Central Skagit Library District

"The eagerly awaited next novel from the author of the New York Times bestselling A Land More Kind Than Home about a young mother desperately trying to hold her family together in the years before the Great Depression, a haunting and moving story of cowardice, courage and sacrifice"-- Ella May Wiggins, a young mother desperately trying to hold her family together with the paltry nine dollars a week she earns from the textile mill two miles away,...

Depicts the hardships and suffering endured by the Joads as they journey from Oklahoma to California during the Depression.

Julia Query, activist, comedian, lesbian and stripper at a club called the Lusty Lady, put in long hours on stage and in the peep booth along with fellow exotic dancers Decadence, Lolita, and Octopussy. But when faced with no sick leave, unfair demotions, safely and privacy concerns, and racial discrimination, Query and her co-workers decide to organize and unionize the exotic dancers of the Lusty Lady. WINNER! Audience Award- San Francisco International...

In Thailand, women make up 90 percent of the labor force responsible for garments and toys for export by multinational corporations. This powerful, revealing documentary about women factory workers and their struggle to organize unions exposes the human cost behind the production of everyday items that reach our shores. Probing the profound impact of the New World Order on the populations that provide the global economy with cheap labor, Made In Thailand...

If you're interested in a career in the skilled trades, you've come to the right book. So what exactly do these people do on the job, day in and day out? What kind of skills and educational background do you need to succeed in these fields? How much can you expect to make, and what are the pros and cons of these various fields? Is this even the right career path for you? How do you avoid burnout and deal with stress? This book can help you answer...

From the beet fields of North Dakota to the National Forest campgrounds of California to Amazon's CamperForce program in Texas, employers have discovered a new, low-cost labor pool, made up largely of transient older Americans. Finding that social security comes up short, often underwater on mortgages, these invisible casualties of the Great Recession have taken to the road by the tens of thousands in late-model RVs, travel trailers, and vans, forming...

Seventeen-year-old musician Xue faces a lifetime of servitude until Duke Meng offers her freedom in exchange for serving as a musician in residence, but Xue soon discovers the Duke is a celestial ruler with ulterior motives and she must unlock her past to prevent an impending war in the Six Realms.

"Championing equal rights for all people regardless of gender, race, and economic class, Dolores Huerta is a globally recognized icon in the fight for social justice. This book explores Huerta's inspiring story, focusing on her courage and perseverance as an advocate for the working poor, women's rights, and rights for immigrant communities. As a co-founder of the United Farm Workers union and president of the Dolores Huerta Foundation, she continues...

"An historical novel that explores one young woman's determination to put an end to child labor in a Pennsylvania mining town"-- As a child Emma Malloy left isolated Coal River, Pennsylvania, vowing never to return. Now, orphaned and penniless, she travels back to the rough-hewn community where she is treated like a servant by her relatives, working for free in the company store. Miners and their impoverished families must pay inflated prices for...

The Jungle is a 1906 work of narrative fiction by American muckraker novelist Upton Sinclair. Sinclair's primary purpose in describing the meat industry and its working conditions was to advance socialism in the United States. However, most readers were more concerned with several passages exposing health violations and unsanitary practices in the American meat-packing industry during the early 20th century, which greatly contributed to a public outcry...