August 19, 2025 by Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR)
E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus
Living on a farm in Oklahoma in 1935 is not easy. Joanna, her twin brother Howe, and older brother Lou live with their parents and are trying to hang onto their land, even though the drought has cut their harvest to almost nothing. They aren't as bad off as her uncle, who loses his farm, and has to move into Joanna's four room house with his wife and five chidlren before heading to California. Joanna and Howe still manage to attend school in town, taught by Miss Landis. Joanna, who struggles with painful scoliosis, sees town girls like Dimple McMains wear fancy clothes that are relatively free from the incessant dust that blankets the countryside. She feels a bit bad, but also knows that there are many of her classmates who can't attend school or whose families have moved away. Joanna isn't required to do many of the very strenuous chores because of her back condition, something which irritates Howe from time to time. Howe loves poetry, and would like to be a writer, but his father doesn't think that he will be able to make a living that way. There is some concern that there will be a measles outbreak, which turns out to be a fortunate thing. The town doctor has left, unable to subsist on being paid in bartered items, and a group of Red Cross nurses have been sent to the area to combat the possible outbreak. This means that when Lou breaks his leg in an accident, they come to his rescue, and he is able to stay at their hospital until the risk of infection is over. Joanna feels partly responsible, so is often at his bedside, and ends up helping the nurses. One of them, Evelyn, shares that she also has scoliosis, and helps Joanna learn exercises that help with her pain and mobility. Joanna eventually gets a job, earning thirty cents a day, helping with patients. This is especially handy since her father has gone to California to find work and send back money. It does have its downsides, like when classmate Dimple is hospitalized with dust pneumonia, and does not survive. When her mother also gets the disease, will Joanna be able to help her?
Strengths: Since we are almost 100 years from the stock market crash of 1929, I have been waiting for new fictional titles about this fascinating moment in history. This had particularly good details about the severity of dust storms, as Joanna and her family have to survive several, and are shown trying to keep dust out of the house by hanging wet sheets over windows, etc. The clean up is also detailed. Joanna's struggles with scoliosis are certainly something I have not seen in middle grade fiction; while there are modern titles, I can't think of any other historical ones. It's always interesting to see how differently common ailments were treated historically. The family suffers a lot of different problems, but they are all realistic, and no doubt happened to any number of people. Losing farms, injuries, sickness, being away from family; it was a tough, tough time. Joanna's experiences at the hospital, finding a vocation, offer a much needed bit of optimism and resilience.
Weaknesses: I can understand why we see events from both Joanna and Howe's perspectives, but I almost wish this had been written in the third person omniscient point of view. This might have been a bit personal; as a failed poet myself, it was just painful to read about Howe's aspirations. Further niggling point: having feedsacks printed with patterns wasn't a kindness, it was a marketing ploy! The feed companies sold more product for a minimal investment, and everyone used the fabric.
What I really think: I was a huge fan of historical fiction novels about the Great Depression as a child and loved titles like Gates' Blue Willow, Hunt's No Promises in the Wind, Snyder's The Velvet Room, Enright's Thimble Summer, Langton's The Majesty of Grace, and Lenski's Strawberry Girl. Perhaps the Great Depression was to girl readers in the 1970s what World War II was to our male counterparts. Something about surviving the deprivations and challenges of a period of history our grandparents lived throught was particularly appealing. I'll definitely purchase this one to have on hand with newer titles like Elliot's Bea and the New Deal Horse. Also, I'd love to do a discussion panel with Colman, Alyson Gerber, and Rachel Hruza about scoliosis in middle grade literature, but that's pretty niche!
Strengths: Since we are almost 100 years from the stock market crash of 1929, I have been waiting for new fictional titles about this fascinating moment in history. This had particularly good details about the severity of dust storms, as Joanna and her family have to survive several, and are shown trying to keep dust out of the house by hanging wet sheets over windows, etc. The clean up is also detailed. Joanna's struggles with scoliosis are certainly something I have not seen in middle grade fiction; while there are modern titles, I can't think of any other historical ones. It's always interesting to see how differently common ailments were treated historically. The family suffers a lot of different problems, but they are all realistic, and no doubt happened to any number of people. Losing farms, injuries, sickness, being away from family; it was a tough, tough time. Joanna's experiences at the hospital, finding a vocation, offer a much needed bit of optimism and resilience.
Weaknesses: I can understand why we see events from both Joanna and Howe's perspectives, but I almost wish this had been written in the third person omniscient point of view. This might have been a bit personal; as a failed poet myself, it was just painful to read about Howe's aspirations. Further niggling point: having feedsacks printed with patterns wasn't a kindness, it was a marketing ploy! The feed companies sold more product for a minimal investment, and everyone used the fabric.
What I really think: I was a huge fan of historical fiction novels about the Great Depression as a child and loved titles like Gates' Blue Willow, Hunt's No Promises in the Wind, Snyder's The Velvet Room, Enright's Thimble Summer, Langton's The Majesty of Grace, and Lenski's Strawberry Girl. Perhaps the Great Depression was to girl readers in the 1970s what World War II was to our male counterparts. Something about surviving the deprivations and challenges of a period of history our grandparents lived throught was particularly appealing. I'll definitely purchase this one to have on hand with newer titles like Elliot's Bea and the New Deal Horse. Also, I'd love to do a discussion panel with Colman, Alyson Gerber, and Rachel Hruza about scoliosis in middle grade literature, but that's pretty niche!
No comments:
Post a Comment