Lyddie - Katherine Paterson

Very realistic historical fiction account of one girl's experience as a factory girl in the Lowell Mills circa 1840s.  I really like how Patterson blends historical accuracy and details with enjoyable and high quality writing.  It is worth noting that the story has some pretty bleak moments (illness and death) and mature themes (sexual harassment and unplanned pregnancy) and yet they are always relevant to the storyline and not at all overly graphic. The ending is a bit open-ended and not everything is tied up neatly, but that's realistic.  The age recommendation is 10 to 14 and I feel that is accurate if one is okay with the aforementioned issues.