Fire at the Triangle Factory

From the Series On My Own History

  • Interest Level: Grade 2 - Grade 4
  • Reading Level: Grade 3

Six days a week Minnie and Tessa sit, shoulder to shoulder, bent over sewing machines in a big room overflowing with piles of fabric, patterns, and lace. There is no fresh air, the light is dim, and there are too many people in the room. The work is hard and the days are long. Minnie and Tessa work at the Triangle Shirtwaist Company in New York City. The two fourteen-year-olds are best friends. It isn’t easy for a Jewish girl and a Catholic girl to be friends in 1911—some people think they’re just too different. But Minnie and Tessa must depend on that friendship when the Triangle factory goes up in flames and they are trapped on the ninth floor. This moving story of courage and friendship is based on true accounts of the tragic Triangle Shirtwaist Company fire of March 25, 1911.

Format Your Price Add
978-0-87614-970-6
$8.99
978-0-7613-5843-5
$28.99
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Interest Level Grade 2 - Grade 4
Reading Level Grade 3
Genre Social Studies
Category 5 Kinds of Nonfiction, 5KN: Narrative Nonfiction
Copyright 1996
Publisher Lerner Publishing Group
Brand On My Own Books
Imprint First Avenue Editions ™, Millbrook Press ™
Language English
Number of Pages 48
Publication Date 1991-08-01
Reading Counts! Level 2.2
Text Type Narrative Nonfiction
BISACS JNF025210, JNF007120, JNF053030
Dewey [E]
Graphics Full-color illustrations
Dimensions 5.875 x 8.5
Lexile 570
Guided Reading Level P
ATOS Reading Level 3.5
Accelerated Reader® Quiz 47163
Accelerated Reader® Points 0.5
Features Author/Illustrator note, Awards, Bibliography/further reading, Reviewed, Teaching Guides, and eSource

Author: Holly Littlefield

Holly Littlefield is the author of several books for young readers. She lives in Maple Grove, Minnesota.

Illustrator: Mary O'Keefe Young

Lerner eSource™ offers free digital teaching and learning resources, including Common Core State Standards (CCSS) teaching guides. These guides, created by classroom teachers, offer short lessons and writing exercises that give students specific instruction and practice using Common Core skills and strategies. Lerner eSource also provides additional resources including online activities, downloadable/printable graphic organizers, and additional educational materials that would also support Common Core instruction. Download, share, pin, print, and save as many of these free resources as you like!

On My Own History

With striking, full-page illustrations, real and fictionalized characters, and stories featuring events that really happened, these books capture readers’ interest and imagination. View available downloads →

Awards

  • SSLI Book Award Honor Book, Commended, 1996

Reviews

Booklist

“In 1911 New York City, Jewish Minnie and Catholic Tessa can only be friends at the factory, but this friendship pays off when the famous and tragic Triangle Shirtwaist Company fire takes the lives of many of their coworkers. . . Large color drawings. . . are a wonderful asset to the story, which young readers will find exciting as well as touching.”
Booklist

Christian Library Journal

“The easy-to-read text does not undermine the inherent drama of the story.”
Christian Library Journal

School Library Journal

“Littlefield relates the historical events through these likeable characters with whom youngsters will easily identify. . . The colorful illustrations complement the text and follow the story nicely.”
School Library Journal