Historical fiction is a powerful medium for conveying the content and texture of times past. Prolific novelist Margaret Peterson Haddix transports her readers back in time to New York City in 1911 to a landscape of tenements, grueling working conditions, and the burgeoning labor movement. Three protagonists -- Yetta, a Jewish immigrant from Russia; Bella an Italian immigrant; and Jane, the daughter of privilege -- converge to tell the story of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire. This tragic fire was a watershed in American labor history, the suffrage movement, and the catalyst for new and safer building codes. UPRISING is a captivating read. I recommend it for all middle school readers.