For our October meeting of the Ashburn Kids Book Club, we will be discussing the book "Counting on Grace" by Elizabeth Winthrop. This is an historical fiction book that describes life in Vermont in the early 1900's and how young children were forced to leave school and work in the textile mills to help their families earn enough money to survive. The idea for the book began when the author saw a photograph taken by the famous photographer Lewis Hine. Hine was a photojournalist who was hired by the National Child Labor Committee in 1907 to photograph and document the plight of children forced to labor long hours in harsh conditions. When the author saw Hine's black-and-white photo of 12-year-old Addie Card standing barefoot next to a spinning machine, her mind began to imagine what life might have been like for her. The result was the book, "Counting On Grace." It has Hine's photograph on the cover. After the book was published, Winthrop decided to research historical records and see if she could figure out more about Addie Card. It took a lot of "detective" work but she eventually found out that Addie lived to the age of 94 years. Ms. Winthrop was even able to meet some of Addie's great granddaughters. What a fantastic story!
Join us on Thursday, Oct. 2, at 7 pm for our book discussion!
