Children of the Dust Bowl: The True Story of the School at Weedpatch Camp

by Jerry Stanley Narrated by Not Yet Available

Overview

Illus. with photographs from the Dust Bowl era. This true story took place at the emergency farm-labor camp immortalized in Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath. Ostracized as "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. "The story is inspiring, and Stanley has recorded the details with passion and dignity. An excellent curriculum item."--(starred) Booklist.

Editorial Reviews

School Library Journal

Gr 6 Up-- Stanley has crafted a well-researched, highly readable portrait of the ``Okies'' driven to California by the Dust Bowl days of the 1930s and the formidable hardships they faced. After first detailing the desperation of their lives in the Midwest, he follows them on their trek across the western United States to the promise of work in California, where their hopes were dashed. After providing this thorough, sympathetic context of their plight, he zeroes in on the residents of Weedpatch Camp, one of several farm-labor camps built by the federal government. The remainder of the book is devoted to educator Leo Hart and the role he played in creating a ``federal emergency school.'' Interviews with Hart and the school's former teachers and pupils make Children of the Dust Bowl useful to students of oral history, as well as of the Depression. A thorough index enhances the research value of the book, although it is interesting enough to enjoy for itself. The book is lavishly illustrated with period black-and-white photographs. An informative and inspirational bit of American history. --Joyce Adams Burner, formerly at Spring Hill Middle School, KS

AudioFile

Fred Sullivan’s rich voice strikes the perfect balance of intimacy and authority as the mass migration to California during the Dust Bowl era gets renewed attention in this short audio. Stanley contrasts the poverty and despair of the migrants, many from Oklahoma, with the progress migrant children made at the innovative Weedpatch School, near Bakersfield. The story describes the school’s development and the useful skills children learned, including plumbing and animal husbandry. Sullivan’s natural style in delivering instructive quotations adds immediacy. While his pacing is perfect for engaging listeners of any age, the repeated use of an expletive in primary source quotations makes this performance more appropriate for teen listeners. Sullivan’s stellar performance complements Stanley’s captivating vignettes.”

Booklist

Stanley’s text is a compelling document…The story is inspiring and disturbing, and Stanley has recorded the details with passion and dignity.”

Children’s Literature

Poignant, vivid, and unforgettable.”

New York Times Book Review

A powerful account of a desperate time.”

From the Publisher

"The story is inspiring, and Stanley has recorded the details with passion and dignity. An excellent curriculum item."—(starred) Booklist.   

Product Details

BN ID:	2940192153086
Publisher:	Penguin Random House
Publication date:	12/03/2024
Edition description:	Unabridged
Age Range:	8 - 11 Years