Customer Reviews

The Storm in the Barn

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If you're looking for a page-turning graphic novel that is both educational and kid-friendly, look no further than The Storm in the Barn by Matt Phelan. This riveting story of one family's struggle during The Dust Bowl is not to be missed.

Kansas circa 1937 is shown through the eyes of an eleven year old boy named Jack Clark. While a bunch of bullies swings at him with their fists and their harsh words, a dust storm blows through town, and Jack runs off. Soon, we meet his family: Pa is gruff, Ma is sad, his sister Dorothy is sick, and his littlest sister, Mabel, has never seen rain. Jack overhears the doctor telling his father that Dorothy's condition is called "dust pneumonia," and that a new trend, "dust dementia," has started to spread. After seeing an odd face in the abandoned Talbot farm, Jack begins to worry that he too has been made ill by the storm.

Using pencil, ink, and watercolor, Phelan has created stark, dusty images of distinct, proud characters that will certainly stay with the reader. As Jack's level of courage goes up and down, so does his posture: sometimes he is slouched, and he often hides his eyes under the brim of his hat, but when push comes to shove, he stares, he shouts, and he stands straight up. There are wordless panels which express a great deal, such as the two panels on one of my favorite pages (199, which comes towards the very end, so don't you dare skip ahead!)

With her songs and and her smile, little sister Mabel steals every single scene - rather, panel - that she's in. Whenever she was shown skipping around with her umbrella, I thought of the Morton Salt Girl. Her natural curiosity and happiness nicely countered the sadness expressed by other, older characters.

Phelan also weaves in the power of storytelling: While bed-ridden Dorothy reads Ozma of Oz by L. Frank Baum, Ernie down at the General Supply tells young Jack tall tales which always star a courageous boy named Jack.

Highly recommended for young readers and their families.

I've enjoyed his illustrations in the books written by others. With this, the first both written and illustrated by Matt Phelan, he delivers a well paced graphic story. Set in and during the dust-bowl, the young protagonist is looking for his place in the world, and his family. Tall tales help, and adventures await.

Eleven-year-old Jack's life is as bleak as the dust fields that used to be his family's farm. In Kansas in 1937, nobody grows much more than dust and farmers are packing up and moving away every day. Trapped as a boy when he should be learning to be a farmer, Jack's life is made worse by town bullies and by his sister Dorothy's serious illness. The only bright spot is when Dorothy reads to him from L. Frank Baum's Oz books, popular fantasies of the time. Jack soon finds himself in a different fantasy, though, when he starts seeing mysterious lights in an abandoned barn. But is Jack really seeing a strange figure with a face like rain or is the dust getting to him, causing a sort of "dust dementia"?

Quiet and pale, Phelan's tale is as deceptively simple as dust itself. There is not a lot of dialogue; the characters' words have dried up even as their town has. But the few words that are spoken have the power to either strip a soul bare like a dust storm on the rampage or to quench the thirst of a soul in need. Both types of words are offered to Jack, but it is the soothing relief of the later type that gives him the strength to survive the adventure awaiting him. The owner of the local general store tells him of the exploits of the Jack of legends to bolster him after he is bullied by local kids and his delicate sister reads to him about the experiences of the literary Dorothy. Baum's words in particular hit Jack hard as it is clear that Baum knows Kansas and knows of the hardship and wonder of life on the plains.

Even if Phelan doesn't have his characters talk much, they still communicate plenty. Jack's pained face is echoed by his long-suffering mother and father. The harshness of life has obviously scarred the townspeople and their struggles are evident in their body language. Phelan makes good use of the comic medium, allowing his tale to slowly unfold over the course of as many panels as are needed. He often utilizes closeups to make a point or to clarify a detail. Color is judiciously dealt out. Much of the story is in muted browns, tans, and greys, but the colors become more vibrant when Jack's mother speaks of her childhood in a green and fertile Kansas or when the shopkeeper tells stories of the folkloric Jack. One scene--a brutal jackrabbit "drive," where jackrabbits are herded together and slaughtered--is especially powerful. A single bright red panel is used to show the results of the hunt, and later a bright red haze of anger slowly fades from the hunters as their bloodlust cools.

There are some harsh topics in this story, but nothing that is beyond the grasp of an older elementary-school student, fifth grade and up. Phelan's historical fiction title is a wonderful addition to not only graphic-novel collections, but to children's fiction in general. It does not talk down to readers, but presents the hardships of the Dust Bowl in a clear, accessible format. This should be picked up by schools and added to reading lists. It is a wonderful work by a talented creator.


