Counting on Grace

1910. Pownal, Vermont. At 12, Grace and her best friend Arthur must leave school and go to work as a doffers on their mothers looms in the mill. Grace s mother is the best worker, fast and powerful, and Grace desperately wants to help her. But she s left handed and doffing is a right-handed job. Grace s every mistake costs her mother, and the family. She only feels capable on Sundays, when she and Arthur receive special lessons from their teacher. Together they write a secret letter to the Child Labor Board about underage children working in Pownal. A few weeks later a man with a camera shows up. It is the famous reformer Lewis Hine, undercover, collecting evidence for the Child Labor Board. Grace s brief acquaintance with Hine and the photos he takes of her are a gift that changes her sense of herself, her future, and her family s future.


From the Hardcover edition.