While seeking contributions, Shannon, Mi Ling, and their friend Betsy must overcome the racism of several neighbors, the depression of Mi Ling, and the theft of several of their contributed books. This novella introduces readers to life for new Americans in San Francisco and is a lovely addition to Girlhood Journeys, a series of books dedicated to exploring the journeys of young woman in different centuries and different countries. Young Mary leaves her parents and home in Ireland where the potato blight has created hardship and famine. She is a lucky one, because her aunt is already in American and has sent money for her passage. After an arduous journey Mary joins Aunt Nora in America and begins work in the mills.
Conditions there are also terrible.
It is not a happy story, but one that reflects the prejudice and hardships faced by the Irish immigrants and all who labored in the mills. This story of an appealing young Irish immigrant presents an intimate examination of child labor. Thomas F. Yezerski Two children, a girl from Ireland and a boy from Poland, climb aboard immigrant boats bound for America. Their paths cross in the bleak coal-mining town of Pinecone Patch, Pennsylvania. Here in America, the land of freedom and opportunity, the two children and their families meet prejudice, poverty, and grueling lifestyles.