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Summary
Summary
2021-2021 Texas Bluebonnet Master List2020 Women Writing the West Willa Award (tied for 1st place)In 1933, what's left of the Turner family--twelve-year-old Hallie and her two brothers--finds itself driving the back roads of rural America. The children have been swept up into a new migratory way of life. America is facing two devastating crises: the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl. Hundreds of thousands of people in cities across the country have lost jobs. In rural America it isn't any better as crops suffer from the never-ending drought. Driven by severe economic hardship, thousands of people take to the road to seek whatever work they can find, often splintering fragile families in the process. As the Turner children move from town to town, searching for work and trying to cobble together the basic necessities of life, they are met with suspicion and hostility. They are viewed as outsiders in their own country. Will they ever find a place to call home? New York Times-bestselling author Sandra Dallas gives middle-grade readers a timely story of young people searching for a home and a better way of life.
Author Notes
Sandra Dallas graduated from the University of Denver with a degree in journalism and began her writing career as a reporter with Business Week.
While a reporter, she began writing nonfiction which include Sacred Paint, which won the National Cowboy Hall of Fame Western Heritage Wrangler Award, and The Quilt That Walked to Golden, recipient of the Independent Publishers Association Benjamin Franklin Award.
Turning to fiction in 1990, Sandra has published a number of novels including Buster Midnight's Cafe, Alice's Tulips, and Prayers For Sale. She is the recipient of the Women Writing the West Willa Award for New Mercies, and two-time winner of the Western Writers of America Spur Award, for The Chili Queen and Tallgrass. In addition, she was a finalist for the Colorado Book Award, the Mountain and Plains Booksellers Association Award, and a four-time finalist for the Women Writing the West Willa Award.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (2)
School Library Journal Review
Gr 3--5--Dallas crafts an authentic, character-driven story about the American past. As the Great Depression overwhelms the country and a "dust bowl" sweeps across the Great Plains, Tom, Hallie, and Benny Turner find themselves without mother or father. Unable to secure work, the children leave their home in Oklahoma and head toward California. When their Model T car breaks down in Kansas, they expect to stay only a few days, but a friendly farmer and his family soon persuade the children to remain permanently. For the first time in months, the Turners have hope. Tom has work, Hallie returns to school, and Benny has a friend to play with. But life is far from easy. Often called "Okies" and "squatters," the children must contend with prejudice from many of the townspeople. However, when disaster strikes, the whole town miraculously offers the Turners a warm and helping hand. Despite the harshness of this time in history, Dallas's focus on the children serves as a gentle introduction to the Great Depression. As in all good historical fiction, the dialogue and setting are accurate and natural. The plot is intentional and evenly paced; nothing is trite or modernized. The descriptions of Benny and his friend Tessie, who seem to be developmentally disabled, are carefully not anachronistic, though secondary characters do use insensitive language toward and about them. VERDICT This historical novel about the importance of family, belonging, and kindness will do well among young readers interested in the past.--Rebecca Redinger, Lincoln Park Branch, Chicago Public Library
Kirkus Review
The year 1933 is a rough time for three kids to be on their own, but the Turners prove themselves capable.The rest of their family has passed away or disappeared, and 12-year-old Hallie, 16-year-old Tom, and 6-year-old Benny are driving west looking for work when their car breaks down on the side of the road, beyond affordable repair. Luckily, the land where they camp is owned by the Carlsons, a nice farming family that understands both what it means to struggle and what it's like to care for a child like Benny, since their daughter is similar. "His face wasn't like other babies' faces. As he grew older, he didn't seem to learn as quickly as other children." They make the orphans feel welcome as winter sets in. But will the rest of the community come to accept the Turners as more than squatters? It takes a near tragedy to find out. Dallas offers up her signature blend of compelling plot, vivid characters, and riveting history to both entertain and enlighten about a hard decade, though Benny, who evidently has Down syndrome, does come across as a plot device. Most main and secondary characters feel fully realized and three-dimensional, while the setting is drawn with delicate-but-vivid strokes and feels almost like its own character. This narrative is full of fascinating details about flour-sack dresses and bean sandwiches. Characters seem to default to white, with no mention of skin color.A story of the Great Depression that's both gritty and gratifying. (glossary) (Historical fiction. 9-12) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
