The Hired Girl
The Hired Girl
The Hired Girl
Laura Amy Schlitz
Winner of the 2016 Scott O’Dell Award for Historical FictionA 2016 Association of Jewish Libraries Sydney Taylor Award WinnerWinner of the 2016 National Jewish Book Award for Children’s and Young Adult LiteratureNewbery Medalist Laura Amy Schlitz brings her delicious wit and keen eye to early twentieth-century America in a moving yet comedic tour de force.Fourteen-year-old Joan Skraggs, just like the heroines in her beloved novels, yearns for real life and true love. But what hope is there for adventure, beauty, or art on a hardscrabble farm in Pennsylvania where the work never ends? Over the summer of 1911, Joan pours her heart out into her diary as she seeks a new, better life for herself—because maybe, just maybe, a hired girl cleaning and cooking for six dollars a week can become what a farm girl could only dream of—a woman with a future. Newbery Medalist Laura Amy Schlitz relates Joan’s journey from the muck of the chicken coop to the comforts of a society household in Baltimore (Electricity! Carpet sweepers! Sending out the laundry!), taking readers on an exploration of feminism and housework; religion and literature; love and loyalty; cats, hats, and bunions.

Book Details

Genre: 

  • Historical Fiction

Age Level: 

  • 12 and up
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I thoroughly enjoyed reading The Hired Girl by Laura Amy Schlitz. This novel takes place in the early 1900's, which gave it a very interesting perspective. The reader experiences the struggles and worries of a young girl living in this time period through her diary entries. From the very first page, I was intrigued by the main character's life. 

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