Book Description
The dust storms that terrorized the High Plains in the darkest years of the Depression were like nothing ever seen before or since. Timothy Egan's critically acclaimed account rescues this iconic chapter of American history from the shadows in a tour de force of historical reportage. Following a dozen families and their communities through the rise and fall of the region, Egan tells of their desperate attempts to carry on through blinding black dust blizzards, crop failure, and the death of loved ones. Brilliantly capturing the terrifying drama of catastrophe, Egan does equal justice to the human characters who become his heroes, "the stoic, long-suffering men and women whose lives he opens up with urgency and respect" (New York Times). In an era that promises ever-greater natural disasters, "The Worst Hard Time" is "arguably the best nonfiction book yet" (Austin Statesman Journal) on the greatest environmental disaster ever to be visited upon our land and a powerful cautionary tale about the dangers of trifling with nature.
Customer Reviews:
It's Good --- but is it National-Book-Award good?.......2007-10-16
I liked this book. For the most part.
It's an exciting account of an amazing and horrific time in the nation's history, and its descriptions of the dust storms as they came in over the prairies are absolutely terrifying--but I think it's far from the great book that it could have been.
The story, of course, is one of the great stories of American history, and will no doubt enthrall any readers unfamiliar with the 1930s Dust Bowl. But the book fails, I think, in bringing across the full scope of it all, focusing so intently on handful of towns and counties (and always forgetting to remind us what states these towns are in) that it feels like more like a gathering of a number of isolated occurrences. It also fails to provide all the facts that the story begs to contain. And it kind of peters off toward the end, as if the author just grew tired of the subject.
Is this a good book? Sure. I enjoyed it. But would I have given it the National Book Award? No. And is it the best book on the subject? No, again. I prefer the book "Dust Bowl," by Donald Worster, which I found to be much more thorough and vivid in its treatment of the subject.
Outstanding.......2007-10-10
The Worst Hard Time: The Untold Story of Those Who Survived the Great American Dust Bowl
This is an outstanding book! I had no idea how bad the Dust Bowl was. I was so impressed with the book that I bought a copy for each of my 3 siblings.
Unbelievable!.......2007-10-03
This book was fantastic. Although the majority of books I read are fiction, I'm not hesitant to read good non-fiction. This book was so well written that it reads like a taut novel. Along with Seabiscuit and The Devil in the White City, it is one of the best historical books I've read. Very well researched and thought out. You almost can't believe that this could have actually happened. You feel like you know the characters, and you certainly root for them even though you seemingly know how it will turn out. I would recommend this book to any avid reader - fiction or non-fiction.
Hopefully, we will learn from our past.......2007-10-02
This is an important event in US history that is so relevant today, supplying more fuel for both side of the ongoing debate on global warming.
I found it a bit difficult to stay connected to the characters. In spite of that, the story remained interesting, showing the plight and hardships endured by the generation before us, and bringing us an awareness of our fragile ecosystem.
Eye Opening and Hard to Put Down.......2007-09-25
A must read for history buffs and readers in general. Information places the midwest, its people, and past in an entirely different light of appreciation. (Absolutely Facinating)!
Book Description
Illus. with photographs from the Dust Bowl era. This true story took place at the emergency farm-labor camp immortalized in Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath. Ostracized as "dumb Okies," the children of Dust Bowl migrant laborers went without school--until Superintendent Leo Hart and 50 Okie kids built their own school in a nearby field.
Customer Reviews:
Beautiful and Inspiring.......2007-10-09
This book is a beautiful testiment to the human spirit, and the resilancy of the American spirit.
It is also the story of taking a chance on people that other's find useless.
A beautiful book and a beautiful story.
Connecting Childen to History.......2005-09-09
this book is an excellent companion to the historical ficiton book "Bud, Not Buddy." By reading aloud sections of Children of the Dustbowl, teachers could build some of the background knowledge that would help children understand how the daily lives of the average person changed as a result of the Great Depression and the 5-year drought in the Midwest.
Given the devastation of Hurriicane Katrina, this book also offers insight on what can happen when large numbers of people must migrate because of weather-related disasters.
Children of the Dust Bowl.......2005-09-08
The book appeared to be new, no marks, and sent immediately.
