I just finished reading a book that I absolutely loved! The title of the book is Water Street, written by two-time Newbery Honor-Winning author, Patricia Reilly Giff. This wonderful, touching historical fiction book takes place in 1875 in a tenement building on Water Street in Brooklyn, where the Mallon family can look out their window as the Brooklyn Bridge is being built. Once I started reading this book I couldn't put it down until I finished it. I highly recommend this book to fourth and fifth graders! Students, I would love to see you comment here after you have read the book yourself.
From Kids Read:
... her [Patricia Reilly Giff's] latest work of historical fiction and the companion to NORY RYAN'S SONG and MAGGIE'S DOOR, continues the tale of Nory Ryan and Sean Mallon's newly established life in America, following their intrepid journey from Ireland in the mid-1800s. The narrative --- this time, relayed in the alternating voices of Bird (Nory and Sean's daughter) and Thomas (the boy upstairs of the same age) --- is just as engrossing as the previous two installments, and stands as an evocative snapshot of the immigrant Irish American experience in late 1800s New York.
...A beautiful and richly drawn family saga set against the volatile backdrop of an ever-expanding city landscape, WATER STREET is historical fiction at its best. Giff does a superb job of slipping in factual details for kids to sink their teeth into and discuss (i.e. the side story of the Roebling family: John Roebling, the engineer responsible for designing the Brooklyn Bridge; his predecessor and son, Washington, who also contracted caisson's disease; and Washington's wife, Emily, who ultimately took over for Washington and saw the project through to its completion). She expertly captures the feelings of hope and excitement that reverberated throughout late 19th century New York, despite the gritty and cramped living conditions, and poetically instills the Bridge with a personality all its own.
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