Survival in the Storm

SUCCESS! Finally, I found time to finish the second book I had picked up at the library for this project! In between the tasks on my long to do list I decided it was good for my own sanity to take a little bit of a break and I filled these micro-breaks with a few pages here and there of Survival in the Storm.

Survival in the Storm takes place during 1935 in Dalhart, Texas. Grace Edwards is the daughter to a farmer who is struggling not only because of the Depression but because of the terrible "dusters" they are experiences in the Texas panhandle. Through out the novel Grace must face losing friends and community members to both moving away to the supposed lush and job filled California and to the terrible disease of dust pneumonia. Luckily, for Grace her family manages to keep their farm and survive through this terrible time in agricultural history.

One of the most interesting things about this book is that it was actually written by a fifteen year old girl. In 1998 there was a Dear America Student Writing Contest, and the publisherliked Katelan Janke's portrayal of the Dust Bowl that they decided to actually turn it into a Dear America novel. Katelan is from Dalhart, Texas and wrote her story based upon stories she has heard about her town during this time.

Now on the other hand, one of the most annoying things is that the mechanics and grammar are less to be desired especially in the beginning of the book. I was very tempted to take out a pen and start adding in commas where they needed to go. Not to mention there was terrible noun/verb agreement in areas that just made me cringe. Besides, this fact the novel was interesting and it kept me interesting knowing the writer was so young.

Oh another thing that was slightly annoying is the fact that since I am getting these books from the children's section of the library most of them have been defaced or are extremely dirty. You can tell that some kid ate his or her spaghetti dinner while reading this book. if I never have to come across old gross spaghetti stuck to the page obstructing my view I will be happy!

So I guess this means I have 76 more to go! Bring it on!

Here is some more information on the book for those of you who are interested:

• Reading level: Ages 9 and up
  
• Hardcover: 190 pages
• Publisher: Scholastic Inc. (September 2002)
• ISBN-10: 0439215994
• ISBN-13: 978-0439215992