Driven from the Land: The Story of the Dust Bowl

by Milton Meltzer

Among the authors of this highly acclaimed series are Laura Ingalls Wilder Award winner Milton Meltzer, Coretta Scott King Award winner James Haskins and noted author Raymond Bial. The series itself focuses on major population shifts in America and the driving forces behind them. The authors' vivid accounts are given additional immediacy with the inclusion of excerpts from diaries, newspaper articles and letters.

A Dollar down --
and a dollar forever --
Breadlines and shantytowns --
One cent for one farm --
A Striken land --
Okies --
You call this living? --
A New deal --
From picking fruit to making weapons

112 pages, Library Binding

First published October 1, 1999

About the author

Milton Meltzer wrote 110 books, five of which were nominated for the National Book Award. With Langston Hughes, he co-authored A Pictorial History of Black Americans, now in its sixth edition. He received the 2001 Laura Ingalls Wilder Award for his contribution to children's literature, the 1986 Jane Addams Peace Association Children's Book Award, and the 2000 Regina Medal. He died in New York City of esophageal cancer at age 94.

Reviews

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this as part of a non-fiction requirement in my YA lit class and also to prepare myself for teaching the grapes of wrath. It's a quick read with good information, albeit with some interesting political biases. The photos were especially telling and powerful, and since it is meant for younger readers, many of the photos included children affected by the Dust Bowl.

[Marilyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

The pictures alone are worth checking this book out from the library. It is a YA book giving the history and some of the facts of the great dust bowl. Once again, history is our teacher.