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Dirty Thirties: Documenting the Dust Bowl

The Dirty Thirties:  Documenting the Dust Bowl

Author - Sean Price

Publisher - Heinemann Raintree Classroom

Reading Level - 3.6

Interest Level 4-7

Read this book to learn about the dust storms that swept across the Midwestern United States during the 1930s. Read about the Dust Bowl immigrants who left their farms in search of a better life in California. Learn how people like Woody Guthrie and Dorothea Lange documented the people and places affected by the Dust Bowl.  Background knowledge of the subject matter is incorporated into the text. 

Ava's Man

Ava's Mann

Author - Rick Bragg

Publisher - Vintage

Reading Level - 6.1

Interest Level 7-Adult

Bragg writes about his grandfather Charlie Bundrum, a man who died before Bragg was born but left an impact on the people who loved him. Drawing on their memories, Bragg reconstructs the life of a roofer who kept food on his family's table through the worst of the Great Depression; a moonshiner who drank exactly one pint for every gallon he sold; and a fighter who could sit for hours with a baby in the crook of his arm.

Children of the Great Depression

Children of the Great Depression

Author - Glen Elder

Publisher - Westview Press

Reading Level - 6.8

Interest Level - YA-Adult

ISBN - 9780813333427

This book  follows 167 individuals born in 1920–1921 from their elementary school days in Oakland, California, through the 1960s. Using a combined historical, social, and psychological approach, Elder assesses the influence of the economic crisis on the life course of his subjects over two generations. 

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The Dust Bowl

The Dust Bowl

Author - Ronald Reis

Publisher - Chelsea House Publishing

Reading Level - 6

Interest Level 5-8

ISBN - 9780791097373

Examines the factors that led to the Dust Bowl conditions, how individuals coped with the effects, and what can be learned from that human error and the misuse of land. Features full-color photographs, illustrations, sidebars, a chronology, a timeline, a glossary, and a list of resources for further study.

The Dust Bowl Through the Lens

The Dust Bowl Through the Lens

Author - Martin Sandler

Publisher - Walker Books for Young Readers

Reading Level - 8

Interest Level 6-8

ISBN - 9780802795489

The Dust Bowl was a time of hardship and disaster. The worst ecological disaster in our nation's history turned more than 100 million acres of fertile land almost completely to dust. Hundreds of thousands of people were forced to seek new homes and opportunities thousands of miles away, while millions more chose to stay and battle nature to save their land. These terrible events from the Dust Bowl contributed to the Great Depression, which impacted the entire country.

 

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Children of the Dust Bowl

Children of the Dust BowlChildren of the Dust Bowl

Author - Jerry Stanley

Publisher - Crown

Reading Level - 6.8

Interest Level 5-8

This true story took place at the emergency farm-labor camp immortalized in Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath. These children were labeled "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.

Children of the Great Depression

Children of the Great Depression

Author - Russell Freedman

Publisher - Sandpiper

Reading Level - 7.5

Interest Level 5-8

The story of the Great Depression as told by American children creates a wonderful photo-essay book. Using letters, diaries, memoirs, first-hand accounts coupled with dramatic black-and-white photographs, the struggle for survival is made clear. Stories are told from migrant farm laborers, middle-class urban youth, boxcar children, and young people who learned what life is like with unemployed parents, little food, poor housing, and a lack of education.

 

Climbing out of the Great Depression: The New Deal

Climbing Out of the Great Depression:  The New Deal

Author - Sean Price

Publisher - Heinemann Raintree Library

Reading Level - 3.5

Interest Level 5-8

When the stock market crashed, Americans were in trouble. Jobs were very hard to find. Many people lost their homes and had no choice but to live in shacks. The newly elected President Franklin Roosevelt had a lot of work to do! He came up with a series of work programs called the New Deal.  This book shares these programs and how they put America back to work.  Background knowledge of the subject matter is incorporated into the text. 

Great Depression

The Great Depression

Author - William Dudley

Publisher - Greenhaven Print on Demand

Publishing Date - 2007

Interest Level - 7-12

ISBN - 9780737712537

This book presents information on the Great Depression by critically exploring multiple political cartoons from the era.

The Great Depression

The Great Depression

Author - Elaine Landau

Publisher - Children's Press

Reading Level - 7.3

Interest Level 5-8

ISBN - 9780531187678

This book describes the Great Depression, the factors that contributed to it, and the steps taken to reverse it. It discusses the stock market crash of 1929, the drought that followed in 1931, and the westward migration of those looking for work. Then it explains President Franklin Delano Roosevelt's New Deal and the economic boost provided by America's involvement in World War II.


The Great Depression: A Nation in Distress

The Great Depression: A Nation in Distress

Author - Janet Beyer

Publisher - Discovery Enterprises

Reading Level - 9

Interest Level 5-8

ISBN - 9781878668462

The Great Depression brought devastation to America's economy and its people. Excerpts from interviews, magazine and news articles, letters, and historic photographs give a  picture of the suffering brought on by the economy's  breakdown. 

Other Books

The Great Depression: 1929-1938

The Great Depression: 1929-1938

Author - Tim McNeese

Publisher - Chelsea House Publishers

Reading Level - 6.7

Interest Level 5-8

ISBN - 9781604133578

Fear gripped the nation. By the end of the 1930s, the United States had experienced at least 10 years of hard times, unemployment, and radical change that redefined the role of the federal government. The country had relied on its new president, Franklin D. Roosevelt, to boost the economy with his ambitious New Deal programs, but many questioned the success of his policies. Readers can explore for themselves the effectiveness of Roosevelt's policies.

Fictional Books