Bread and Roses, Too by Katherine Paterson

a bunch of strikers were throwing snowballs at the police. They took 'em all to jail." Luigi was grinning. "But Joe's got him a Irish daddy. He hauled Joe home and said he couldn't leave the house till the strike was over. He was lucky. The judge give the men a year."
    "For throwing snowballs?"
    Luigi nodded solemnly. "For throwing snowballs."
    When Miss Finch walked into the classroom, the straggly remnant of what had once been the class stood up. They weren't always so polite, but the strike had infused a bit of pride into the children of the strikers.
    Miss Finch smiled faintly at the gesture. "You may be seated, class," she said.
    "You hear about Joe, miss?" Luigi asked.
    "Yes," she said and hesitated, as though undecided as to how to proceed.
    "He almost went to jail!" Celina said.
    "Joseph was very foolish," Miss Finch said. "And, although it is a shame that he will be missing so much school, I think his father is wise to keep him off the streets. I trust this will be a lesson to you all—if you had any thought of becoming involved in this ugly business."
    Rosa winced.
    "I'm sure some of you think a year in jail is an unreasonable sentence for throwing snowballs. But as the judge said, 'The only way we can teach them is to deal out the severest sentences.' It should certainly make other Italian strikers think twice before they show such disrespect to authority."
    "Joe ain't Italian," Luigi said.
    "And he should have known better. Now, those of you who have arithmetic books..."
    But Rosa couldn't put her mind on sums. What if Anna were arrested? After all, she had been right up front in the parade with her big American flag. The police were sure to notice her, and Anna wouldn't be able to stand being in jail for a day, much less a year. or Mamma, who had been singing louder than anybody? Her heart skipped a beat. If Mamma were arrested, none of them could survive. She had to persuade Mamma to go back to work. or at the very least to stop marching and picketing.
    That evening she tried again. "Mamma, they put some men in jail—for a whole year. Just for throwing snowballs."
    Mamma sighed. "They tell us law show no favorite, but how can you say that? Put a man in jail for throwing snowball."
    "What if they put you in jail?"
    "Who, me?" Mamma laughed. "Me? I just stupid Italian woman. What do they care about me?"
    "Mamma!
They'll put anyone in jail for the least little thing."
    "Can they put ten, twenty thousand peoples in jail? only jail big enough is the mills, and we already been in those."
    Mrs. J., Anna, and Marija laughed at that. Anna laughed so hard, she began to cough. Mamma got her a cup of water and put her arm around her. She murmured to Anna while the girl sipped the water. Rosa watched in horror. Was it just the winter weather or was Anna getting sick in the lungs the way so many of the girls did?
    She was startled by Mrs. J.'s jovial "And we ain't goin' back till dey do what we say, hey, Alba?" Mrs. J. had taken to calling Mamma by her first name. Mamma looked up, her worried look gone. It wasn't right. The Jarusalises were boarders whose no-good papa had run off. Now all of a sudden, Mrs. J. was acting cozy as a sister to Mamma, and Mamma didn't even seem to mind. She was smiling.
    "Oof," she said, dropping into a chair. "My feet tired, just like I work all day. Go down street, Marija. Find out where we meet tomorrow." Anna started for the door. "No, not you,
bambina.
You rest a bit here with Mamma. We got to be strong for tomorrow."
    "Mamma!" Rosa couldn't believe her ears. "You're not going to parade again
tomorrow?
"
    "I do if Joe Ettor say so."
    "Mamma, you're just letting those godless anarchists push you around!"
    Mamma snapped around to look at her. "What do you know, Rosa? You see inside Mr. Joe Ettor's heart?"
    "Miss Finch—"
    "Don' 'Miss Finch' me, okay? She know school, she don' know nothing 'bout mill work or Mr. Joe Ettor, neither. Now go on, Marija. Run ask Mrs. Marino where we meeting