In his first book, a professor with a specialty in California history recreates experiences like those described in The Grapes of Wrath, in a photodocumentary that follows the ``Okies'' from Oklahoma to a California so overcrowded with Dust Bowl refugees that jobs were scarce, wages meager, and the local population so horrified by the crowds of hungry, uneducated migrants that violence against them was common. By 1937, somewhat better conditions prevailed in 10 camps built by Roosevelt's Farm Security Administration; still, locals were unwilling to receive Okies in their schools. Stanley details the building of a remarkable school at one camp, largely thanks to the vision of Superintendent of Schools Leo Hart, who leased 10 acres of federal land and some decrepit buildings for $10.00, paid for a truck himself, solicited donations of materials, hired teachers who were willing to teach anything or help out anywhere, and organized staff and children to build the school with their own hands. Much of the curriculum was practical (trades involved in construction; an on-site farm); much was creative (high grades won the privilege of driving an airplane on a runway—or of being allowed to help dig a swimming pool). Stanley makes it clear that successes weren't universal (though by the time the school closed non-Okies were clamoring for admission), but notes the later successes of many Okie graduates. Lucid, dramatic, and splendidly inspiring; based largely on interviews with participants, including Hart; many excellent period photos. Bibliographic note; index. (Nonfiction. 9+)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 1992
ISBN: 0-517-58781-5
Page Count: 86
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1992
BOOK REVIEW
It starts off innocently enough, with principal Walter Russ asking artist Florence Waters to sell him a drinking fountain for the Dry Creek Middle School. But art and bureaucracy are about as different as, well, flood and drought, and this book pits such opposites with hilarious results. Town villains Dee Eel (president of Dry Creek Water Company) and Sally Mander (chief executive of the Dry Creek Swimming Pool) absconded with the town's water supply, turning what used to be Spring Creek into Dry Creek. This all gets uncovered by ``Sam N.'s fifth-grade class,'' who is doing a project on the history of the town. What makes this tale an unequivocal delight is that it's told through letter, memos, newspaper clippings, school announcements, and inventive black-and-white drawings; even less-skilled readers will be drawn in by the element of perusing ``other people's mail'' to find out why Spring Creek went dry, and to decode the water-related names of the characters. Florence and her intriguing attitude and art win over the class, Sam, and even the stuffy principal—how she does it is part of a tale overflowing with imagination and fun. (Fiction. 9-13)
Pub Date: April 1, 1998
ISBN: 0-380-97538-6
Page Count: 138
Publisher: Avon/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 1997
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
An absorbing fantasy centered on a resilient female protagonist facing growth, change, and self-empowerment.
In Florence’s middle-grade fantasy novel, a young girl’s heart is tested in the face of an evil, spreading Darkness.
Eleven-year-old Lydia, “freckle-cheeked and round-eyed, with hair the color of pine bark and fair skin,” is struggling with the knowledge that she has reached the age to apprentice as an herbalist. Lydia is reluctant to leave her beloved, magical Mulberry Glen and her cozy Housetree in the woods—she’ll miss Garder, the Glen’s respected philosopher; her fairy guardian Pit; her human friend Livy; and even the mischievous part-elf, part-imp, part-human twins Zale and Zamilla. But the twins go missing after hearing of a soul-sapping Darkness that has swallowed a forest and is creeping into minds and engulfing entire towns. They have secretly left to find a rare fruit that, it is said, will stop the Darkness if thrown into the heart of the mountain that rises out of the lethal forest. Lydia follows, determined to find the twins before they, too, fall victim to the Darkness. During her journey, accompanied by new friends, she gradually realizes that she herself has a dangerous role to play in the quest to stop the Darkness. In this well-crafted fantasy, Florence skillfully equates the physical manifestation of Darkness with the feelings of insecurity and powerlessness that Lydia first struggles with when thinking of leaving the Glen. Such negative thoughts grow more intrusive the closer she and her friends come to the Darkness—and to Lydia’s ultimate, powerfully rendered test of character, which leads to a satisfyingly realistic, not quite happily-ever-after ending. Highlights include a delightfully haunting, reality-shifting library and a deft sprinkling of Latin throughout the text; Pit’s pet name for Lydia is mea flosculus (“my little flower”). Fine-lined ink drawings introducing each chapter add a pleasing visual element to this well-grounded fairy tale.
An absorbing fantasy centered on a resilient female protagonist facing growth, change, and self-empowerment.Pub Date: Jan. 7, 2025
ISBN: 9781956393095
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Waxwing Books
Review Posted Online: Oct. 14, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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