Thursday, June 23, 2011

The Storm in the Barn by Matt Phelan

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

From the jacket flap:
In 1937 Kansas, eleven-year-old Jack Clark faces his share of ordinary challenges: local bullies, his father's failed expectations, a little sister with an eye for trouble. But he also has to deal with the effects of the Dust Bowl, including rising tensions in his small town and the spread of a shadowy illness. A case of the new "dust dementia" would certainly explain who (or what) Jack has glimpsed in the abandoned Talbot barn-- a sinister figure with a face like rain. In a land where it never rains, it's hard to trust what you see with your own eyes--and harder still to take heart and be a hero when the time comes.

Matt Phelan's drawings are wonderful- I drank them in page after page. He artfully tells a story of a time in our history where many were despairing, yet there were pockets of hope. I especially appreciate Phelan's choice to show this time period through the eyes of a child. This is definitely a book I hope to add to my classroom library and utilize when teaching American history.



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