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Lexile/Reading Level
Recommended for 9-12 Grade & Adult

Genre/Category
Biographies | History | Nonfiction

Historical Time Period
Modern
Date
1910s | 1920s | 1930s
Topic
Biography | Great Depression | Growing Up - Coming of Age | Hardships
Geographic Region
Kansas | United States - America
Main Character
Woman/Women
Format
Book

Addie of the Flint Hills: A Prairie Child During the Depression (1915-1935)

Author: Sorace, Adaline

Addie of the Flint Hills is the memoir of 94-year-old Addie Sorace. It is a tale of human struggle that transcends time and place to strongly echo our modern family situations and current economic times. Addie s quiet courage will resonate and inspire readers.

Addie, a small-town girl from deep in the heartland of America, begins her story in 1915 as wheat prices are booming. She shares the day-to-day unfolding of her life and the life of her family as they deal with the turbulent US economy of the 1920s and 1930s. During this period the price of wheat drops, followed by precipitous declines in stocks, minerals and farmland. The story ends in 1935 as the family grapples with the effects of the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl. Addie s vivid memories transport the reader back to the hardscrabble life that was typical for rural Americans of her generation. Throughout it all, Addie offers a true and fair chronicle of daily life. She invites readers to come to their own conclusions about people, events and what constitutes the good life.

In the process, Addie of the Flint Hills weaves a complex tale of ordinary folks struggling with familiar themes: a father s work takes him far from home, a highly- educated woman and mother is alone, and a young girl never learns that she is beautiful. As we follow her adventures, we watch a shy and self-effacing young woman, one who has no idea of her true inner and outer beauty, finally come into her own. For her part, Addie has learned that with age comes acceptance and insight, and sometimes, even, a bit of wisdom. The final chapters will melt your heart.

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Please note: Our posting a book in our Homeschool Librarian database does not mean that we endorse its contents. Please use your own discretion when selecting books for your child to read. Also, we are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. Purchases made through our affiliate links help support this site. Book descriptions are sourced from either Amazon.com or GoodReads.
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Lexile/Reading Level
Recommended for 9-12 Grade & Adult

Genre/Category
Fiction | Historical

Historical Time Period
Great Depression
Date
1930s
Topic
Great Depression | Mines and Mining | Romance
Geographic Region
Arizona | United States - America
Main Character
Woman/Women
Format
Audiobook | Book | Ebook

Foxfire

Author: Seton, Anya

Golden girl: that was Amanda. Born into luxury, she was pampered, adored, spoiled, and very beautiful. She could have had any man she wanted. Millionaire Tom Merrill had been in love with her for years. But she chose Dart, tall, handsome, mining engineer. He was half-Indian, proud, and very poor.

Amanda had no idea what to expect as Dart’s wife, an eastern stranger in the bleak little town of Lodestone, Arizona. But she found out soon enough. The people in the town hated her. And she hated the mines.

Then one day Amanda saw a chance to get away from all this – a chance to become rich beyond her dreams. The promise of gold which had driven many to madness now enslaved her. And she was willing to risk her life – and Dart’s – to gain it.

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Please note: Our posting a book in our Homeschool Librarian database does not mean that we endorse its contents. Please use your own discretion when selecting books for your child to read. Also, we are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. Purchases made through our affiliate links help support this site. Book descriptions are sourced from either Amazon.com or GoodReads.
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Lexile/Reading Level
750L

Genre/Category
Fiction | Historical | Realistic

Historical Time Period
Great Depression | Modern
Date
1930s
Topic
Family Relationships | Great Depression | Hardships
Geographic Region
Indiana | Michigan | United States - America
Main Character
Girl(s)
Format
Audiobook | Book | Ebook

Mighty Miss Malone

Author: Curtis, Christopher Paul

“We are a family on a journey to a place called wonderful” is the motto of Deza Malone’s family.

Deza is the smartest girl in her class in Gary, Indiana, singled out by teachers for a special path in life. But the Great Depression hit Gary hard, and there are no jobs for black men. When her beloved father leaves to find work, Deza, Mother, and her older brother Jimmie go in search of him, and end up in a Hooverville outside Flint, Michigan. Jimmie’s beautiful voice inspires him to leave the camp to be a performer, while Deza and Mother find a new home, and cling to the hope that they will find Father.

The twists and turns of their story reveal the devastation of the Depression and prove that Deza truly is the Mighty Miss Malone.

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Please note: Our posting a book in our Homeschool Librarian database does not mean that we endorse its contents. Please use your own discretion when selecting books for your child to read. Also, we are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. Purchases made through our affiliate links help support this site. Book descriptions are sourced from either Amazon.com or GoodReads.
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Lexile/Reading Level
820L

Genre/Category
Fiction | Historical | Picture Book | Realistic

Historical Time Period
Great Depression | Modern
Date
1930s
Topic
Diaries | Great Depression
Geographic Region
Kansas | United States - America
Main Character
Children
Format
Book

Rose’s Journal: The Story of a Girl in the Great Depression (Young American Voices #4)

Author: Moss, MarissaPart of a Series: Young American Voices

On January 1, 1935, Rose Samuels bids good riddance to a dry, desolate year and begins a new one. The severe drought has left the fields too dry for crops and the farms are all failing. Times are tough, but with hope, love, and determination, Rose and her family manage to turn the year around.
Includes fun new book-related activities!