-- Snow Wildsmith

A graphic novel set in the 1930s Dust Bowl, but with a tall tale/folklore-type story of a sinister storm character who withholds rain from the land. Jack is a boy without purpose in this dusty farmland where little can grow. Boys in town bully Jack, so he is a loner. He drifts aimlessly, always acted upon by others, but not making any difference in life. The pencil and watercolor wash drawings almost choke the reader with the clouds of dust over the arid, parched plains. Everything is gray and dusty beige. Because it is sparse in words, the words have more impact when Jack's father says, "Damn dust." When Jack's father says, "What the hell are you doing out here?" the shock of sudden words is almost as though he struck Jack.

Jack and his family wear perpetually sad faces, with pinched eyes. Jack watches a group of men bludgeon thousands of jackrabbits to death, so they won't eat the sparse crops. As the carnage continues, the drab panel color turns red, then fades back to beige when all the rabbits are dead. There is pain and despair throughout the book, in the townspeople, in Jack, and in his family. One can hardly be surprised when Jack sees flashes of light coming from a deserted barn. Is he imagining it? Is he just so desperate for light, or has he succumbed to a mental disorder, driven crazy by the unending dust?

The evil, wet, rain-withholding character takes on an even more sinister appearance as drawn with long, gnarled fingers, and a jagged cloak of captured rain. Jack's determination to conquer evil and release the rain is a classic tall tale, imbedded in a true flavor of the hopelessness of Dust Bowl days. Well drawn and well executed, but I would have preferred that the author adjust his language to reflect the age of the intended reader (9-12). Recommended for older children and adults, who might also have more understanding of the context of the time period.

This was a graphic novel about the Dust Bowl. I wish it had more text--there wasn't much of a written storyline to it. Jack wants to do something to make himself useful but he cannot find a way until he finds the rainmaker in the barn--then he feels he can bring the rain back. This book showed the desperation felt during that time period and showed illness etc from it but I do not think it did so as effectively as say, the book Out of the Dust. I borrowed this book from the library and it was on the book list for the historical fiction month of my YA literature class.

[...]

Do Americans like to romanticize the past too much? Sometimes it feels that way. We keep idly wondering about those "simpler times" when the world felt slower and more measured. We conveniently forget about the hardships, the blood, the pain, or we never remember them at all. Matt Phelan, however, will never be accused of romanticizing the Dust Bowl. An illustrator by trade, Phelan has come out with his very first graphic novel for kids. A measured, handsome volume, The Storm in the Barn is part mystery, part melodrama. Set against sweeping dust-ridden plains with their hard, lined men, Phelan conjures up another time and place. And somehow, in the midst of the pain and the heartbreak, he manages to keep the book completely appropriate for younger readers. It's a fable. It's a comic. It's entirely original and completely wonderful.

Jack has no use. No use at all. When the dust came and the rain stopped, suddenly his family got caught in a kind of limbo. His father won't ever trust Jack to help him with the chores, his sister Dorothy is sick, and the town bullies are constantly beating him up. Now on top of all that, Jack's seeing things. Strange things. Lights in barns where there should be no light. A face in made entirely out of water. What's hiding near his home and does it have any connection to the troubles they now all face? With delicacy and style, Phelan draws readers into another time and place and brings to life a story that is like no other you can find anywhere else.

It's strange, but the book I kept thinking about as I read this was David Small's new graphic autobiography Stitches. Not that Stitchesis meant to be read by kids. But both books are good at highlighting iconic images. In this particular case, Phelan has a keen sense of the setting and objects of the time period. As a result, he can bring into sharp focus an image with an almost cinematic sense. People with goggles and masks looming out of a doorway. A snake nailed to a post, its mouth curling up in a ghastly grin. A single red panel frame, the only color in the book, suggesting a newly bludgeoned rabbit. There is violence against rabbits, by the way. Bunny lovers would do well to be forewarned.

Phelan also uses sound and silence to his advantage. Much of the book has a kind of silent movie feel, though the art is distinctly noir. While there's plenty of action, this book is subdued and allows for moments of quiet and reflection. Jack isn't a loud, boisterous he-man hero. He's quiet and thoughtful. Cares for his sisters, dislikes bullies, and is willing to hear a good tale. He's kind of a pint-sized Gary Cooper too, when at last he sees men pushed to near insanity and realizes that he is the one who will have to make it end. He is the one to stand up to a force beyond reckoning. I loved how Phelan drew together the Jack tales of battling outlandish villains with this story and managed to have our very realistic Jack in his very realistic setting fight something supernatural and not jar the reader's sense of the book's internal reality.

