Stitched Up by Steve Cole

Hanh is sold by her parents to two strangers who offer her a good job as a shop assistant in distant Hanoi. She and other girls from her village are taken to the city but that's when all the promises are broken. They are locked inside a factory, fed only rice, they are only allowed to use the bathroom twice a day, and all of them are forced to work in very dangerous factory conditions manufacturing jeans for the fast fashion industry. Perfectly good denim is distressed by sandblasting. Fabrics are dropped into vats of dangerous chemicals. Machines are used to press creases into the legs of the pants. And embellishments are added by machine and by hand. The young overseer girl wields a stick and she beats any child who does not perform their tasks quickly. Quotas, money and greed drive this industry. Reading this book will most certainly make you reconsider that next purchase of fast fashion.

The story does have a resolution but clearly Hanh will be damaged for the rest of her life and her parents suffer from the most dreadful guilt. They never did receive the promised money. In this book you can read about modern slavery and organisations who are working to rescue children like Hanh and her friends. There is also an afterword about ways to avoid fast fashion. I had no idea 8,000 litres of water are used to make one pair of jeans 

This book is from the Barrington Stoke (Dyslexia friendly) book series. They produce books for all ages and this one is most certainly a Young Adult title for mature readers aged 12+.

You're going to read about the processes which go into the manufacture of garments such as the jeans. They're complex and require a great deal of skill. Hanh and the other girls get just two poor meals a day and are allowed only two toilet breaks. Violence is commonplace - and vicious. No account is taken of any illnesses or injuries: the girls are, after all, expendable. It's a dreadful situation but Steve Coles tells the story with sensitivity and compassion but still manages not to shy away from the brutal truth about why fast-fashion clothes are so cheap. BookBag

Children who are passionate about social justice are sure to devour this book. Scope for Imagination

In the context of a High School this book could be used in many different ways. If your school runs a social justice program this book explores modern slavery. This book is also about textile manufacturing and in particular 'trendy' jeans with distressed fabrics, rips and tears and embellishments and so it could be used in Design and Tech. If you have a group of students exploring the UN Rights of the child this book could be added to a wide reading list.

Here are all the titles in this series by Steve Cole:

I would pair Stitched up with these books:

Amal Unbound

Missy's Super Duper Royal Deluxe Picture Day by Susan Nees

In spite of the very long title - Missy's Super Duper Royal Deluxe Picture Day is a simple junior book. It will only appeal to girls in Grades 1 and 2 and the plot is quite predictable but it did make me smile.

Missy has big plans for class picture day.  She will wear wonderful clothes.  "Missy could not wait until Friday.  Friday was picture day at school.  And Missy was going to dress up Super Duper Royal Deluxe.  She was going to razzle and dazzle! She was going to shimmer and shine!"

Missy is really called Melisa Abigail Rose but everyone calls her Missy.  She has a cat called Pink and everyone calls him "Pink."  On school picture day Missy tries twelve different crazy outfits until she finally settles on the perfect combination which includes all her favourite things - sparkly bag, plaid skirt, dynamite boots and her super duper fuzzy hat.   Missy's mother takes one look at her daughter and their battle begins.  Mum has organised a far more conservative and sensible Picture Day outfit. Mum wins the battle and a very angry Missy heads off to school.  In class Missy sits beside Oscar. Missy is so busy feeling furious and comparing her plain clothes with the sparkles of her class mates she does not really look at Oscar.  He is wearing a plaid vest and a huge green bow tie.  As the two of them wait for their turn Oscar explains his brilliant plan to Missy.  The ending will make you smile.

Here is the web site for the author where you can peek inside other books from this series.  We have all of them in our school library. You might also enjoy the Fancy Nancy series and Eloise.