The Dust Bowl: An Interactive History Adventure

by Allison Lassieur

Overview

It is the 1930s, and the United States is reeling from the effects of the Great Depression. In the southern Great Plains, a combination of bad farming practices and drought has caused the rich farmland to dry up and blow away. People call this devastated area the Dust Bowl. Will you: Stay on your farm and try to survive? OR... Leave the farm to try your luck elsewhere? OR... Document the horrors of the Dust Bowl as a government photographer?

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781429634557
Publisher:	Capstone
Publication date:	01/01/2009
Series:	You Choose: History Series
Pages:	112
Product dimensions:	5.10(w) x 7.40(h) x 0.30(d)
Lexile:	650L (what's this?)
Age Range:	8 - 12 Years

About the Author

Allison Lassieur has never had pop-star dreams, but she once sang in a choir that went on a multi-state tour on the way to Walt Disney World. Today she’s an award-winning author of more than 150 history and non-fiction books about everything from Ancient Rome to the International Space Station. Her books have received several Kirkus starred reviews and Booklist recommendations, and her historical novel Journey to a Promised Land was awarded the 2020 Kansas Library Association Notable Book Award, and Library of Congress Great Reads Book selection. Allison lives in upstate New York with her husband, daughter, a scruffy, loveable mutt named Jingle Jack, and more books than she can count.

Table of Contents

About Your Adventure 5

Chapter 1 From Land, to Dust 7

Chapter 2 A World of Dust 13

Chapter 3 Migrants on the Move 43

Chapter 4 Documenting the Dust Bowl 73

Chapter 5 The Legacy of the Dust Bowl 103

Time Line 106

Other Paths to Explore 108

Read More 109

Internet Sites 109

Glossary 110

Bibliography 111

Index 112

Editorial Reviews

The You Choose series continues to bring immediacy to historical situations by offering three story paths and anywhere between 19 and 24 choose-your-own-adventure endings, thereby illustrating how snap decisions could spell life or death for those living in hard times. The Dust Bowl is a standout, as it offers the intriguing choices of staying in Kansas to farm, leaving for California, or working as a government photographer (perhaps the one imagined to be responsible for many of the included period photos). Although The Wild West gives the option of working as a lawman or gambler, many readers will choose the life of an outlaw – and subsequently read such passages as “You fall off your horse, landing in a pool of your own blood.” World War II is the most globe-trotting entry and is surprisingly expansive in its options. It skirts much of the gruesome, and although you can die in a concentration camp, the true horror is only hinted at. Overall, the story paths in this series are nicely varied but short, so repeated attempts are necessary for these to make an educational impact. Thankfully, it’s hard not to want to resurrect yourself for further adventures.

Booklist