Calling Extra is a historical novel for young readers, ages 10 – 14, based on the true events of 1899 when the newsboys of New York City organized a two-week strike against newspaper moguls Joseph Pulitzer and William Randolph Hearst. The narrative follows thirteen year-old Elsie Lutz whose father, a widowed German immigrant, is falsely accused and arrested for murder. This life-changing event leaves Elsie to fend for herself on the streets of New York City at the Turn-of-the-Century. |
Elsie’s story takes us through the orphanage asylums of the Progressive Era, the slums of the Lower-East side, the refuge homes that housed working class children and the streets that fostered the daring newsboys strike. Through her friendship with Grin, a smart and resourceful newsboy with an old soul, Elsie discovers that she has the power to change the world around her. With her newfound voice she ultimately frees her father from the bowls of Tombs Prison by means of a young female lawyer during the dawn of the Women’s Rights movement. |
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