Potential Reading

I just finished reading A Curse Dark as Gold by Elizabeth C. Bunce in an effort to find some historical fiction for my CP students to read as part of their layered curriculum.  It was the 2009 William C. Morris award winner as presented by the ALA.  In short, it is a story about a young woman who inherits a small textile mill from her father and proceeds to deal with the "curse" that seemingly dooms the mill and all those who work in it to a never-ending series of problems/disasters.  (You can read a fuller synopsis by clicking on the blog title above.)

I had read it based on the idea that it might be a good book for the early industrial revolution in the United States, and while the author claims that it would work for that purpose, I think that it fits much better in European history context and with a middle school audience.  It was very readable and well written/researched.  It also exposes students to some old-school fairy tales that perhaps they have not heard before.  Overall, I would recommend the book, although it is close to 400 pages and the second half of the book leaves the realities of the weaving process behind and moves on with the story of the people.