Bookverdict.com

Gr 5–8—Most children who pick up this book will be close to the age at which Dickens left behind the comforts of his middle-class life and entered service at a boot-black company. It was an experience that traumatized him, yet drove him to become one of the greatest social reformers of Victorian England. Warren's compelling and highly readable book introduces readers not only to the revered author, but also to a society in which children left home and went to work at age five, if they managed to live that long; a s...Log In or Sign Up to Read More

Warren presents a biography of Charles Dickens with a narrow but effective focus: how his own impoverished childhood led to a deep sense of empathy for the working poor that manifested itself in virtually all facets of his adult life, but most especially in his writing. Because of his father's debt, young Charles worked through most of his teenage years, and because his family invested heavily in his sister's education, Charles's own schooling was sorely neglecte...Log In or Sign Up to Read More

Warren focuses on how Dickens's impoverished childhood led to a deep sense of empathy that manifested itself in his writing and his l...Log In or Sign Up to Read More