You don’t need to know anything about the stock market or the 1920s to understand Karen Blumenthal’s lively account of the events leading up to the stock market crash of 1929. Not only is her prose cogent and dynamic, pertinent terms and concepts are clearly explained in text boxes in the margins and archival photographs add further information. The events of the notorious week in October are placed in the context of their times, an era when it was widely believed that “anyone not only can be rich, but ought to be rich” and everyone was encouraged to invest, even if they had to borrow money to do so. Blumenthal puts a human face on the history by interweaving personal accounts and quotes from several players, including President Herbert Hoover, vice president of the Stock Exchange Richard Whitney, actor Groucho Marx, and an anonymous car salesman who sold his story to American Magazine in February 1930. (Age 13 and older)

Over six terrifying, desperate days in October 1929, the fabulous fortune that Americans had built in stocks plunged with a fervor never seen before. At first, the drop seemed like a mistake, a mere glitch in the system. But as the decline gathered steam, so did the destruction. Over twenty-five billion dollars in individual wealth was lost, vanished gone. People watched their dreams fade before their very eyes. Investing in the stock market would never be the same.
Here, Wall Street Journal bureau chief Karen Blumenthal chronicles the six-day period that brought the country to its knees, from fascinating tales of key stock-market players, like Michael J. Meehan, an immigrant who started his career hustling cigars outside theaters and helped convince thousands to gamble their hard-earned money as never before, to riveting accounts of the power struggles between Wall Street and Washington, to poignant stories from those who lost their savings -- and more -- to the allure of stocks and the power of greed.
For young readers living in an era of stock-market fascination, this engrossing account explains stock-market fundamentals while bringing to life the darkest days of the mammoth crash of 1929.