Brother, Can You Spare a Dime: The Great Depression, 1929-1933

by Milton Meltzer

Beginning with the Roaring Twenties and ending with FDR's New Deal, the author relates the human side of the Depression as it affected all Americans

Genres: History, Nonfiction

Library Binding

First published June 1, 1969

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

[Pamela R]

Milton Meltzer is a fantastic author. His writing is excelent. However, this book ,"Brother, Can You Spare A Dime?" is not one of his best books. This book has an amazing amout of information on The Great Depression. It gives you a point of view of the causes of the depression that most textbooks don't provide. The layout was very good and I enjoyed learning more than I was originally taught. However, if learning more is not your cup of tea this book would not be particularily your favorite. If you do enjoy learning beyond the textbooks than this is an awesome book to go and check out of your public library.

[John East]

Very sobering for someone whose parents and grandparents lived through the Great Depression. I had some idea of how things were as my Mother grew up in rural Michigan and she told us of the way things were, cardboard put into your shoes weekly (or daily if it rained or snowed). But she said that they never went hungry as my grandparents always had a big garden and my grandmother canned the produce for use during the winter. This was something that my Mother and Father continued throughout the 1950s on a yearly basis as if preparing for the next Depression. She also said that my grandfather, who had been a telegraph operator for the railroad, lost his job, but finally found one as the janitor in the local school. Any job, she said, was appreciated and considered precious to have. This book expanded on her stories, in many ways.

[Ross A.]

This book was a good beginning, but extremely broad in scope. Milton Meltzer did a good job in a couple of chapters in bringing out the emotions of what people were going through, but a lot of the book is clippings from newspapers and somehow you lose touch with the direness of the Great Depression. It was interesting to learn that the roaring 20's might not have been the great economic growth that many think it is. As usually, we cover up the true status of our middle and lower classes.

[Karl H]

Rambling nonsense.

[Jean Thurmond]

Very interesting took time to delve into it though

[Holly]

this was probably more interesting in 2025 than it was in 1969

[LAS Books]

I LOVE this book! I even offered to buy it from my beloved local library. (They thought I was joking; so would I!) I learned a lot about some possible causes for the Great Depression, which was a burning question I had, and I explored what American life was like socially, individually, economically, and politically during the years 1929-1933. It is nearly unfathomable that this dire time happened not even a hundred years ago. The book covers the Roaring Twenties; socialism, the incumbent Hoover Republican administration, and the incoming FDR Democratic administration; the labor movement, strikes, and push-back from companies; sharecropping, coal mining, and abject poverty; the "let them eat cake" divide of the classes; the struggle of local governments and charity organizations to provide without federal support; the naked exploitation of children, black, and female workers; and how the wealthy capitalist giants of American industry both contributed to and weathered the hard times. I especially appreciated the author's ability to write concisely; use many poignant first-person accounts, newspaper stories, and era-specific illustrations; and include poems and songs whose somber melodies actually haunted me as I read. Again, I LOVE this book!

[Faelyn]

Brother, Can You Spare a Dime by Susan Winslow is a book about life during and around the time of the Great Depression. It takes place from 1929 up until 1941. Written as an informative novel, the author explains all of the controversial happenings in that time period. Susan Winslow most likely wrote this book so that we could have a better picture of what life was really like during the era of the Great Depression.
This book is mainly centered around the struggles that the people faced during that time. A couple themes throughout the book would be hopelessness and suffering. The people of that time had to have a great amount of hope after tragedy struck them economically. Because of the economic decline, many Americans were left unemployed, hungry, and/or homeless. During that time, many people lost their hope and struggled to get by.
I would consider this book to be an illustrated documentary. It is composed of chronological entries from many different people who lived during the Depression. This gives the book many different aspects and makes it easier to read and comprehend.
I got a lot of information out of this book that gave me a whole new impression on the Great Depression. Although I would not have chosen to read this book just for fun, I did like it. It was very informative and an easy read. I would recommend it to anybody interested in learning more about the Depression.

[Deb (Readerbuzz) Nance]

Prodded on by my experience of reading and loving The Grapes of Wrath, I couldn’t help but seek out other books about the depression. This was a book that was shared with me at the last book club meeting, quite serendipitously, I see now. It’s a look at the depression from a reflective distance of fifty years, and it’s a little more dispassionate than GofW. The distance gives the author space to share some broad analyses of what happened, and that’s intriguing, if a little scary.

[Hope Mullinax]

Great book for social studies. This can be used to show how important primary sources are when doing research for older elementary students. Gives several firsthand accurate historical accounts of the great depression.

[Aric Cushing]

An unimpressive read about the great depression that lacks in research and depth. This feels like a book that might have been written purposely as an 8th grade primer. In that sense, it is a good introduction.

[Audrey]

When I read this, it was scary because it seems like we may be heading in the same direction. I hope not because I am not sure we can survive the way that generation did.

[Debra]

Would not have read this if it wasn't our book club pick. Knew life was bad then but never knew how bad.

[Spider]

Another book I read when a young teen that helped to shape my views on society, evoking empathy for the poor.

[Mary Follis]

Great Depression songs and reminiscinces--good for historical perspective, also contains a great bibliography.