The book Lyddie was written my Katherine Paterson. The novel tells a story of a 13-year-old girl whose mother hires her and her 11-year-old brother to work and pay of debts. Lyddie did not want to leave her Vermont farmhouse she was waiting for her father to return after going west two years ago in search of a better life. Lyddie was to go be a housemaid and her brother Charlie to work at the mill. When Lyddie takes a day off to visit her brother and go spend a night at her house she was fired. Lyddie decided to go work as a factory worker in Lowell Massachusetts where she can make real money so she pay the debt and go live with her brother at the small cabin in Vermont. After being sick a couple of times her new friend Diane ask Lyddie to sign a petition for better conditions when Lyddie's mother dies her sister Rachel lives with her. Her brother takes Rachel to the mill where they are taken care of. Lyddie signs the petition and is fired then plans on going to a collage in Ohio.
The novel takes place in two places Vermont and Lowell Massachusetts. The novel is over a span of three years 1843 to 1846. The setting is important to the story because during the time there was a demand for factory workers and the story is mainly about how hard it is to work in a factory think the author picked the setting for the same reason.
Lyddie was really the only main character in this story. Lyddie was a responsible 13-year old in the beginning of the book and grows to be a mature woman. Physically Lyddie is strong and a hard worker. Throughout the book Lyddie grow stronger and wiser she not only works hard but also takes care of her sister.
The novel starts with Lyddie her mother, brother and two sisters live together in a Vermont farm house. They did not have a lot of money and could bearly afford to eat. When a black bear got in to there cabin that one night Lyddie's mother said that the end is near and that she was taking the babies Agnes and Rachel to go live with her sister Clarissa and her husband Judah.