Flesh and Blood So Cheap (Module 7)

Summary
This non-fiction book tells the story of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire in New York City. It starts by explaining the change in immigration in the early 1900s into America, who was immigrating and what changes that meant. Then details how sweatshops turned into factory work, with very unsafe conditions, and then finally how the Triangle Factory Fire brought about change to the workforce.

Suggested Activities
This would be a great book to use with students to help them understand how change comes about. It would be great to use with a Government or History class- have each kid read a chapter- to help them understand the history of our country and working conditions and how we reach progress. The ending is also a great way to understand current factory conditions in third world countries and would be great for a debate club for students to debate how to solve these problems in other countries.
Reviews
Published to coincide with the centennial anniversary of the 1911 fire that erupted in the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory, this powerful chronicle examines the circumstances surrounding the disaster, which resulted in the deaths of 146 workers, mostly young Italian and Jewish women. Though America represented opportunity for immigrants escaping religious persecution, disease, and natural disaster, New York City was sharply divided between the elite and those who, Marrin modestly writes, "lived more simply." B&w photographs and illustrations reveal immigrant families' impoverished living environments, while testimonials describe the "humiliating" work rules and unsafe conditions of factories like Triangle ("Slavery holds nothing worse," expressed one worker). Despite workers' efforts to organize, it took a preventable disaster to enact real change. Marrin (Years of Dust) mines eyewitness accounts of flaming bodies, and also imagines a victim's horrific internal monologue: "If I jump, my family will have a body to identify and bury, but if I stay in this room, there will be nothing left." A concluding description of a Bangladeshi garment factory fire in 2010 offers contemporary parallels. Marrin's message that protecting human dignity is our shared responsibility is vitally resonant. 
(2011).Flesh and blood so cheap: The triangle fire and its legacy. Publisher's Weekly, Retrieved from http://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-375-86889-4
My Thoughts
I really enjoyed is book and learning the history of the factory conditions and how things changed.There were a few times I lost some interest in the book, but Martin does a good job of pulling the reader back in with personal stories about what was happening at the time. However, I found the most intersting part to be the end of the book that discussed the factory and work conditions in third world countries. Their factory conditions are similar to what America's were in the 1900s, however, now when those problems try to be fixed the factory just moves and all the workers are homeless and struggling. This really got me thinking about how to solve that problem. I wish I had better ideas, but I'll keep thinkng.
Bibliography
Marrin, A. (2011). Flesh & blood so cheap the triangle fire and its legacy. New York: Alfred A. Knoff.