Hard Times: A Story of the Great Depression (Once Upon America) - Hardcover

Antle, Nancy

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0670846651 ISBN 13: 9780670846658

Publisher: Viking Books for Young Readers, 1993

Synopsis

In 1933, during the Great Depression, Charlie's father loses his job, and the family must pack up to leave hard-hit Oklahoma to search for a better life.

About this title

From School Library Journal:

Grade 3-6-- Historical fiction should offer its readers a good story rooted in research. When the history becomes too obvious, the story suffers. Unfortunately, this is the problem with Hard Times , which tells about Charlie and his family's struggle in Oklahoma in 1933. School must close due to lack of funds, Charlie's father is out of work, his sister and brother-in-law decide to move to California to become farm workers, and a friend's father commits suicide because he can't support his family. Nature assaults the boy's family with dust storms that ruin crops, and they have to go and live with relatives because the bank takes their house. His father refuses to apply for assistance until Charlie's sister returns pregnant from California with stories of the disappointment they encountered. Readers certainly comes away with a picture of the Depression's hardships, but the characters remain two-dimensional vehicles who relate the events. Emily Crofford's A Matter of Pride (Carolrhoda, 1991), Evelyn Slaatten's The Good, the Bad and the Rest of Us (Morrow, 1980; o.p.), Naomi Karp's Nothing Rhymes with April (Harcourt, 1974; o.p.), and Mildred D. Taylor's Song of the Trees (Dial, 1975) present vivid pictures of life at this time and have well-drawn characters. --Renee Steinberg, Fieldstone Middle School, Montvale, NJ
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Kirkus Reviews:

In the ``Once Upon America'' series, an Oklahoma family weathers the transition after Daddy loses his job, and they lose their house, in 1933. An older sister and her husband and child answer California's call, but later return with reports of discrimination and meager work; meanwhile, the rest of the family leaves the city to move in with grandparents on a farm. There's no real plot here, but Antle hangs the facts that are the book's obvious purpose on telling, well-chosen incidents (a dust storm; affections and adjustments in the new household; Daddy's reluctance to apply for public assistance) and moves it along with plenty of dialogue. A few details seem amiss (snapping beans in March?), but the simply drawn characters are likable and believable, the historical picture authentic. (Fiction. 7-10) -- Copyright ©1993, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

About this edition

• Publisher: Viking Books for Young Readers
• Publication date: 1993
• ISBN 10: 0670846651
• ISBN 13: 9780670846658
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 64