For readers of Stamped and America Redux, Shift Happens is an accessible and comprehensive YA history of the way the labor movement has shaped America and how it intersects with many of the major issues facing modern teens.
You need to work to live.
That’s the truth for most people, and plenty of bosses have been abusing that truth for centuries.
Long before the first labor unions were formed, workers still knew what exploitation looked like. It looked like the enslavement of Black people. It looked like generations of children dying in dangerous jobs. It looked like wealthy people hiring private militaries to attack their employees.
But workers have always found a way to fight back. Arawak tribespeople resisted Columbus and his colonizers. Enslaved people led walkouts and rebellions. Textile workers demanded a wage that would let them have fun, not just survive. Miners died for the right to unionize. From 20,000 young seamstresses striking in the early 1900s to Uber drivers organizing for change today, people have learned we’re stronger when we are united.
Shift Happens is a smart, funny, and engaging look at the history of the worker actions that brought us weekends, pay equality, desegregation, an end to child labor, and so much more.
In today's classroom, Common Core is king and this level helps support the need for quality nonfiction for teen readers. These stimulating informational texts invite teen readers to question assumptions and engage in high-order thinking while providing examples of excellence in research and presentation. The 14 books in this category will attract browsers as well as report-writers. May include some books written for adults.
14 books per Year
$302.40 per Year
Interests
Diversity, Mature Readers, Nonfiction, Biographies, History
Illustrations/Images: Blood/Gore,Illustrations/Images: Disturbing Imagery,Language: Strong Language,Violence: Gun Violence,Violence: Sexual Assault/Rape,Violence: Torture,Violence: War/Harsh Realities of War
Discrimination: Racial Insensitivity/Racism,Drugs/Alcohol/Tobacco: Reference or Discussion,Language: Strong Language,Social Issue: Political Viewpoint/Satire,Violence: General,Violence: Sexual Assault/Rape Reference/Discussion