom.

LYDDIE is an excellent little book--182 pages--which is very readable and well suited for use in a middle school to let adolescents appreciate an important part of American social history,some aspects of which are, unfortunately, not absent from our society even today. The attitude that resulted in the treatment of factory workers in Lyddie's lifetime is clearly present in our own times in the twenty-first century when today's workers experience poverty despite their spending long hours working for low wages. This novel LYDDIE was written very well and includes words and expressions that an intelligent child should learn to understand. The story is captivating and makes kids (and adults!) want to continue reading and also crave to find out "what happened next!" once they regretfully reach the last paragraph!

I bought this book for my 10-yr. old daughter because I wanted her to read some historical fiction where she could see how real people lived in America in the 1800's. I thought that she would like the book, but she loved it, and I found myself reading it, too, just to see what it was about. I fell in love with it, too. The characters are real full of problems and small joys. Lyddie leads a hard life that only someone from last century could have experienced, yet the author brings it to life so that kids today can understand and relate to what she went through. I really loved the small historical details, like the discrimination against Quakers in 1840 New England, like the damage to a worker's lungs from the lint in the air of a textile mill, and like the sleeping conditions within a girls' boarding house. We will be reading more of this author's works, and I recommend all to join us.

My child had to read this book for her 7th grade public school year, so I read it with her in case she needed any help with anything. And honestly it was kind of a lame book and boring. But it was very informative on what life was like during that time as a working girl.