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Gr 4–6—This illustrated title explores 19th-century coal mines, combining features of both historical fiction and informational texts. The book brings readers into the world of fictional Conall, a 12-year-old coal miner. Mines employed boys as young as eight to separate coal from useless rock or to run beside rolling coal cars and jam sprags (thick sticks) into the wheels to stop them (the cars had no brakes.) The work was dark, dirty, and dangerous. Preteens worked as mule drivers, trapper boys, and spraggers. Daily life...Log In or Sign Up to Read More

In this picture book for older readers, historical photographs and sidebars support a fictional tale about two brothers who work in a nineteenth-cen...Log In or Sign Up to Read More