Stories of Social Outrage

Addams, Jane (1860-1935) B ADDAMS
Twenty Years at Hull-House with autobiographical notes
In 1889, Jane Addams moved into a rundown mansion in Chicago and began what she dreamed would be a "center for a higher civic and social life" in the industrial districts of the city. Her vision changed the world. For adults. (University of Illinois Press, c. 1910)

Bartoletti, Susan Campbell J 331.89 B
Kids on Strike!
Describes the conditions and treatment that working children faced during various strikes, from the mill worker and coal strikes to the work of Mother Jones on behalf of child workers. For ages 9 to 12. (Houghton Mifflin Company, 1999)

Chopin, Kate (1851-1904)
The Awakening
The heroine of this book shocked readers in 1899 and the scandal created by the book haunted the author for the rest of her life. For adults. (Putnam, c.1899)

Crane, Stephen (1871-1900)
Maggie, A Girl of the Streets: A Story of New York
Crane's first novel is the story of a young girl driven to brutal excesses by poverty and loneliness. For adults. (Bedford/St. Martin's, c. 1893)

Dickens, Charles (1812-1870)
Oliver Twist
From hunger in the poorhouse to a life of crime, Orphan Oliver lives a brutal existence in 19th century London. For ages 14 and older. (Penguin Books, c.1837)

Dreiser, Theodore (1871-1945)
Sister Carrie
This story of an 18-year-old girl, who moves to Chicago and becomes a kept woman, was strong stuff at the turn of the last century. For adults. (Penguin Books, c.1900)

Giff, Patricia Reilly
Nory Ryan's Song
When Ireland's potato crop is damaged in 1845, twelve-year-old Nory helps her family survive. For ages 9 to 12. (Delacorte Press, 2000)

Hardy, Thomas (1840-1928)
Jude the Obscure
This novel of a family destroyed by poverty and social injustice in 19th century England was so condemned by the public that its author stopped writing novels and turned to poetry. (Modern Library, c.1895)

Namioka, Lensey
Ties That Bind, Ties That Break: a novel
Ailin's life in early 20th century China takes a turn when she defies tradition by refusing to have her feet bound. For ages 13 to 18. (Dell Laurel-Leaf, 1999)

Paterson, Katherine
Lyddie
Lyddie, a Vermont farm girl, is determined to gain her independence by becoming a factory worker in Lowell, Massachusetts, in the 1840s. For ages 9 to 12. (Scholastic, 1991)

Smith, Betty (1896-1972)
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
Francie and her family survive the poverty and hardships of life in early 20th century Brooklyn. For ages 13 to 18. (Harper, c.1943)

Wharton, Edith (1862-1937)
The House of Mirth
New York Society at the end of the 19th century was a time of opulence and frivolity for those who could afford it. But for those who couldn't like Lily Bart, it was something else altogether: a gilded cage rather than the Gilded Age. For adults. (Penguin Books, c.1905)

Unless otherwise noted, all books are found under the author's last name.