Nickel
and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America
Written by Barbara Ehrenreich
Published in 2001 by Henry Holt
Grades 9-12
ISBN: 0-8050-6388-9
Book
Review
Barbara Ehrenreich is a journalist that
goes undercover to find out what life is like in America for the millions of minimum-wage
workers and describes her experiences in Nickel
and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America. Ehrenreich moves around the
country finding minimum wage jobs and living in the cheapest places she can
find. Ehrenreich discovers that paying the bills and putting a roof over your
head is not easy even if you have a job. She learns about the working poor’s
strategies for survival and their tenacity to keep moving forward.
This is an adult book but will appeal to
teen readers. The book is best suited for 11th and 12th
grade students or advanced readers.
Professional
Reviews
Teaching
Ideas
1. Grade 11
Hot
Topic: Students will participate in a debate about the minimum wage in the
United States. Students should research the minimum wage and the controversy
surrounding the increase of the wage. Then, students will choose a side and
debate with their classmates.
English SOL 11.1
The student will make informative and persuasive presentations. a) Gather and
organize evidence to support a position. b) Present evidence clearly and
convincingly. c) Address counterclaims. d) Support and defend ideas in public
forums.
2. Grades 11-12
YOUR
economy: Students will create a class economy. They will create jobs, assign
wages, and determine housing costs and other typical bills. Then students will “live”
in their economy over the course of the semester. At the end of the semester,
students will write a reflection on the experience.
SOL EPF.10
The student will develop consumer skills by a) examining basic economic
concepts and their relation to product prices and consumer spending; b)
examining the effect of supply and demand on wages and prices; c) describing
the steps in making a purchase decision, including the roles of marginal
benefit and marginal cost.
3. Grade 11
It’s
in the Numbers: Students will research a city they would like to live in. Then,
students will create a realistic, personal budget that includes projected
housing costs and living expenses. Students will share their budget with small
groups and discuss the feasibility of the budget.
SOL EPF.17
The student will demonstrate knowledge of personal financial planning by d)
developing a personal budget.
4. Grade 11
What
do YOU think?: Students will write a persuasive article to a politician or the
editorial section of a newspaper about the minimum wage in the United States. Students
should take a side and defend their position in the article.
English SOL 11.6
The student will write in a variety of forms, with an emphasis on persuasion.
5. Grade 12
The
Price of Poverty: Students will complete a research project on teen poverty in
the United States. The research should include an overview of poverty in the
country. Then, students will select one location and research the implications
for impoverished teens in that locality.
English
SOL 12.8 The student will write documented research
papers. a) Use technology as a tool to research, organize, evaluate, and
communicate information. b) Frame, analyze, and synthesize information to solve
problems, answer questions, and generate new knowledge. d) Synthesize
information to support the thesis and present information in a logical manner.
Further
Explorations
Frontline explores the lives of children living in poverty
in the United States.
Watch this interview with Barbara
Ehrenreich about her novels and opinions on not getting by in America.
This short documentary
describes the implications of poverty in one Pennsylvania town.
Poverty and hunger statistics
in America. There are also links that offer ways to help fight hunger and
poverty.
Read about teenagers
who are taking a stand against poverty and helping out across the world.
Teens
Opposing Poverty is an organization focused on helping people in poverty. This
list
also has ways to help out.
You can find some budgeting basics for teens on
this website. This
website
has more tips for building financial literacy in teens.
The Teen Economists blog contains
interesting blog posts on a variety of topics including economics, politics,
finance, and science & technology.
Read more about the basics of economics.
Partner
Titles
The partner titles include a mix of nonfiction and
fiction books. These books focus on poverty in America in the past and present.
If
I Ever Get Out of Here by Eric L Gansworth chronicles
the life of a boy living on an Indian reservation in the 1970’s and the
implications that has on his life and relationships. This book was chosen for
its male main characters and depiction of a teen living in poverty. This book
will appeal to male, teen readers as well as those that may come from a lower
socioeconomic status. Available as an audiobook and Ebook.
The
Divide: American Injustice in the Age of the Wealth Gap by
Matt Taibbi is a New York Times bestseller
about the great divide between the poor and the wealthy in the United States. Taibbi
is a well –researched investigative reporter and his book delves into the
scandals that create the divide. This
book was chosen for its literary merit and accurate depictions of the wealth
gap in the U.S. Further, this book has been positively reviewed by several
sources included NPR, Kirkus Reviews,
and the Washington Post.
In The Working
Poor: Invisible in America by David K. Shipler, Shipler examines the lives
of the working poor across the country. This is an appropriate companion novel
for Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By
in America because it has a similar scope. The two books could be used for
comparison purposes. Students could also research the validity and accuracy of
the claims found in the two books.
The Great American Dust Bowl
by Don Brown is a graphic novel about the dust bowl during the Great
Depression. This book was chosen because it deals with themes of poverty and
survival during the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl. It depicts poverty in
the past and could be used as a comparison novel to Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America which chronicles
contemporary poverty. The graphic novel format will appeal to boys and
struggling readers.
The
Glass Castle: A Memoir by Jeanette Walls offers a
firsthand, contemporary look at living in poverty in the United States. This
book was chosen for its authority as it is a firsthand account of the author’s
life. Further, it will be appealing to teen readers as they follow Walls’ unconventional
life from childhood to adulthood in this raw, at times graphic, account of her
life growing up in poverty.
References
Brown, D. (2013). The great American dust bowl. Boston,
MA: HMH Books for Young Readers.
Ehrenreich, B. (2001). Nickel and dimed: On (not) getting by in
America. New York, NY: Henry Holt.
Feeding America. (n.d.).
Hunger and poverty fact sheet. Retrieved from
Folger, J. (n.d.). Teaching
financial literacy to teens: Budgeting. Retrieved from
Gansworth, E. (2013). If I ever get out of here. New York, NY:
Arthur A. Levine Books.
Giveme20.com. (n.d.). Savvy
stuff: Top 10 budgeting basics for teens. Retrieved from
Investopedia. (n.d.).
Economics basics. Retrieved from
Kaufmann, G. (2013). This Week in Poverty: Twelve Things You Can
Do To Fight Poverty Now.
Retrieved from http://www.thenation.com/article/week-poverty-twelve-things-you-can-do-fight-poverty-now/
Odyssey Networks. (2011).
Faces of Poverty: Life at the Breaking Point [YouTube video]. Retrieved
Rutsch, P. and Silver, M.
(2015). Just Your Typical Teenagers Helping To Fight World Poverty.
Retrieved from http://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2015/01/31/382482007/just-your-typical-teenagers-helping-to-fight-world-poverty
Shipler, D.K. (2005). The working poor: Invisible in America. New
York, NY: Vintage Books.
Taibbi,
M. (2014). The divide: American injustice
in the age of the wealth gap. New York, NY: Speigl
and Grau.
Talkingsticktv.
(2009). Interview - Barbara Ehrenreich - The (Futile) Pursuit of the American
Dream [YouTube]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O7w5DiZK-H0
Teens
Opposing Poverty. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.teensopposingpoverty.org/
The
Teen Economists. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://theteeneconomists.blogspot.com/
Walls,
J. (2006). The glass castle: A memoir. New
York, NY: Scribner.
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