Lyddie

Written by Katherine Paterson

A young girl battles harsh mill conditions to reunite her family.

3.6 Goodreads · 7,392 ratings

182 pages· 55,426 words· Est. 7.5 hour read· 860L

$8.99Save 5%

In stock. Also at Amazon or Bookshop.

Bookroo's summary

Lyddie Worthen, left alone after her family is scattered, seeks work in the Lowell mills to earn enough to bring them back together. Amidst grueling hours and oppressive conditions, she learns to read and confronts a menacing overseer. As her friends' health deteriorates, Lyddie faces a critical choice: speak out for better conditions and risk everything, or stay silent and possibly lose her dream forever. Will her courage be enough to change her fate and reunite her family?

From the publisher

Her parents are gone, and her brother and sisters sent to live with other people. Lyddie Worthen is on her own. When Lyddie hears about the mill jobs in Lowell, Massachusetts, she heads there with the goal of earning enough money to reunite her family. Six days a week from dawn to dusk Lyddie and the other girls run weaving looms in the murky dust - and lint-filled factory. Lyddie learns to read - and to handle the menacing overseer. But when the working conditions begin to affect her friends’ health, she has to make a choice. Will she speak up for better working conditions and risk her job - and her dream? Or will she stay quiet until it is perhaps too late?

At a glance