I wanted to love this book, I will replace it if I can find a better one in this niche. This is a fair introduction to living to concept of making steel and living where it is made. I am retaining it because of how close we are to Pittsburgh but if I compare it to the books I have on other areas like Appalachia or coal towns, this falls short. ( )

Steel Town tells of the steel making process through the view of a worker. The illustrations are powerful and mysterious. There is repetition in the story which mimics the repetition in the process of the mill.

I found the repetition strange and without use to the narrative or lyricism. The words and pictures were dark; while evocative of their subject, this was too dull and dreary to engage my children - even I struggled to continue. The interesting bits about the people and the town were reserved to the first few and last few pages. The long drawn out explanation of the step by step process was too much for a story and too little to be truly instructional. Overall, sadly, we didn't like this book so much. ( )

Steel Town, by Jonah Winter, presents a historical representation of an industrial era where factories and iron and steel production were abundant. I think this book will appeal to boys in particular because its full of machines and furnaces, trains and smokestacks. The artwork is perfect for the story, full of dark grays and browns and blacks. The illustrations lend a great deal of immersion into the story. ( )

Gr 1-4, It’s dark, it’s grimy, and you can hear the faint rhythmic sound of a train passing by, this Steel Town. Hop back in time with Jonah Winter to an industrialized 1930s America steel town. Bustling with immigrant workers, and that steady rhythmic sound of the coal train passing by. Done in verse, and making use of rhythm and beats, Winter is able to help bring us back to a time of hard work, sweat, grime, and the immigrant experience. Most pages are text heavy accompanied by dark illustrations, along with its in depth steel making process make this a better read for older audiences. The use of rhythm and verse would make for an excellent mentor text for understanding prose and verse. The process of the steel making itself would also offer as a mentor text for step by step processes. Lastly, Steel Town makes for an excellent choice of historical fiction of early 20th century America. ( )