Tag: Great Depression

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Thimble Summer by Elizabeth Enright

Set in the late 1930s, Thimble Summer captures the era’s atmosphere of farm life in  Wisconsin. Elizabeth Enright wrote this while people were just beginning to recover from the Dust Bowl further south, and the book gives an excellent sense of the Depression years through a child’s eyes.

Synopsis

Garnet Linden, ten years old, gets herself into a different scrape every chapter. The story starts with the silver thimble she finds half buried in the river bank, and Garnet decides it will bring her good luck. All her adventures through the rest of the summer “prove” it. Life isn’t always easy, and she knows her father worries about the bills, but as the season comes to a close, she can look back on adventures that brought so many treasures to hold close to her heart for a lifetime.

Pros

 

  1. Children who love a gentle, happy story with enough challenges to keep them interested will love the book.
  2. Enright provides wonderful details teaching today’s readers what farming was like in the twentieth century before World War II, such as how neighbors teamed up to get everyone’s harvest in and how farm machinery was relatively new.

Cons

 

Children who love action and adventure, or adults who deem no story is a good story without building toward a strong climax will not like Thimble Summer.

Discussion Questions

  1. What chores did Garnet help out with?
  2. Would you prefer to be Eric, who lived on his own for over a year, or would you prefer to be part of a family like Garnet’s? Why?
  3. How was it possible that no one missed Garnet when she ran away for the whole day?

Conclusion

I write reviews for Vintage Reads for the sole purpose of pointing readers to great books of yesteryear. This is the second book by Elizabeth Enright that I’ve reviewed. You can find my opinion of The Saturdays here. She has ten more books for children, and each one paints a beautiful picture of Americana.

 

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Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse

Set in 1934 Oklahoma, Out of the Dust inspires its readers with the indomitable human spirit in the midst of tragedy.

Once upon a time, thirteen-year-old Billie Jo had talent as a pianist.                Once upon a time, the family farm provided for their needs. Now, the crops have failed, the government has stepped in to “help,” her mother is dead, and her hands are burned, almost useless. Billie Jo can’t forgive herself, nor can she forgive her dad for his seeming apathy in the midst of their tragedies. She runs away.

Set in 1934 Oklahoma, Out of the Dust inspires its readers with the indomitable human spirit in the midst of tragedy. Billie Jo and her father heal over a period of almost two years, and she learns the meaning of home, however imperfect.

The story is written in free verse, something I normally wouldn’t care for, but in this novel, it works. The depth of Billie Jo’s hurt is told in a matter-of-fact style, an anecdote here, a wistful little episode there. Both story and form earned Karen Hesse the 1998 Newbery Medal.

Pros

  • The details provide an excellent sense of daily history during the Great Depression.
  • By the end of the story, Billie Jo (and the reader) are left with a sense of hope. Life has its seasons. She survived the worst she’s ever known, and it looks like a season of blessing is heading her way.

Cons

  • This story is marketed toward children eleven to thirteen years old. I’d raise the age by another year. Fifth-graders may have a hard time with the graphic word pictures of Billie Jo’s burned hands and the burns that her mother didn’t survive.
  • While I enjoyed the free verse style, others may not.
  • Discussion Questions
  1. Because of the Great Depression, many people who had made a good living on their farms became poor. What are some of the ways people reacted to the changes in their lives?
  2. The fire was an accident. Why did Billie Jo feel guilty?
  3. Why did Billie Jo run away from home?
  4. Do you think Billie Jo will be happy with her new stepmother?