OUT OF THE FLAME
In 1893 a disgraced glass blower’s apprentice travels back to 1750 and meets a boy who wants to escape his indenture in a glass factory.
If you were a child from a poor family who lived between 1870 and 1920, there is a good chance that your day was spent working in a factory or coal mine rather than going to school. Textile mills and glass factories were two major industries that employed children. Young workers from ages ten to fifteen were prized for their nimble fingers and ability to work fast. Despite harsh and dangerous working conditions, the children worked long hours for minimal pay. Their families needed the money. This situation didn’t change until after the National Child Labor Committee began lobbying for change in 1904. The Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 ended child labor outside of agriculture.
In fact, child labor started much earlier. Children who were kidnapped or orphaned were frequently pressed into servitude from the 1700’s to the early 20th century.
In Out of the Flame, you will meet two young men who live 150 years apart but have more in common than either could ever imagine.
The inspiration for this book comes from the Kids at Work: Lewis Hine and the Crusade Against Child Labor by Russell Freedman.
I wanted to know the story behind the children in the photographs. What they experienced, what their world was like, why they had to go to work at such a young age.
NIGHTMARE IN NUREMBERG
John and Sabrina Worthington must discover why they’ve been transported to Nuremberg, Germany in 1935. Sabrina is sure it’s to infiltrate the Hitler Youth and John thinks it’s to save their Jewish ancestors from the Nazis. As Sabrina becomes increasingly brainwashed, John realizes he must rescue his relatives and his sister to ensure his family’s survival. Sabrina realizes the Nazis’ lies, they perform a dangerous rescue and return home with new priorities.
This time travel graphic novel is loosely based on my grandfather’s and father’s experiences in Nuremberg, Germany during WWII.
From left to right: My father Henry Federlin, his mother Else, and his father, Sigmund. Circa 1945.
Copyright © Carol Baldwin 2024