The+Breaker+Boys+by+Pat+Hughes

//The Breaker Boys// by Pat Hughes Reviewed by Stephanie How would you feel if no one understood you? What about if no one was your friend? Life is like that for Nathan Tanner, a 13 year old boy during the summer of 1897. He lives in Hazelton, Pennsylvania, where coal is its major industry. Nate’s mother died when he was just a little boy, and he now lives with his father, stepmother, siblings, and servants in a wealthy mansion that overlooks a poor town, called a patch town, where all men and boys work for his father’s coal business; mining coal, sorting it, etc. Nate’s family is very wealthy, and has more than enough money to meet everyone’s needs. Even though Nathan has everything a boy at his time period could imagine, the one thing he doesn’t have is a friend. His family doesn’t understand him, and they find him a nuisance most of the time because of his poor attitude towards most things, and his bad temper. One day, Nate goes for a bike ride on a hot summer afternoon. What he doesn’t expect to meet is a friend. Nathan meets Johnny, a Polish American boy who spends most of his days sorting coal for Nate’s family in a filthy, dark building called the breaker, to earn a little money for his poor family. When Johnny asks Nate a little about himself, Nate lies to him. Nate says his family is not rich, and that his parents are not who they really are. Nate does not tell Johnny that he is working in a breaker that is owned by his family. He lies for three reasons. First, his father will be very angry if word gets around that he was socializing with a lower classman. Second, Johnny will immediately hate him because of how his family owns the coal mines that he works in. Coal mine owners and relatives of them were hated back then by their workers because of how poorly they were treated. Finally, Johnny might only like Nathan for his money.

At home, Nate learns his own family’s fears about the future. As lie goes on top of lie, new breaker boy friends are made, and friendships grow stronger, and event happens where Nate’s moment of truth draws nearer and nearer. A violent incident happens that will change all coal country lives forever.

“The Breaker Boys” was a book I could not put down. The author, Pat Hughes, made me feel like I was a character in this book, and witnessing the 1800’s and all the struggles and adventurous incidents that came along with it. I really connected with this book. This book takes place in Hazelton, PA, which is approximately an hour from Kingsley, PA. There really used to be coal mines in Hazelton, and even in Scranton, PA, it was not made up just for a story. Many people’s relatives actually worked in the coal mines and for the coal companies, including my great-grandfathers. I give this marvelous book five stars and two thumbs up. I highly recommend “The Breaker Boys” to any reader who loves excitement and historical fiction.