Counting on Grace

Written by Elizabeth Winthrop

A young girl challenges child labor laws, risking her family's future.

3.9 Goodreads · 1,506 ratings

240 pages· 760L

$6.99Save 4%

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Bookroo's summary

In 1910 Vermont, 12-year-old Grace struggles with her left-handedness in a right-handed world, working in a mill to support her family. Secretly, she and her friend Arthur reach out to the Child Labor Board, sparking a visit from reformer Lewis Hine. His photographs of Grace ignite a transformation, altering her view of herself and her family's destiny. Will their brave act bring change or further hardship?

From the publisher

Pownal, Vermont. At 12, Grace and her best friend Arthur must leave school and go to work as a “doffers” on their mothers’ looms in the mill. Grace’s mother is the best worker, fast and powerful, and Grace desperately wants to help her. But she’s left handed and doffing is a right-handed job. Grace’s every mistake costs her mother, and the family. She only feels capable on Sundays, when she and Arthur receive special lessons from their teacher. Together they write a secret letter to the Child Labor Board about underage children working in Pownal. A few weeks later a man with a camera shows up. It is the famous reformer Lewis Hine, undercover, collecting evidence for the Child Labor Board. Grace’s brief acquaintance with Hine and the photos he takes of her are a gift that changes her sense of herself, her future, and her family’s future.