Lyddie

by Katherine Paterson

Book Overview

From two-time Newbery award-winning author Katherine Paterson.

When Lyddie and her younger brother are hired out as servants to help pay off their family farm's debts, Lyddie is determined to find a way to reunite her family once again. Hearing about all the money a girl can make working in the textile mills in Lowell, Massachusetts, she makes her way there, only to find that her dreams of returning home may never come true.

Includes...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0140373896
• ISBN13: 9780140373899
• Release Date: January 1995
• Publisher: Puffin Books
• Length: 208 Pages
• Weight: 0.25 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.0" x 7.6"
• Age Range: 8 to 12 years
• Grade Range: Grades 3 to 7

Customer Reviews

A Great Novel

I first read this book in fourth grade back in 2005 and it has become one of my favorite books ever since. I highly recommend it.

Review of Lyddie

Lyddie was one of the best books I have read in a long time! Katherine Patterson really did a great job writting it. She made the book come alive. The way she wrote and explaned everything made it easy to understand. Also, you felt like you could have been Lyddie and experienced the same kind of stuff she did.I think the best part of the book was while Lyddie worked in the factory. It ws almost as if you were a factory girl yourself. The factory is where Lyddie basically grew up. You find out alot about her and her life.One of the most vivid elements was the setting. Even though there were alot of settings, I can see each one so well. One of the best things she does is to compare things to real life, like "The machines were like big monsters!" Another thing Katherine Paterson does well is describing her characters. I can see a picture of each one in my head so clearly. If I had to pick them out of a line up, I could. I will definatley read more books by Katherine Patterson!

Lyddie---A Piece of History in a Touching Story

Hi. I'm in the sixth grade. Our teacher gave us a list of books we could use for our book reports, and I chose Lyddie because it looked good. I was not mistaken even though I judged just from the cover. It was a terrific book. It takes place in the Industrail Revolution. It's about a bright, hardworking farm girl who is forced to leave her farm because her mother made it so she had to work. But she is fired from her job, because she went to see her farm. She heard that they get high pay in factories, so she goes south to one and is hired. She becomes the best worker there, working hard with dreams to get her family back together with the money she earns. Eventually she learns to read, annd books become very special to her. She copies Oliver Twist out page by page and pastes it on her work area and reads little snatches of it in her little spare time untile she practically knows it by heart. In this way she learns how to read well. But then her mother dies and her father gives permission to sell their farm. Lyddie can no longer hope to rebuy the farm. The man who tells her that brings her little sister Rachel. Rachel isn't allowed on the premises, but a kind lady makes an exception and Lyddie takes care of Rachel until her brother can take her back. When a neighbor of hers, Mr. Luke STevens, asks to marry her so she'll have someone to get support from, she refuses. Then mr. Marson, the dirty overseer there, tries to rape a girl and she puts a pan over his head. He finds an excuse to fire her, saying she's influencing the other girls in a bad way. She leaves and decides to go to college. While I skipped a lot of important stuff in this review, I hope it makes you want to read the book for yourself. It's great.

Lyddie

I loved this book. It's about a 13 year old girl who is the true knot of the family, keeping everything tied together. But when a bear comes into their harsh cabin in the Vermont hills, Lyddie's mother thinks its a sign of the devil and takes the little children to her sister's farm. Lyddie and her brother try to keep the farm together, but then they are hired out by their unstable mother to pay the debts against their father before he left. When Lyddie is fired from her job her mother sent her too, she goes to Lowell to find work. She then sees her account start to grow and thinks she can keep the family together. If you'll read this book, you'll find the ending.

Lyddie

I am a fifth grader in Massachusets and I read the book Lyddieby Katherine Paterson. I thought that it was a good book. This bookis about a girl naned Lyddie whose dad goes West to look for wealth. Her mom sends her and her brother off to be indentured. A little while later, Lyddie is dismissed because she went on a vacation. Then, she goes off to work at a mill in Lowell. Lyddie tries to make enough money to bring family back together but while she works at the mill a series of events change her life forever. I would recommend this book for anyone ten or older who is studing the Industrial Revloution.

what a wonderful story! it warmed my heart. <3

my grandmother found this book on the side of the road, and gave it to me. i'm not much into historicals, they've simply got too much fact, and not enough fantasy. but this tale of the determination of a thirteen year old girl fighting her way through life to do what she thinks is right warmed my heart to her plight. i am 18 years old, and once considered myself above the realm of "young adult literature." but i truly enjoyed this book, spent hours absorbed in the pages. the characters, though mostly archetypes, still have their own life and charm. and some of them will down-right surprise you! i even felt pride in them when they did something right. i would recommend this book to anyone who has a passion for reading a well defined, character-driven story.