For a second there, I got worried. Any author that takes a historical moment and then turns it into a parable or an allegory is playing with fire. The notion that the Dust Bowl happened because the rain became sentient is hard to swallow when you've read books like Albert Marrin's Years of Dust which goes through the causes and the troubles of the time period with a fine tooth comb. Fortunately, Phelan has included an Author's Note that gives weight and depth to his interpretation. As he says, "I began to imagine what the experience of living in the Dust Bowl must have been like through the eyes of a kid. Without the complicated explanation of the history of over-planting, soil erosion, and other factors, a young boy or girl would only know a world that could suddenly vanish in a moving mountain of dark dust. The rain had gone away. But where?" We have books like the Marrin title for our facts. Working in the Jack tales and The Wonderful Wizard of OzThe tales, Phelan has created an all new Kansas fantasy. One that any kid, anywhere, could enjoy.

It's funny that in this day and age of kids having so little to be responsible for, the story of Jack desperately needing to be useful resonates. I think today's youngsters will really understand how it is to be a child on a farm somewhere and not to be of any use at all. Just blowing in the wind. Phelan hasn't just set his story during the Dust Bowl for flavor. The very theme of the book, of needing to take matters into your own hands no matter what the danger, fits in beautifully with this setting. Matt Phelan has given us a graphic novel that tells its story with just the right number of panels and pages. This is storytelling, plain and simple. Get it while you can, folks. Get it while you can.

The Storm in the Barn is a compelling and imaginative mix of American history, folklore and graphic illustration, telling the story of an 11-year-old boy in 1937 Kansas, and his encounter with a mysterious, threatening man who is hiding out in an abandoned barn. A man with bag that rumbles and flashes. A man with a face like rain.

The boy, Jack, is living at the end of what we know as the Dust Bowl era. His family and his entire community is suffering physically, mentally and emotionally from the years of drought. Families pick up and abandon their farms for hopefully (literally)greener pastures, children are sick and dying from lung diseases. Folks resort to brutal soul-crushing measures to curb Jackrabbit infestations, and charlatans make bank by selling rain-making contraptions to desperate farmers. It is a tough world for a young boy. Jack, bullied and ignored by turns, finds some solace in the "Jack Tales" told to him by a kindly shopkeeper. The Jack in the Tales is clever and persistent, qualities our Jack discovers in himself when confronted with the menacing, self-anointed Storm King in the barn.

The illustrations are a pitch-perfect combination of simple lines and dramatic blue, black, and ocher washes. Emotions are eloquently displayed across several wordless panels, and the story progresses at a good clip, especially when Jack and the Storm King meet.

I read this book with my 4 year old(skipping over the violent Jackrabbit section, and mellowing the Storm King a bit); this book is a keeper, so I know that we will have plenty of opportunity to grow into the full story and discuss all of the history and folklore that give it structure. It is a fine book and a masterfully crafted graphic novel; I recommend it to anyone with a penchant for American history and folklore, and anyone who loves a good story.

First Line: The dust can have it.

I have been fascinated with the Dust Bowl era in America since reading Timothy Egan's marvelous book, The Worst Hard Time. As a result, I find myself keeping an eye peeled for likely fiction and non-fiction written about the period. When The Storm in the Barn appeared on one of my daily emails from Paperback Swap, I snapped it up without checking into it very much. I'm glad I didn't check the facts; otherwise, I wouldn't have requested this graphic novel.

The time is 1937 in a Kansas that's slowly being blown away in the unceasing winds. Jack Clark is eleven. Now that he's big enough to do chores around the farm, there isn't any farm left. His father thought of packing up and leaving, but their old vehicle won't start. Mr. Clark has a worthless farm, a worthless vehicle, a wife who's worn down from work and worry, a daughter who has dust pneumonia and likes to read the Wizard of Oz books-- and Jack, a scrawny, dreamy boy whom the town bullies love.

Jack is so dreamy that the doctor tells his parents that he has dust dementia, so when Jack sees a frightening, shadowy figure in a barn, he doesn't tell anyone about it. What's the use? No one's going to believe him anyway. But when push comes to shove, he's a little boy who wants desperately to help his family, and he decides to confront that big, scary shadow in the barn. You see... he's figured out what it is.

There is so little text in The Storm in the Barn that some readers may yearn for more. My own yearning lasted only the first few pages because I was completely drawn into Phelan's atmospheric drawings. The dust is ever-present, blurring the lines of the familiar and turning everyday things into hidden bogey men and coating the world in a thick layer of hopelessness. Through the dust, young Jack's burning desire to make a difference to his family shines like a beacon.

Phelan paints a worthy visual companion to other Dust Bowl literature, and I'm glad that his book is the first graphic novel I've read.

