BY MICHELLE MARKEL
Published by HARPER COLLINS
“If you prick your finger and bleed on the cloth, you’re fined. If it happens a second time, you’re fired.”
This picture book biography about Ukrainian immigrant Clara Lemlich tackles topics like activism and the U.S. garment industry. Clara led the largest walkout of women workers the country had seen.
From her short time in America, Clara learned that everyone deserved a fair chance. That you had to stand together and fight for what you wanted. And, most importantly, that you could do anything you put your mind to.
Find BRAVE GIRL at local independent bookstores, through IndieBound, Barnes and Noble, Amazon, or in your local library.
FOR EDUCATORS: Where Do Our Clothes Come From? Download the Teaching Guide for BRAVE GIRL, as well as the Classroom Bookshelf resources, including notes on the Garment Industry, Pioneering Women, and more.
Be sure to visit the Tenement Museum website.
Amelia Bloomer List
Book Links Lasting Connection
IndieBound Indie Next List
NCTE Orbis Pictus Honor Winner for Outstanding Nonfiction for Children
School Library Journal Best Book 2013
Sydney Taylor Book Award Honor Book
“The zingy images masterfully (and appropriately) incorporate fabric and stitches as well as old images of checks and time cards … This book has fighting spirit in spades-you go, Clara! ”
“Sweet incorporates images of assorted fabrics and stitch patterns into her tender illustrations, brightening the lives of workers whose reality was bleak. ”
“Readers are treated to solid information with a buoyant message about standing up for what is right. Sweet has created an outstanding backdrop for Markel’s text with a vibrant collage of watercolor, gouache, blank dress-pattern paper, bookkeeping pages, stitches, and fabric pieces. ”
“In her simple but powerful text Markel shows how multiple arrests, serious physical attacks, and endless misogyny failed to deter this remarkable woman as she set off on her lifelong path as a union activist. ”
