Karen Hesse
This is an old book published by Scholastic and meant for the YA market. It's the winner of a Newberry Medal, copyright dated 1997. My cousin loaned it to me because I'm interested in history and this is a story that takes place during the dust bowl days. Specifically, from January, 1934 to December, 1935. I must say I was a little leery, since it's styled as free form poetry--or something. I don't read poetry, have never studied it, so I really can't say.
If you know anything about the frightful drought affecting much of the mid-west during the 30s, you know this was a terrible time in our history. People were displaced from their homes after losing everything. They were ill from breathing the unrelenting dust, literally suffocating. The most direly affected were farmers. For years, no rain fell, no crops grew, livestock died. Many people died, too, shocking deaths. No governmental safety nets were available for these people. Watch the history channel. Occasionally they show a film taken then that'll curdle your innards.
But this little book is about fourteen-year-old Billie Jo, who wants to travel and play the piano. Her mother is expecting a baby and her father keeps trying to bring in a crop as the dust covers everything, even the food as they're eating it. When a horrible accident kills Billie Jo's mother and unborn child, it seems nothing will ever be the same again. And, without sugarcoating, nothing is. This story relates how people survive, overcome adversity, and move on.
It is so beautifully written that I swear I could taste the dust. Some passages brought tears to my eyes. Sometimes I knew exactly how Billie Jo felt. An excellent, excellent book.
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