109 pages • 3 hours read
Katherine PatersonLyddie
Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 1991A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.
Further Reading & Resources
Further Reading: Literature
Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens (1838)
Oliver Twist is Charles Dickens’s second novel. First published in serial form between 1837 and 1839, the work was later compiled into a novel. The novel has been adapted into many a screenplay and movie and is often referenced in popular culture. Oliver Twist follows the life of the titular Oliver on the streets of London in the early 19th century.
- Oliver Twist on SuperSummary
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass by Frederick Douglass (1845)
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass is an autobiography by Frederick Douglass that was first published in 1845. Douglass escaped from slavery in 1838 and became a prominent abolitionist, orator, and writer. His autobiography describes his experiences under slavery and his eventual freedom. The book was widely read and influenced public opinion in favor of the abolition of slavery. It remains one of the most read memoirs from the antebellum period. The autobiography includes a Preface by William Lloyd Garrison and a letter from Wendell Phillips addressed to Douglass.
- Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass on SuperSummary
American Notes for General Circulation: Lowell and Its Factory System by Charles Dickens (1842)
Dickens’s travelogue details the status of North America over a period of months in 1842.
Further Reading: Beyond Literature (Nonfiction)
- The Mill Girls of Lowell—A dedicated page on the Lowell National Historical Park official website
- History of Child Labor in the United States—Part I: Little Children Working—An extensive research article on the nature of child labor in America explicating the history of the practice and detailing the myriad roles children played in the workforce, including the different areas of occupation
- Lowell Mill Women Create the First Union of Working Women—A brief article from the official website of the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizers on the Lowell textile workers strike of 1836. This is the strike in which Betsy participated when she was working as a 10-year-old doffer.
- The Voice of Industry—The complete collection of issues published 1845-1848. This publication was the voice of the labor movement at the time.
- Lowell Female Labor Reform Association—This dedicated page from the Lowell National Historical Park’s website provides historical background on the labor reform group of which Diana is a part and mentions their publication, The Voice of Industry, which Betsy acquires a copy of, and Sarah Bagley, a close friend of Diana’s.
- Lowell’s Mill Girls—An 11-part interactive educational website on the topic of textile workers in Lowell from the Tsongas Industrial History Center
- Timeline of the History of Lowell—Spanning 1600-2020, this timeline by the Lowell Historical Society incorporates many events related to work in the textile mills, including the rise of industrialization and the progression of the labor movement.
- Lowell’s Southern Connection —This brief article from the Lowell National Historical Park addresses an issue that is not explicitly addressed in Lyddie: During the years when the novel is set (1843-1846), the raw cotton being cleaned, carded, spun, and then woven into textiles in the Lowell mills was sourced from the American South.
Video & Podcast Resources
- The Massachusetts Mill Workers—A short video including biographical information on mill girls, footage of museum exhibits set inside the girls’ former boardinghouses, a discussion of the working conditions in these environments, and the emerging labor changes explored in the plot of Lyddie
- Lowell Cotton Mill Power Loom—This video, filmed in the still-active weaving room of the Boott Cotton Mills Museum, features a demonstration by a museum professional showing guests how machines similar to those on which Lyddie worked operate, including a closeup look at the shuttle and the individual mechanisms of the loom. The YouTuber who posted it switches from regular to slow-motion video so that the intricacies of the separate processes can be appreciated.
- The Lowell Girls—A two-minute short by NBC News Learn
- Cotton Mill Girl: Behind Lewis Hine’s Photograph—A short video relating the history of the photograph, part of a series on child labor, that appears on the 2015 trade paperback cover of Lyddie
Other Relevant Media Resources
- Lyddie (1996)—This adaptation is a made-for-television movie produced by the Canadian Broadcasting Company. The setting of the story was changed from Vermont to Canada, which slightly alters the issues related to slavery featured in the novel. Several sections of the story are condensed or omitted for time (Lyddie spends approximately 10 minutes at Cutler’s Tavern instead of several months, for example). Otherwise, the film adheres closely to the plot of the book and brings to life the aesthetic details of the historical period.
- Newsies (1992)—This film, rated PG, is a musical focused on the 1899 newsboys strike in New York City that deals with many issues relating to child labor and labor activism. A fun, accessible film for those who enjoy live-action interpretations of historical events. The link is to the Disney+ streaming site, which requires a subscription, but the film can be found via other streaming services.
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By Katherine Paterson