Readable for ages five (with help from parent) and up........2002-04-04
The writing in this book is excellent, flowing evenly from page to page. Many of the photographs within are pure art, having been taken by Russell Lee, Dorothea Lange, and others. These two people are the Pieter Bruegel and Thomas Hart Benton (depicting plain, everyday folk) of American photography. This book relates a small chunk of American history, to be sure, but more than that, it relates universal themes of the human condition. Overall, the book relates the brutal conditions of the dust bowl, the migration over the mountains and desert, taunting and prejudice from settled Californians, and eventual attainment of excellence, as revealed by the construction and maintenance of the Weedpatch School, which eventually became a model school in the community. My 5 1/2 year old enjoyed reading every page, and found particular mirth in the unusual daily chore that the dust bowl children did with their cows. The description of this unusual chore is worth the price of the book. What was this daily chore? One way to find out is to borrow or purchase this book.
Children of the Dust Bowl.......2000-07-26
I am a student at St. Lawrence University, and doing a summer fellowship about the works of John Steinbeck. This book, while written as a children's book, is a valuable look at the Arvin Federal Emergency School, the conditions of the Dust Bowl, American attitudes about the poor, and Leo Hart, the man whose vision for a "broader curriculum" among his students was so influential and inspiring.
Stanley treats the same material in short form in an article in The American West (1986).
Book Description
In the Dust Bowl of 1930s Oklahoma, a family comes apart, as sisters Mackie and Etta Spoon keep secrets from their father, and from each other.
Etta, the dangerously impulsive favorite of her father, longs for adventure someplace far away from the bleak and near-barren plains, and she doesn’t care how she gets there; watchful Mackie keeps house and obeys the letter of her father’s law, while harboring her own dreams. After the massive 1935 Black Sunday dust storm brings ruin to the family, the sisters’ conflict threatens further damage. Seeking escape, and wagering their futures on an Indian boarding school runaway named Audie Kipp, the two leave home to forge their own separate paths, each setting off in search of a new life, each finding a fate different than she expected.
Through shifting perspectives, voices, and characters, What the Thunder Said tracks their wayward progress, following the sisters, their children, and those whose stories intersect with theirs as they range across the high plains of the West in the decades after the Great Depression. Etta’s hitchhiking encounter with a bookish couple in the Garden of the Gods; a prairie jackrabbit drive, during which Mackie’s son, Jesse, discovers the cloth he’s cut from; an old man’s failing memory as he tells of spying on an Indian loner on the outskirts of a Kansas town; a middle-aged doctor’s chance meeting with a mysterious wayfarer while on a quest to New Mexico in search of his lost youth; and Mackie’s late reconciliation with her aged father, whose habit of silence has bred her own---all are rendered in vivid prose that captures the plains and the people who endured devastation and lived to look back on it.
Slow-gathering, powerful, with passages of haunting beauty, What the Thunder Said is the long-awaited third work of fiction by one of our most acclaimed storytellers.
Book Description
Proud to Be an Okie brings to life the influential country music scene that flourished in and around Los Angeles from the Dust Bowl migration of the 1930s to the early 1970s. The first work to fully illuminate the political and cultural aspects of this intriguing story, the book takes us from Woody Guthrie's radical hillbilly show on Depression-era radio to Merle Haggard's "Okie from Muskogee" in the late 1960s. It explores how these migrant musicians and their audiences came to gain a sense of identity through music and mass media, to embrace the New Deal, and to celebrate African American and Mexican American musical influences before turning toward a more conservative outlook. What emerges is a clear picture of how important Southern California was to country music and how country music helped shape the politics and culture of Southern California and of the nation.
Book Description
Looking out the farmhouse window, Matthew's grandfather tells him about the Big Dry of the 1930s, which turned golden wheat fields into a dust bowl. Fifty years later, another drought is upon them and, once again, this prairie family clings to the hope of seeing their land green. Evocative illustrations capture life on the prairies in this powerful story of one family's determination to hold on to its farm.
Average customer rating:
- Five Stars
- "Survival in the Storm"
- Tanya's book review
- One of the Best in the Series
- Survival in the Storm
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Survival in the Storm: The Dust Bowl Diary of Grace Edwards, Dalhart, Texas 1935 (Dear America Series)
Katelan Janke
Manufacturer: Scholastic Inc.
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ASIN: 0439215994 |
Book Description
In fourteen-year-old Katelan Janke's first Dear America book, we meet Grace Edwards, a little girl growing up in the heart of the Texas panhandle, in the midst of the Dust Bowl. Fierce, dust-filled winds ravage the plains and threaten the town's agricultural livelihood, creating poverty and despair among Grace's neighbors. Will her family's farm survive?
Customer Reviews:
Five Stars.......2007-08-08
Winner of the Dear America contest Katelan Janke writes a wonderful and interesting story about Grace Edwards during the Dust Bowls of 1935. Grace writes about her the storms, the constant cleaning and of what its doing to people in the town. A really wonderful story.
