The Journal of Finn Reardon

br The Journal of Finn Reardon

The Journal of Finn Reardon Many people are probably unaware of the fact that journalism played as important of a role in American society at the turn of the nineteenth century as it plays , now , in the early twentieth century . Still fewer people probably realize how important of a role child-laborers played in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries in America , and the experience of being a part of the workforce from an early age shaped the views and lives of the generations who experienced

this time in American history . Susan Campbell Bartoletti 's fictional account of the life of one of these young laborers "The Journal of Finn Reardon " presents a convincing portrait of life and hardships in New York City in the year 1899 (Scholastic

Finn Reardon calls himself "a newsie you can trust (Scholastic ) and at thirteen years old , he "lives with his family in a Bowery tenement sells s to earn extra money[ .] Finn plans to quit school at fourteen and get a job at the news office (Scholastic . Finn 's life is very different from the life of a typical American thirteen year old in 2008 . In addition to working both day and night at selling newss , Finn attends "a sixth grade class taught by Mr . Drinker who is "more stern than a prison guard " and uses the "power of the paddle to discipline his students (Scholastic

So , for Finn , two aspects of life which are criminal in modern America are a typical way of life in his world : the physical punishing of children (what we now call "child abuse ) and the working of a child both day and night (what we now call "exploitation . The important thing to remember about Finn 's life as it is portrayed by Susan Campbell Bartoletti , is that , far from being an unusual life , Finn 's is a typical life at this time in America for a boy of his age and social class . In fact , Susan Campbell Bartoletti is a well-respected researcher and expert in the history of child labor in America nd she has written other books which help to recreate what life was like in these times through her fiction . One of her previous books "Kids on Strike ![ .] is a well-researched account of the conditions and treatments that led to labor strikes by young people in the coal mines of Pennsylvania in the garment industry of New York , Chicago , and Philadelphia and in the cotton mills of New England (Johnson , and Giorgis , 336 . So it is important for readers to remember that while "The Journal of Finn Reardon " is fictional , the contents of the fictionalized account are authentically researched and the author of the book is very knowledgeable about the subject she is writing about

Other details of Finn 's life emerge as the novel develops "His father never stays at one job very long , his Grandpa Jiggsy gets odd jobs only now and then , and his...