Children of the Fire
Written by: Harriette Gillem Robinet
Grades: 3-7
Hallelujah is an 11 year old African American girl. Her mother was a slave who escaped the south to Chicago and died not long after getting there. Hallelujah is living with a foster family who is doing well. One night in October she follows her foster brother out to look at the fires. They lose track of each other as they follow the fires and they grow larger and larger. Hallelujah gets lost. She finds that during the Great Fire in Chicago of 1871, lines of discrimination are erased as everyone fights for their life. Many children are left orphans. Hallelujah spends days with Elizabeth, an Irish immigrant, and they vow to be friends for the rest of their lives. This book shows the devastation and rebuilding of Chicago. It also shows the tension of races when two little girls vow to be friends.
This is a great historical book for the classroom. It will give great details of the Chicago fire that happened in October of 1871. It will also show the diversity of a big city and how differences don't matter when there is trouble.
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