Listen and read

Step into an infinite world of stories

  • Read and listen as much as you want
  • Over 950 000 titles
  • Exclusive titles + Storytel Originals
  • Easy to cancel anytime
Try now
image.devices-Singapore 2x
Cover for Mattie and the Machine

Mattie and the Machine

Language
English
Format
Category

Teens & Young Adult

In 1868, a New England factory girl sets out to invent a machine that will automate the paper-bag-manufacturing process where she works, while placing her and her fellow female workers on equal pay terms with their male counterparts.

Fifteen-year-old Mattie is a mechanic in Columbia Paper’s all-female bag division. With paper bag sales booming after the Civil War, her boss expands the division by hiring men from his old Army regiment, including the mechanic Frank.

Sparks instantly fly between Mattie and Frank, and their budding romance has her walking on air—until she discovers Frank’s pay is higher than hers. In fact, all the men receive thirty percent more than their female counterparts. The boss’s rationale? Men are inherently better with machines.

Determined to prove him wrong, Mattie proposes a bet: If she can build a machine that fully automates their paper-bag-making process, the women will receive equal pay. If she fails, she’ll resign as mechanic. The boss accepts, with one condition: Frank will also build a machine, and Mattie’s must beat his.

Mattie’s determination in the face of overwhelming prejudice in the workplace and, eventually, the courtroom, makes her story an inspiring feminist narrative. Mattie and the Machine also includes the technical challenges that Mattie encounters in taking her invention from initial concept to working prototype.

Mattie and the Machine is a fictionalized yet historically accurate account of real-life inventor Margaret Knight’s fight to obtain recognition as a 19th century female inventor (she would eventually be inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in 2006), and an entertaining tale filled with romance, competition, treachery, and a feisty and brilliant female heroine who excels in STEM-related tasks.

© 2022 Santa Monica Press (Ebook): 9781595807731

Release date

Ebook: 11 October 2022

Features:

  • Over 950 000 titles

  • Kids Mode (child safe environment)

  • Download books for offline access

  • Cancel anytime

Most popular

Unlimited

For those who want to listen and read without limits.

S$12.98 /month
3 days for free
  • 1 account

  • Unlimited Access

  • Unlimited listening

  • Cancel anytime

Try now

Unlimited Bi-yearly

For those who want to listen and read without limits.

S$69 /6 months
14 days for free
Save 11%
  • 1 account

  • Unlimited Access

  • Unlimited listening

  • Cancel anytime

Try now

Unlimited Yearly

For those who want to listen and read without limits.

S$119 /year
14 days for free
Save 24%
  • 1 account

  • Unlimited Access

  • Unlimited listening

  • Cancel anytime

Try now

Family

For those who want to share stories with family and friends.

From S$14.90/month
  • 2-3 accounts

  • Unlimited Access

  • Unlimited listening

  • Cancel anytime

2 accounts

S$14.90 /month
Try now