Uprising, by Margaret Peterson Haddix is a compelling novel about three young women all on different journeys tied together with the same hunger for life. These driven young women meet at a overwhelming strike for the Triangle Shirtwaist factory in 1909. The strike influenced everyone touched by it and changed the way people thought about women's rights and the manipulative, unfair ways of the factory. During this six-month strike, poor women strikers were beat and arrested for standing up for what they believed in but stood proud until a union was formed and the company settled. The fire that decided these girls' fates was a tragedy that was recognized far and wide as something that changed America.

The story is told in the perspectives of Bella. Yetta, and Jane. Bella is a naive, Italian immigrant wanting nothing more but to support her family back home and to find love. Yetta is a Russian Jewish immigrant who is very liberal, feminist, and never willing to give up. (As you can guess, my favorite character). And Jane is a wealthy American brought up by her father who feels she needs to do something more meaningful with her life so gives up her wealth to join the other two in making difference.

The main theme in the book is justly summed up in this quote: "We will not be stupid girls. We will not be powerless girls. We will not be useless girls." Pg. 330. I liked this book for the way it tied women our age into the enthralling history of the Shirtwaist factory fire of 1911, to inform and empower young women today to aspire to be whatever they want to be.

I would recommend this book to someone who is passionate about civil rights or is captivated by historical fiction. It does a great job at tying the two together in a way that keeps you drawn in an craving more.