Winner of the Newbery Award, as well as six other awards, this book is a classic children’s novel that should be in everyone’s repertoire. Set in Oklahoma during the Great Depression, this book follows the life of a young girl named Billie Jo. It is full of the loss, poverty, and extreme weather conditions of the dust bowl of the Great Depression.

This book is written in stanza form, similar to Unbound by Ann E. Berg. Each entry is short; however, you won’t want to stop reading. It has a similar feel to Sarah, Plain and Tall by Patricia MacLachlan or Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder. Perfect for historical fiction lovers.

Although some of the content is very heavy given the subject matter, this is a book of second chance and hope amidst seemingly impossible obstacles.

Content Analysis:

Profanity/Language:  None

Violence/Gore:  Report of grandfather’s death due to cancer; bet amongst adults on who could kill the most rabbits – clubbing to death; reference to rabbits being skinned, cooked, and eaten; report of WWI soldiers graves; kitchen accident with fire – minor burned, pregnant adult burned; minor dreams of an adult drinking a pail of fire and a baby of flames being born; swollen hands of minor dripping with puss and pain associated thereof; a few references to pain in hands from burns; burns smelled of scorched meat; adult moaning from pain of burns; pain from blisters; pain from water in sores; woman died giving birth to baby; baby died; reference to dead body cooling; carcass of animal on the side of the road; reference to raw sores and scabs; report of child biting people; cows shot behind the barn; two reports of death of men; scraped shins on box; bruised cheek; thought of parent dying; report of boy caught in barbed wire; report of boy smothered in drift of dirt; report of Lindberg baby being killed; eyes red like raw meat; feet bruised; bit and cut flesh; dead cattle; reports of deaths; threat of cancer; report of school fire; report of train fire; report of death and funeral; inability to breath due to dust; reference to dinosaur death; reference to dead family members turning to dust, rock, and stone; thought that one would die if he/she stayed; babies crying from hunger.

Sex/Nudity:  Bare bottom of woman giving birth; naked woman in the rain; couples dancing hand in hand.

Mature Subject Matter:

Poverty; Great Depression; Death of loved ones; Abandoning Baby; Parental death; Parental Grieving.

Alcohol / Drug Use:

Adult gets ‘good and drunk’; reference to moonshine and whiskey.