Customer Reviews

Rose's Journal: The Story of a Girl in the Great Depression

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Marissa Moss's Dustbowl story is one of the most compelling books I've ever read on the topic. I'm a literate adult, but was shocked at how much I DIDN"T know before I read this book. She packs Depression-era "facts" into a heartbreaking (and ultimately heartwarming) tale of a girl and her family, all rendered especially poignant with charming drawings that accompany the text. The whirling storms of dirt that cover everything with mounds of dirt ("we could tell where it came from by the color: gray dirt from Oklahoma; red dirt from Texas; brown was our own Kansas dirt") are brought to life with the evocative drawings, as well as the well-rounded characters. This book should be read by every child--and adult--in the country, as an essential part of U.S. history. I loved the book, was moved by it, and was sorry when it ended.

This book is about a girl who lives in a house and they live by a farm and all they have are horses and cows and chickens. She is in a big dust storm. They cannot keep anything growing so her mom and dad go out to a dancing contest to see if they can earn money for seeds. They come back without any money. So they join a last man standing club. This club is for people who are having hard times but will not abandon their town. I liked this book because it was based on a true story, and it was from a long time ago. The setting was set in the desert with lots of wind storms and also set during the Great Depression.

This book was alsome. It puts me in her place. I can get in to alot of books but this is the book that it gust took a little bit to read it. It might be little but it is good. We could have done alot of other books but i picked this one. I'm all so reading two other books. It is about a girl in the gret depresion she has to clean ever day. She lifes with her mom,dad,and her brother. She and her panters and her friends have to live in the sand storms. My reflection is i would recmond this book to other people that have to do something on the great deppresson. OR if you just want to read it for fun. The story elements are where the story takes place in the dester. the point of fewe is that the worst can happen.

Rose's Journal is one of Marissa Moss' best books yet. It is both a vivid picture of the Depression era and a moving portrait of an individual child. Rose's relationships with her family, friends, farm animals and land are delicately, poignantly, and even humorously depicted. The narrator's soulful and childlike drawings leaven the serious text; her words are also enhanced visually with real photos of the time and drawings of her brother's comic strips. A humane, creative, refreshing and vivid way to present history to children.

The era of the Great Depression in the United States was a harsh one, and the worst place was in the area known as the Dust Bowl. Extreme drought had dried everything up and strong winds created blinding and potentially fatal dust storms. The sky was blackened with dust from farms in Kansas and Oklahoma as far away as the east coast of the United States.
The farmers in Kansas tried desperately to hold onto their land as crops failed and livestock shriveled up. This is the story of one farm family told through the eyes of an eleven-year-old girl. The story is just as moving eighty years after the events as you read how desperate the people became. Many of the farmers gave up and moved out, looking for a job of any kind in order to feed their families. Rose's family was one of the few to keep their farm, but only through the aid of their neighbors. When the bank foreclosed on their farm, their neighbors colluded to buy it all for under $5 so that they could buy it back and stay.
All bad things got to come to an end and eventually the rains returned to the plain of Kansas and the farmers were able to grow again. This is an excellent tale of hard times and a sobering look back. Many people say that the government bailout of the financial institutions averted a depression, so while times are difficult now this is a reminder of how bad they could have become.

I liked it because I really like the Amelia stories (also by Marissa Moss) and learning about the Great Depression. They finally came together!