Up before Daybreak: Cotton and People in America »

In UP BEFORE DAYBREAK, acclaimed author Deborah Hopkinson captures the voices of the forgotten men, women, and children who worked in the cotton industry in America over the centuries. The voices of the slaves who toiled in the fields in the South, the poor sharecroppers who barely got by, and the girls who gave their lives to the New England mills spring to life through oral histories, archival photos, and Hopkinson's engaging narrative prose style. These stories are amazing and often heartbreaking, and they are imbedded deep in our nation's history.

Kevin Beach - VOYA

Cotton came to the New World in 1607 with the first colonists and soon became a vital export crop. Cultivating and processing cotton was work intensive, however. The need for a cheap labor force was filled by increasing the flow of slave labor into America. This thoughtful work examines the lives of slaves who toiled from before dawn until after dusk in hot fields. Inventions like the cotton gin and their impact on the industry are also evaluated. Following chapters describe how post-Civil War sharecroppers continued to live in ex-slave quarters and scraped to get by, raising their own cotton crops and overpaying often-cruel landlords. Many children still worked the fields rather than playing or attending school. Meager diets of pork fat and flour led to prevalent malnourishment and disease. Also covered is the mill industry of the northern states where children were equally overworked. Girls spent the day at looms creating cloth or sewing in hot, oppressive factory buildings. Called "lintheads," they often faced taunts from other children. Generations of families could not escape this cycle of poverty. The boll weevil, droughts, the Great Depression, and technology eventually brought the era of handpicked and cultivated cotton to a close. The last chapter reminds the reader that children still work in fields and factories all over the world because of cotton. The author, renowned for writing juvenile historical fiction, incorporates poignant oral histories and powerful photographs to illustrate the human toll that the cotton plant has wrought. Her work here is highly recommended. VOYA CODES: 4Q 2P M J (Better than most, marred only by occasional lapses; For the YA with a specialinterest in the subject; Middle School, defined as grades 6 to 8; Junior High, defined as grades 7 to 9). 2006, Scholastic, 128p.; Index. Photos. Biblio. Source Notes. Further Reading., Ages 11 to 15.