THE DUST BOWL
Fiction:
2012 B.R.A.G.Medallion Honoree
Dirt
by S.L. Dwyer
Dirt, by S.L. Dwyer, follows the life of thirteen-year-old Sammy Larkin and his sister who are made orphans during the worst time in American agricultural history. Rather than be separated, Sammy makes the decision to live as if his parents are still alive.
THE DUST BOWL chronicles the worst man-made ecological disaster in American history, in which the frenzied wheat boom of the “Great Plow-Up,” followed by a decade-long drought during the 1930s nearly swept away the breadbasket of the nation. Vivid interviews with twenty-six survivors of those hard times, combined with dramatic photographs and seldom seen movie footage, bring to life stories of incredible human suffering and equally incredible human perseverance. It is also a morality tale about our relationship to the land that sustains us—a lesson we ignore at our peril.
Fact:
“The Dust Bowl” was a PBS mini-series special by Ken Burns that chronicled that worst man-made ecological disaster in American history, in which the frenzied wheat boom of the “Great Plow-Up,” followed by a decade-long drought during the 1930s nearly swept away the breadbasket of the nation. It first aired in 2012 featuring vivid interviews with twenty-six survivors of those hard times, combined with dramatic photographs and seldom seen movie footage, bringing to life stories of incredible human suffering and equally incredible human perseverance. It was also a morality tale about our relationship to the land that sustains us—a lesson we ignore at our peril.
What a great book to coincide with the preview of Ken burns and his program about the Dust Bowl.
All who watch the show should read S.l. Dwyer’s book Dirt. People of all ages will enjoy the tale of two young children and their struggle to survive the death of their parents and survive in the harsh environment of the dust bowl era.