"Survival in the Storm".......2005-12-02
I believe that "Survival in the Storm" is an amazing book. As one of Katelan Janke's best friends, I think that she did an amazing job for writing the book while she was in Junior High. And as an avid reader I believe that they book really tells a great story that a reader can become involved in. Living in Dalhart, Katelan taught me a few things that I didn't even know about my hometown. I give this book two thumbs way up.
Tanya's book review.......2005-10-21
It all happens when a big dust cloud covers most of the sky and it turns into a really big sand storm. Mama had some friends over for some teathat afternoon. Then they all see this really big dust cloud. Daddy was out in the barn feedig the chickens and horses while Ruth is up in the hayloft looking at the old owl that had just made himself a new home.Mama and Grace had shut all the windows and doors after daddy had come inside from feeding the chickens and horses. They had put towels in the cracks of the walls and the doors so not very much dust could get in. And then the storm had came. Mama said that she hopes that her friends have made it home safely. Then another storm had come out of nowhere. Grace had Helen over for a little bit and they were sitting up in the hayloft looking at the old owl that had made himself a new home. Then they all went down in the basement which was pretty much like a cellar and Mama had made some muffins so we could have something for dinner. Grace had fallen asleep and when she woke up the storm was completely done with.
One of the Best in the Series.......2005-07-20
I'm 14, and I still love this series! I have been reading the Dear America books since 3rd grade! Anyways, I loved Survival in the Storm. I thought it was one of the best in the series. Probably my 2nd favorite! It's amazing how a teenager wrote this too! I would highly recommend this title to any fans of the series!
Survival in the Storm.......2004-03-26
I have read the book Survival in the Storm / The Dust Bowl Diary of Grace Edwards by Katelan Janke. This a very good book.
It's about a girl that livesin Delheart Texas and lives during the Great Depression.She goes tru 'Black Sunday' which is the biggest reported dust storm in anccent history!!!!!
Book Description
Caroline Henderson's articles on the Oklahoma Dust Bowl began appearing in "Atlantic Monthly" in 1931, bringing national attention to the troubles of United States farmers. In "Letters from the Dust Bowl," Alvin O. Turner has collected and edited Henderson's published materials and personal correspondence dating from 1908 to 1966. Turner supplements Henderson's work with a biographical essay and discerning annotations to present a complete picture of this remarkable woman. She had moved to Oklahoma's panhandle to homestead and teach in 1907, and her writing mirrored her love of the land and of the literature that sustained her as she struggled for survival during the Great Depression of the 1930s. Even today, Henderson's articles, notably "Letters from the Dust Bowl," are frequently cited for her vivid descriptions of the dust storms that ravaged the Plains.
Customer Reviews:
Great book.......2007-06-01
Caroline Henderson's letters are historic and illustrative and heart-wrenching. You get to know this truly remarkable person and how life was in this era through her writings and see the progress from youth and hope and optimism to age and despair. Losing her at the end of the book was like losing a dear grandmother. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in studying The Great Depression and The Dust Bowl. I read it as a companion to "The Worst Hard Time" by Timothy Egan.
Enhanced with a biographical essay and precise annotations.......2003-06-12
Deftly edited for contemporary readers by Alvin O. Turner, Letters From The Dust Bowl is a collection of letters and published materials written by Caroline Henderson (1877-1965), a woman who lived through the Oklahoma Dust Bowl and the Great Depression. Her articles on the Dust Bowl first began appearing in "Atlantic Monthly" in 1931, drawing the woes of American farmers into the public eye. Her correspondence and articles, which date from 1908 to 1966, offers insight into the daily struggle to put food on the table, and her descriptions of the dust storms that covered the Plains are unforgettable. Enhanced with a biographical essay and precise annotations supplementing this extraordinary compilation, Letters From The Dust Bowl is highly recommended for students of 20th Century American History.
Dreams can save a person from an otherwise mean life.......2001-10-18
Alvin Turner likes to quip that "Letters from the Dustbowl" is the "best written book" that the University of Oklahoma Press will publish this year. Indeed, Caroline Henderson, the author of the columns and letters it contains, may be the most quoted authority on the social aspects of the dustbowl. Her views on Oklahoma farm life were disseminated across the country both in her columns for "Ladies' World," and her "Letters from the Dustbowl," were published in "Atlantic Monthly." In selecting material for this book, Turner told me that he had twice as many columns and letters than would fit. Alvin Turner is the Dean of the School of Humanities and Social Sciences at East Central University in Ada, Oklahoma.
