Black Potatoes: The Story of the Great Irish Famine, 1845-1850 (edition 2005)

by Susan Campbell Bartoletti

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493	69	49,661	(3.98)	15
History. Juvenile Nonfiction. HTML: In 1845, a disaster struck Ireland. Overnight, a mysterious blight attacked the potato crops, turning the potatoes black and destroying the only real food of nearly six million people. Over the next five years, the blight attacked again and again. These years are known today as the Great Irish Famine, a time when one million people died from starvation and disease and two million more fled their homeland. Black Potatoes is the compelling story of men, women, and children who defied landlords and searched empty fields for scraps of harvested vegetables and edible weeds to eat, who walked several miles each day to hard-labor jobs for meager wages and to reach soup kitchens, and who committed crimes just to be sent to jail, where they were assured of a meal. It's the story of children and adults who suffered from starvation, disease, and the loss of family and friends, as well as those who died. Illustrated with black and white engravings, it's also the story of the heroes among the Irish people and how they held on to hope. .… (more)

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Member:	lavenderagate
Title:	Black Potatoes: The Story of the Great Irish Famine, 1845-1850
Authors:	Susan Campbell Bartoletti
Info:	Houghton Mifflin (2005), Paperback, 192 pages
Collections:	Your library
Rating:
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Black Potatoes: The Story of the Great Irish Famine, 1845-1850 by Susan Campbell Bartoletti

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The Irish potato blight, a story mostly forgotten, brings to the surface more than just potatoes. A great famine that had more than 1 million deaths and 2 millions of people that left the country. It is very sad and disturbing but so real and unfair. (

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simonamitac | Nov 27, 2023 |

A thorough study of the period of history known as the Great Irish Famine (or in Ireland, the Great Hunger). Bartoletti conducted a great deal of research in Ireland finding primary documents, so she is able to talk about this horrible period in history with the addition of the real experience of actual people. Across ten chapters, readers learn about the events and conditions that unraveled between 1845 and 1850. One part of the tragedy of the potato blight is the economic conditions of Ireland at the time; much of the farmland was owned by English landlords, and the farmers sold certain cash crops to pay the rent. They never kept those cash crops and subsisted on potatoes alone. When the potatoes were inedible, the conditions grew dire around the country. Bartoletti covers all of this and more of the details in an approachable way and with accompanying 19th century drawings.

Amanda_CWU | Jul 22, 2022 |

This was a very informative and interesting book about the Irish Potato Famine. I have to admit that I really did not know much about it until reading this book. There was so much greed and hostility during a time when people should have come together. History often portrays much cruelty.

It was written more like an adolescent textbook than a non-fiction story, unlike Bartoletti's Terrible Typhoid Mary. (

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KRISTINKELLY1012 | May 30, 2019 |

The story of the Great Irish Famine, from the point of view of the Irish people. This story tells how they lived, why their lives depended on the potato, how they dreaded the workhouse, and how they feared and defied the landlord who collected the rent and evicted them. I would have this book in my classroom library because it teaches about an important part of history in Europe as well as the resulting immigration of many thousands of Irish people to America back in the 1800’s.

pitaaortiz | Nov 26, 2018 |

This book is about the great Irish Potato Famine. Eyewitness accounts and memories combine with devastating facts: one million died from starvation and disease; two million emigrated; the famine could have been avoided; the legacy was a bitter resentment against the English, who owned most of Ireland.

This book can be used with grades 4th - 7th. This book can be used to teach about the great potato famine, immigration, Ireland, and the 19th century. (

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KaleyD | Nov 25, 2018 |

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Canonical title

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People/Characters

Robert Peel

John Russell, 1st Earl Russell

Victoria, Queen of the United Kingdom

Important places

Ireland

Dublin, Ireland

Grosse Isle, Québec, Canada

Important events

Victorian Era (1837 | 1901)

Irish Potato Famine (1845 | 1850)

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Dedication

First words

In 1845 a disaster struck Ireland.

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Souperism

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▾Book descriptions

History. Juvenile Nonfiction. HTML:

In 1845, a disaster struck Ireland. Overnight, a mysterious blight attacked the potato crops, turning the potatoes black and destroying the only real food of nearly six million people.
Over the next five years, the blight attacked again and again. These years are known today as the Great Irish Famine, a time when one million people died from starvation and disease and two million more fled their homeland.
Black Potatoes is the compelling story of men, women, and children who defied landlords and searched empty fields for scraps of harvested vegetables and edible weeds to eat, who walked several miles each day to hard-labor jobs for meager wages and to reach soup kitchens, and who committed crimes just to be sent to jail, where they were assured of a meal. It's the story of children and adults who suffered from starvation, disease, and the loss of family and friends, as well as those who died. Illustrated with black and white engravings, it's also the story of the heroes among the Irish people and how they held on to hope.

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