Urban Life

School Library Journal

Gr 5-9-This clear, concise, and well-written volume examines American city life at the turn of the century. Chapters are divided according to topics, e.g., growth of cities, progressives and reformers, expansion and change, etc. While no new material is presented, Leuzzi brings together several aspects of that time period. More information on child labor can be found in Russell Freedman's Kids at Work (Clarion, 1994). Leonard Everett Fisher's Ellis Island (Holiday, 1986) focuses on immigration at that time. Several well-produced photographs appear throughout but some are out of sync with the text, e.g., Stephen Crane is mentioned on one page; his picture appears several pages later. Still, the sheer volume of pictures will make this title as popular with browsers as with report writers. A list for further reading and a good index are included; notes and a bibliography are not. Still, this is a good choice for most libraries.-Margaret B. Rafferty, Gwinnett-Forsyth Regional Library, GA

Mary Harris Veeder

One hundred years ago, many major American cities existed, some quite like and some quite different from the way they are today. With a good selection of pictures and text, the book looks not only at their histories, but also at how children and adults lived in them. Immigration, entertainment, segregation, and political power are among the topics explored to help make the complexities of urban life clear. Although the list of references might have been more current, the book serves as a good place to begin a history project, and Leuzzi's dual perspective--how it felt to be alive in the nineteenth century and how living then seems to us today--keeps urban life a century ago from ever seeming dull or quaint.