Allreaders.com
Author Deborah Hopkinson booklist (click here)

Book Review By Rebecca Herman
Hear My Sorrow by Deborah Hopkinson

It's 1909 in New York City, and fourteen-year-old Angela Denoto has just left school to get a job so she can help support her Italian immigrant family, even though secretly she longs to continue her education. Before she leaves, her teacher gives her a diary as a gift, and Angela begins to write in it. She describes how she gets a job at a shirtwaist factory and faces long working hours in terrible conditions. When the workers go on strike, Angela joins them, but in the end they accomplish little but to show their strength. She also describes personal tragedies, the loss of family and friends to illness, and then the devastating fire in the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory, where her sister and some of her friends work.


Plot & Themes
Tone of book? - thoughtful
Time/era of story - 1900-1920's
Kids growing up/acting up? Yes
Kids: - struggling to earn a living to survive
Ethnic/Regional/Religion
Other aspects:
Is this an adult or child's book? - Age 11-14
Ethnic/regional/gender life Yes
Age group of kid(s) in story: - high school

Main Character
Gender - Female
Profession/status:
Age: - a teen
Ethnicity/Nationality

Main Adversary
Identity: - an organization
Profession/status:

Setting
How much descriptions of surroundings? - 6 ()
United States Yes
The US: - Northeast
City? Yes
City: - New York

Writing Style
Amount of dialog - roughly even amounts of descript and dialog
Back To Main Menu