Poverty Fiction

La descripcion de la tormenta que ataca un barco que va a Asia con un grupo de chinos pobres que vuelven a la patria con sus ahorros de toda la vida guardadas en cajitas de madera sirve para hacer notables descripciones de los peligros del oceano.

When a serious illness strikes Lucy's mother, Lucy has to grow up faster than she expected. As the illness gets worse and money gets tighter, even a school trip - which Lucy hoped would give her a break from home - seems out of reach. Out of frustration and desperation, Lucy starts selling her mom's medical marijuana. But she's not exactly an experienced dealer. And when Lucy gets busted, she has some serious explaining to do - to school authorities, to the police, and to her mom.

Joseph’s sophomore year is about to begin, but his new start is a false one. At his father’s request, Joseph has moved in with his aunt and uncle to avoid the toxic environment surrounding his drug-addicted mother. But efforts to keep Joseph safe have tragic results for the family. When their community is shattered, Joseph must contend with his own grief, his mother’s persistent pleas for money, and the distance between himself and his father, stationed in Iraq - not to mention schoolwork, making the tennis team, and a new relationship.

America meant "freedom" to the immigrants of the early 1900s - but a freedom very different from what they expected. Cities were crowded and jobs were scare. Children had to work selling newspapers, delivering goods, and laboring sweatshops. In this touching book, Newberry Medalist Russell Freedman offers a rare glimpse of what it meant to be a young newcomer to America.

Many people came to America in the early 1900s looking for jobs, opportunity, and freedom, and a lot of them were kids. But what happened to all these immigrant children after they passed inspection at New York’s Ellis Island - that is, if they passed inspection? Life was not easy for immigrants. Large families lived in small, one-room tenement apartments with failing plumbing and few windows. Children had to go to school with kids from different countries and learn to read and write a new language.