When Lyddie arrives in the weave room, she is overcome by the noise and the constant movement of the machines. The noise of the looms is so deafening that she can’t hear a word her new overseer says. One of the older girls, Diana, comes to Lyddie’s rescue and teaches her how to operate the loom, and the two of them become friends.

One day, Lyddie has an accident while tending her looms. The shuttle comes loose and hits her on the side of the head. Diana bandages her head with an apron and helps Lyddie back to the boardinghouse.

Even though Diana had stopped the loom, Lyddie stood rubbing the powder into her fingertips, hesitating to plunger her hands into the bowels of the machine." (p. 75)

And when her bram cleared enough, Lyddie saw through the murky air row upon row of machines, eerily like the old hand loom in Quaker Stevens's house, but as unlike as a nightmare, for these creatures had come to life.

As stated on page 82, Diana says that “there’ll be three looms for you to tend, a nice fat raise to your wages for these several weeks.” Lyddie will be able to make more money this summer. Lyddie bought a light work dress for the summer and she bought a …

Jan 1, 2001 · From two-time Newbery award-winning author Katherine Paterson. When Lyddie and her younger brother are hired out as servants to help pay off their family farm's debts, Lyddie is determined to find a way to reunite her family once again.

Diana patiently trains Lyddie on running a loom. The factory girls stop work and eat breakfast at the boarding house at 7:00 am. They have very little time to eat it.

Lyddie quickly becomes one of the mill’s top workers. She is given more looms to tend and is making more money than ever. Even as she works faster, she keeps a page copied from Oliver Twist taped to a loom.

As the looms speed up and she begins taking responsibility for four of them at once, Lyddie feels confident in tackling this daunting task. She conceives of the looms as “her bears,” large and dangerous, but manageable when she has her wits about her (126).

Mar 12, 2025 · An Irish immigrant whom Lyddie resents at first because she is forced to train her on the loom; later Lyddie befriends Briget and teachers her to read.