The Breaker Boys
The Breaker Boys. by Pat Hughes. Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2004
Grade Level : 6-8
ISBN and cost : 0374309566; $15.40
Author Information: A relatively new author, Pat’s web site is just being developed. It does show that The Breaker Boys is her second of three books. Go to her website at: http://www.pathughesbooks.com/
Synopsis :
This historical novel is set in Hazelton, Pennsylvania, in 1897. Twelve-year-old Nate Tanner, the son of a coal mine owner, has been expelled from boarding school and returns home to befriend a mineworkers son. He finds himself caught between the needs of the miners and the fears of his family about the future of their business.
General review :
Don’t judge this book by its cover. It is far from dull. Boys will especially find it interesting because of the colorful main character, Nate, that has difficulty staying out of trouble and in making and keeping friends. Nate becomes friends with the sons of miners, especially Johnny, a Polish-American, but he doesn’t reveal the fact that he is the mine owner’s son. Most of these boys are “breaker boys”, workers in the coalmines at young age. When Nate becomes close to Johnny and his whole family he struggles with his feelings of loyalty to his own family and a close insight to the needs of the workers when the miners go on strike. The author does a fine job of creating real characters that the reader will truly care about, and at the same time teaching the reader about a not-so-well known group of workers that were important in the historical makeup of our country, the coalminers and the breaker boys.
Themes : Friendship; honesty; loyalty; family; forgiveness; doing what is right; immigrants; labor & labor unions.
Discussion Questions : Standard 3 Benchmark 3
- Describe the main character, Nate.
- Compare and contrast Nate and his friend Johnny.
- Give examples of times when Nate struggled with honesty.
- What so you think is the most serious mistake that Nate made in the story, The Breaker Boys? What would you have done?
Activity Suggestions :
1. Research the lives of “Breaker Boys”. (1:4; 1:5; 7:1; 8:2)
2. Find out what labor unions are and what their roles were in the development of our country, especially at the turn of the century and especially the coal workers unions. (2:4; 6:1; 7:1)
3. Compare and contrast the relationship that Nate had with his father and the relationship he had with his grandfather in a Venn diagram. (3:1; 3:3)
4. Debate the decision that Nate had to make when comparing the issues of the miners and the issues of the owners. (2:1; 2:2; 2:4; 3:4