Caroline Henderson moved to a farm near Eva, Oklahoma, in 1907. During the next six decades, she and her husband, Will, endured the hardship of depressions and the dustbowl on their farm, with really only one bumper crop to show for their labors. Turner's overall introduction, as well as his introduction to each section, does well to place Henderson's life in context. She had great dreams for her life, both as a literate woman and as a farmer but by the end of her life, she is disillusioned and considers herself a failure.
Most of Henderson's farming experience demonstrates that dreams can save a person from an otherwise mean life. In 1917 she wrote, "The fact that we cannot see the end does not relieve us of our obligation to push forward, to gain every inch we can in humanity's forward march." As a young farm wife, she met challenges with inventiveness, and hardship with strong will. Even as crops withered and neighbors moved away, she finds beauty in flowers and friendship in animals. However, too many failed crops and dried-up dreams took their toll on Henderson's optimism. In 1952, she wrote in a letter to her daughter, "Every day seems to bring some new sorrow in these last years of fruitless effort and disappointment." With dreams dashed, Henderson loses all sense of proportion and she reads each setback as catastrophe.
"Letters from the Dust Bowl" is as heartbreaking as it is inspirational. Al Turner is right; it's a very well written book.
Book Description
Fifty years ago, John Steinbeck's now classic novel, The Grapes of Wrath, captured the epic story of an Oklahoma farm family driven west to California by dust storms, drought, and economic hardship. It was a story that generations of Americans have also come to know through Dorothea Lange's unforgettable photos of migrant families struggling to make a living in Depression-torn California. Now in James N. Gregory's pathbreaking American Exodus, there is at last an historical study that moves beyond the fiction and the photographs to uncover the full meaning of these events. American Exodus takes us back to the Dust Bowl migration of the 1930s and the war boom influx of the 1940s to explore the experiences of the more than one million Oklahomans, Arkansans, Texans, and Missourians who sought opportunities in California. Gregory reaches into the migrants' lives to reveal not only their economic trials but also their impact on California's culture and society. He traces the development of an "Okie subculture" that over the years has grown into an essential element in California's cultural landscape. The consequences, however, reach far beyond California. The Dust Bowl migration was part of a larger heartland diaspora that has sent millions of Southerners and rural Midwesterners to the nation's northern and western industrial perimeter. American Exodus is the first book to examine the cultural implications of that massive 20th-century population shift. In this rich account of the experiences and impact of these migrant heartlanders, Gregory fills an important gap in recent American social history.
Customer Reviews:
The Last Frontiersmen.......2003-01-26
Overall a good study of the last great westward folk migration in American history. I would add that many of their predecessors in the "classic" frontier period were just as broke and hungry as these migrants, but there was little mass media around to record them. An interesting, well-done slice of folk Americana.
A great companion to Grapes of Wrath.......2000-11-23
James Gregory has put together a outstanding history of the migration and culture of the dust bowl migrants who settled in California. I have probably read Grapes of Wrath four or five times since first reading it in high school, but after reading Gregory's description of the way these poor south-westerners struggled with poverty and at the same time maintained family unity and cultural pride, Steinbeck's book takes on a whole new meaning. Gregory goes step by step to show what motivated many to move, and then what motivated them to stay even though they suffered great privations and predjudice. I especially enjoyed learning about the influences of country music not just upon the migrants, but on the entire nation. A must read to make Grapes more clear!
American Exodus: Okies in California How They Really Were.......2000-03-22
I thought that this was a good book. I read it for a history course on the Great Depression and it was definately worth reading. It can get a little bogged down in detail or a little dull ocassionally, but overall it is a good view of "okie culture". It really helped be to understand the diversity and impact of the migration. And it contains a few interesting personal stories as well!
Excellent overview.......2000-02-18
This book provides an excellent overview of the history of the dust bowl Okies and the culture they (we) have created in central California. Gregory explores the religion, music, and politics well in clear language. The book is short enough to be enjoyable and while goes into some depth on a few issues, it is not so filled with unimportant details as to be muddled. Gregory sprinkles the text with brief excerpts of the many interviews he conducted with the Okies.
Book Description
The Great Depression dominates the decade, allowing Franklin Delano Roosevelt to step into history's limelight. From his New Deal legislation to his fight to convince Americans to enter World War II, Roosevelt's policies guide America.
Customer Reviews:
Books like this one is what makes history boring........2003-09-14
I brought this book thinking it was be an insight into the 1930s,but it is a dull book written for children. It's not worth [what] I paid. Buyer beware.
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