Starting from Seneca Falls - by Karen Schwabach (Paperback)

About the Book

In 1848, eleven-year-old Bridie runs away to Seneca Falls, New York, where she meets a free black girl named Rose and gets caught up in Elizabeth Cady Stanton's plans for a women's rights convention. Includes historical notes.

Book Synopsis

It took voices big and small to win women the right to vote. Join the rallying cry of the women's suffrage movement in this empowering historical fiction novel from the author of The Hope Chest!

Bridie's life has been a series of wrongs. The potato famine in Ireland. Being sent to the poorhouse when her mother's new job in America didn't turn out the way they'd hoped. Becoming an orphan.

And then there's the latest wrong--having to work for a family so abusive that Bridie is afraid she won't survive. So she runs away to Seneca Falls, New York, which in 1848 is a bustling town full of possibility. There, she makes friends with Rose, a girl with her own list of wrongs, but with big dreams, too.

Rose helps Bridie get a job with the strangest lady she's ever met, Mrs. Elizabeth Cady Stanton. Mrs. Stanton is planning a convention to talk about the rights of women. For Bridie and Rose, it's a new idea, that women and girls could have a voice. But they sure are sick of all the wrongs. Maybe it's time to fight for their rights!

Review Quotes

"A strong example of historical fiction that could be utilized in U.S. history lessons." --School Library Journal

"A friendly introduction to the women's rights and abolitionist movements of the nineteenth century." --Booklist

"Historical fiction fans drawn to period details . . . will be pleased." --The Bulletin

"Steeped in historical facts and details, which will particularly fascinate history buffs." --Kirkus Reviews

About the Author

KAREN SCHWABACH grew up in upstate New York and lived for many years in Alaska, where she taught ESL in the Yup'ik village of Chefornak. She later taught in the education department at Salem College in North Carolina. She's the author of A Pickpocket's Tale, The Hope Chest, The Storm Before Atlanta, and Starting from Seneca Falls.