Counting on Grace

A powerful work of historical fiction that vividly captures the experience of being a child laborer at the turn of the century.

1910. Pownal, Vermont. Grace and her friend Arthur are good students in the mill school but must leave the classroom to work as "doffers" in the mill. Grace's mother is a fast worker 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. Grace only feels capable when she and Arthur receive lessons from Miss Lesley, the mill school teacher. Together they write a secret letter to the Child Labor Board about underage children working in Pownal. A few weeks later a photographer appears—it is the famous reformer Lewis Hines. Grace's brief acquaintance with Hines and the photos he takes of her are a gift that changes her sense of herself and her family's future.

"History and fiction are woven seamlessly together in this beautifully written novel."—School Library Journal, starred review ALA Notable Children’s Book