In his introduction, Michael L. Cooper calls the 1930s “a turning point in American history.” He goes on within the body of this book to show how the economic crisis of the time and the environmental disaster called the Dust Bowl affected millions of Americans. The plight of so many homeless, unemployed, poverty-stricken people caused the federal government to play a new role in protecting U.S. citizens from misfortunes beyond their control. Often quoting from Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath and using images from Dorothea Lange’s powerful photographs, the author gives an immediate and clear voice to the people of a decade that redefined the responsibilities of government to the citizens of this country. (Ages 10–14)

The 1930s in America will always be remembered for twin disasters-the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl. Michael L. Cooper takes readers through this tumultuous period, beginning with the 1929 stock market crash that ushered in the Great Depression and continuing with the severe drought in the Midwest, known as the Dust Bowl. He chronicles the everyday struggle for survival by those who lost everything, as well as the mass exodus westward to California on fabled Route 66. The crisis also served as a turning point in American domestic policy, prompting the establishment of programs, such as welfare and Social Security, that revolutionized the role of the federal government. Vivid personal anecdotes from figures such as John Steinbeck and Woody Guthrie, and an extensive selection of photographs by Dorothea Lange and others, illuminate the individuals who faced poverty, illness, and despair as they coped with this extraordinary challenge. Endnotes, bibliography, Internet resources, index.