I have been discovering many interesting books for children and YA in one of my graduate classes. In this debut graphic novel by Matt Phelan, the story is a blend of folklore, mystery, and historical fiction. Set against the Dust Bowl of the 1930s, the story is about a young boy living in a small Kansas town. The year is 1937, and eleven-year-old Jack Clark feels alienated and useless. The family farm sits idle because of the long drought, Jack's older sister is suffering from what the doctors term "dust pneumonia", and Jack feels useless as his dad deems him unfit to help with chores.

One day, Jack spies something strange in an abandoned barn, but he begins to doubt what he thinks he saw when he overhears the local doctor expressing concern that Jack may be suffering from "dust dementia." It is only later that Jack builds up the courage to face the entity in the barn, which turns out to be "rain", hiding from the world until people grow desperate enough that they will worship "rain" when it manifests itself. Jack finally feels he has had enough of being bullied and decides to take concrete action, one that might just free the townspeople from the long drought.

Jack Clark is a well-delineated character that adolescent readers will easily relate to. The feelings of alienation, being useless, the fear of the unknown and anger that comes with being incessantly bullied are all feelings that many adolescents can empathize with. The story is also rooted in actual history, that of the Dust Bowl period of the 1930s. One of the events described in the book, i.e. the jackrabbit drive is based on an actual event that occurred back then and is effectively conveyed by Phelan in a series of panels which shy away from graphic description yet make the bloody events that transpired perfectly clear.

The style of writing is sparse with direct, unadorned language and this suits the story as the illustrations "speak" for themselves. There are pages upon pages where there is no text and only illustrations that encourage readers to pore over the illustrations and infer the meaning. Though Jack's encounter with "rain" seems more like fantasy, the story never loses sight of its true focus, i.e. the plight of people trapped on barren farms, and struggling to eke out a living during the Dust Bowl period. In Jack Clark, readers will find a determined young hero who discovers his sense of identity and self-confidence.

THE STORM IN THE BARN is a historical graphic novel set in Kansas around 1937 during the Dust Bowl. The story's protagonist is an eleven-year-old boy named Jack Clark. He lives with his father, mother, and sister, Dorothy, on a farm that is suggested has been in the family for generations. Drought has been a constant for awhile and no one can seem to grow anything. Many farmers in the area have already packed up and moved away, leaving their abandoned houses and barns to be reclaimed by the land. Jack's father always seems gruff and his tone is rather harsh with the boy. It's not that he doesn't love Jack, because he does. It's just that he's frustrated and wants to teach Jack all the things his father taught him, but with no farming and no real work to be done he feels he has nothing to offer to Jack. The situation is made worse because Jack's sister lies in bed with "dust pneumonia" and the doctor speaks of another new disease going around, "dust dementia". Jack is prone to wander and likes to tell stories and his family is afraid that Jack might have the dementia. Lastly, every time Jack walks into town he is harassed and bullied by a group of boys bigger than he. It is a bleak world.

But, there are some rays of light. Dorothy reads to Jack every night from the L. Frank Baum Oz books. It is a place that Jack longs to visit. A local merchant that Jack visits every day when he's in town knows of the troubles the bigger boys call Jack and he encourages Jack with adventurous tales of another Jack just known as Mighty Jack. Then there are also the mysterious rays of light that Jack sees coming from an abandoned barn. He's told his father about it, but he's been warned not to investigate because those abandoned barns are dangerous. His father also thinks Jack is seeing things, which is a sign of the dementia. Jack isn't just seeing things and after he sees the men of the town, including his father, participating in a bloody jack rabbit drive and watches Dorothy have a particular bad fit, he knows he has to investigate anyway. When he does, he comes face to face with a monster and the boy Jack must overcome his fears and keep his wits about him not only to save himself, but everyone he loves.

The illustrations do a magnificent job in capturing the tone, mood, and setting of the story. The Kansas of the story is a bleak place and most of the drawings are black and white, grey, or brown. There are some instances of yellows when Jack goes to meet the drug store merchant or listens to his sister read. The tales of Mighty Jack and images about Oz are all shown in magnificent color and are a great contrast to the dullness that Jack sees and feels around him. The only other instances of color are some reddish tones when the men are on the jack rabbit drive and the bloodlust they feel that later taunts Jack and blues anytime water is nearby.

There isn't much dialogue, but there doesn't need to be. The story is mostly told through the images it shows. The faces of the people look like sketch images from photographs. Their expressions do their speaking for them. STORM IN THE BARN was written and created as a graphic novel; it's a story told mostly through images and color.

The book is aimed at younger readers, from about third-sixth graders. It can be read by younger readers and would also make a good story to "read" as a bedtime story with younger children.