Reviews

Lucy Fights the Flames: A Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Survival Story by Julie Gilbert

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damarisr's review

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challenging dark informative reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

boffybeau's review

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adventurous dark emotional sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

Trigger warnings: Death of children and friends in a fire, grief and loss depiction

4.5/10 Wow, this was terrible in every way imaginable. The story and characters were quite flat (especially the main character Lucy Morelli or Lucy for short, she just wanted to be part of a workers' union and then worked in a factory and saved people when it caught fire and that's it? Really?), there was a plot point about unions but it wasn't explored that much, and three of the characters died in a fire, that was horrific. The working conditions weren't explored in this book either, but they were abysmal in real life since the workers were underpaid. Lucy doesn't really fight the flames rather she survives it with her life barely intact but some didn't. The ending was quite depressing since the book ended on a memorial procession of those who died in the fire, which was rather melancholy, but a nice touch. I wouldn't recommend this to anyone, especially not young readers. If you want to find out more about this event, you can go and research into it instead of reading this.

rachelle_reads's review

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challenging reflective tense fast-paced

4.0

stophie12's review

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dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

panda_incognito's review

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4.0

Although [b:Emmi in the City: A Great Chicago Fire Survival Story|40752449|Emmi in the City A Great Chicago Fire Survival Story|Salima Alikhan|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1536145633l/40752449._SX50_.jpg|63426719] is fairly tame for a fire story, this one is extremely grim. The author did an amazing job of introducing Lucy's family, life as an Italian immigrant, and character before the disaster started, and wove in lots of essential information related to the historical period and the factory without any of it seeming like an info-dump. Then, as the fire starts, Lucy remains in danger for much of the story, moving around in the building and seeing most of the fire's impact.

The story is suspenseful, realistic, and gripping, but I could never have handled this as a sensitive young reader who was terrified of fire. That raises the question of what age group this book is really written for. All of the books in the series are brief, easy reads, and my library shelves them in our early chapter book section, but the main characters skew older, and there is a lot of heavy content that could overwhelm a younger audience and that older readers would get more out of.

I am very impressed with how well-researched and well-crafted this book is, but it is very dark. The majority of the story involves the fire, as it should, and a realistic number of the main characters' personal connections die in the fire. Although most of these books end on a hopeful note, this one is deeply grim. That is appropriate for the subject matter, but if someone is picking and choosing the less traumatic books out of this series for a younger or more sensitive child to read, this is one to wait on.

Older readers who enjoy this book may also enjoy [b:Uprising|444414|Uprising|Margaret Peterson Haddix|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1347604512l/444414._SY75_.jpg|433148] by Margaret Peterson Haddix, which deals with both the fire and many different elements of the aftermath.

jennybeastie's review

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4.0

Massively tragic, many friends die (what else can you expect?) Yay, Unions, I mean really, YAY UNIONS. Not sure I buy Lucy wanting to be an astronomer, but it's a nice thought and I think Gilbert did an excellent job portraying the day to day lives of immigrants in turn of the century New York. Lots of good characters. The woman who kept saving Lucy was a bit of a mystery, but you can see the research and firsthand accounts shining though.