Marrin, Albert. Flesh and Blood So Cheap: The Triangle Fire and Its Legacy. 2011. 182pp. Lexile 1000.
In 1911, 146 workers—most of them young women—died in the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire in Manhattan. Veteran nonfiction writer Marrin goes beyond recounting the tragedy to analyzing immigration, limitations on women, and the rise of unions in conjunction with the fire. He explains why most of the women, ages fourteen to twenty-three, were Russian Jews and Italian Catholics. He describes tenement life, with the portrayal reinforced by black-and-white photographs including some from photojournalist Jacob Riis, whose words provide the title: "Oh, God! That bread should be so dear, and flesh and blood so cheap!" Marrin discusses the aftermath of the fire and the movement to improve working conditions. He wraps up with a look at garment workers today in the U.S. and internationally, some of whom face sweatshop conditions similar to those in the past.
Reading Std #3: Analyze how and why individuals, events, and ideas develop and interact over the course of a text. Marrin brings together topics of immigration, the labor movement, and safety issues and laws in his account of the Triangle Fire. Have students analyze how he connects these topics, including the role of important people in the different sub-topics.
Macy, Sue. Bull's-Eye: A Photobiography of Annie Oakley. 2001. 64pp. Lexile 1150.With a figure as legendary as Annie Oakley, who was a superstar in her time, a biographer has to be careful to distinguish fact from legend—and point out when it’s impossible to be sure. Macy does this well, especially about the different versions of Oakley’s childhood and the rumors that newspapers printed throughout her career. She addresses the issue in her Author’s Note, titled “Getting the Details Right.” The narrative focus is on Oakley's remarkable skill and international career but it also covers her personal life including her long marriage to fellow sharpshooter Frank Butler. Historic photographs and other illustrations, printed in sepia, give a wonderful sense of the woman and of Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show. Resources include a timeline; a list of books, videos, websites and places to visit; and an index.
Writing Std #8: Gather relevant information from multiple print and digital sources, assess the credibility and accuracy of each source, and integrate the information. Use this short biography as a model of assessing the credibility and accuracy of sources. Have students read the Author’s Note about getting details right and look through the text for examples of how she handles information that is hard to assess for accuracy. Have them note her specific wording for such examples.
