Katherine Paterson has a brilliant knack for painting the most vivid characters with her elegant writing style and this novel, Bread and Roses, Too, is no exception.
Taking inspiration from from historical events, Paterson weaves together the lives of two children caught inextricably in the politics that swirl around them. Like the metaphorical ripple in the water, with each event growing more violent than the last, causes waves that touch young Rosa and Jake, drawing them closer into the maelstrom that threatens to envelop their whole town.
It was difficult to reconcile the differences between the two characters, Jake's poverty so starkly different from the struggles that Rosa's family faces, even though they too can not be classified as anything other than impoverished with no food in their home and precious little heat. But Rosa has something infinitely more precious than material possessions; she has a strong, loving and passionate Italian family.
It is the sense of family that really comes to power the entire novel--overriding all the political dissension, the not very subtle racial implications, the sorrows that plague immigrant families from that time to this--because in the end, it is the family unit that helps each one overcome their limitations and push themselves to discover the hope of the future.
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