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Please note: Our posting a book in our Homeschool Librarian database does not mean that we endorse its contents. Please use your own discretion when selecting books for your child to read. Also, we are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. Purchases made through our affiliate links help support this site. Book descriptions are sourced from either Amazon.com or GoodReads.
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Lexile/Reading Level
830L

Genre/Category
Fiction | Historical

Historical Time Period
Modern
Date
1930s
Topic
Abandonment | Girls disguised as boys | Great Depression | Growing Up - Coming of Age | Hardships
Geographic Region
Alabama | United States - America
Main Character
Girl(s)
Format
Book

Hard Times for Jake Smith: A Story of the Depression Era

Author: Henderson, Aileen Kilgore

It’s 1935 and from a child’s eye view, the hard times of the Depression era are becoming more and more real. Each day, coming home from school, there is something else missing. First the sow pig, then the cow, then the truck. On one wrenching day the beloved hunting dog is sold. Finally the whole family packs up in the car and leaves—the children wonder where, but their parents are silent. Suddenly, the car stops at the edge of the road and Mother leans into the back seat, giving Mary Jake a handkerchief with something tied inside and the instructions to walk down the path into the forest, take the LEFT fork into town, and present the handkerchief at the stone house.
So begins the adventure of a girl who chooses her own in path (neither left fork nor right), dyes herself in a stump full of walnut-colored water and disguises herself as a boy. “Jake” Smith soon meets Miz Bennett and hires on to help with her garden and animals. In this rags-to-riches story, rich with descriptions of Alabama during the Depression a strong female character copes with abandonment with courage and resilience.

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Please note: Our posting a book in our Homeschool Librarian database does not mean that we endorse its contents. Please use your own discretion when selecting books for your child to read. Also, we are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. Purchases made through our affiliate links help support this site. Book descriptions are sourced from either Amazon.com or GoodReads.
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Lexile/Reading Level
690L

Genre/Category
Fiction | Historical

Historical Time Period
Modern
Date
1930s
Topic
Great Depression | Helping | Home
Geographic Region
Pennsylvania | United States - America
Main Character
Girl(s)
Award-Winning Book
Nominee | Rebecca Caudill Young Reader's Book Award
Format
Book | Ebook

Letter to Mrs. Roosevelt, A

Author: De Young, C. Coco

Eleven-year-old Margo Bandini has never been afraid of anything. Her life in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, with Mama and Papa and her little brother, Charlie, has always felt secure. But it’s 1933, and the Great Depression is changing things for families all across America.

One day the impossible happens: Papa cannot make the payments for their house, and the Sheriff Sale sign goes up on their door. They have two weeks to pay the bank, or leave their home forever. Now Margo is afraid–but she’s also determined to find a way to help Papa save their home.

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Please note: Our posting a book in our Homeschool Librarian database does not mean that we endorse its contents. Please use your own discretion when selecting books for your child to read. Also, we are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. Purchases made through our affiliate links help support this site. Book descriptions are sourced from either Amazon.com or GoodReads.
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Lexile/Reading Level
1120L Recommended for 4-7 Grade

Genre/Category
History | Nonfiction

Historical Time Period
Modern
Date
1930s
Topic
American History | Droughts | Dust Bowl | Great Depression
Geographic Region
Midwest | United States - America
Format
Book

Dust to Eat: Drought and Depression in the 1930s

Author: Cooper, Michael L.

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.

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Please note: Our posting a book in our Homeschool Librarian database does not mean that we endorse its contents. Please use your own discretion when selecting books for your child to read. Also, we are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. Purchases made through our affiliate links help support this site. Book descriptions are sourced from either Amazon.com or GoodReads.
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Lexile/Reading Level
750L

Genre/Category
Fiction | Historical

Historical Time Period
Modern
Date
1930s
Topic
Family Relationships | Great Depression | Mexican
Geographic Region
California | Latin America | Mexico | United States - America
Main Character
Girl(s)
Award-Winning Book
Jane Addams Children's Book Award | Nominee | Other Awards | Rebecca Caudill Young Reader's Book Award
Format
Audiobook | Book | Ebook

Esperanza Rising

Author: Ryan, Pam Muñoz

Esperanza thought she’d always live with her family on their ranch in Mexico–she’d always have fancy dresses, a beautiful home, and servants. But a sudden tragedy forces Esperanza and Mama to flee to California during the Great Depression, and to settle in a camp for Mexican farm workers. Esperanza isn’t ready for the hard labor, financial struggles, or lack of acceptance she now faces. When their new life is threatened, Esperanza must find a way to rise above her difficult circumstances–Mama’s life, and her own, depend on it.

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Borrow from Open Library

Please note: Our posting a book in our Homeschool Librarian database does not mean that we endorse its contents. Please use your own discretion when selecting books for your child to read. Also, we are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. Purchases made through our affiliate links help support this site. Book descriptions are sourced from either Amazon.com or GoodReads.
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Lexile/Reading Level
920L

Genre/Category
Fiction | Historical | Realistic

Topic
Dust Bowl | Family Relationships | Great Depression | Homelessness and Poverty | Migrant Workers
Main Character
Girl(s)
Award-Winning Book
Newbery | Newbery Honor
Format
Book

Blue Willow

Author: Gates, Doris

To Janey Larkin, the blue willow plate was the most beautiful thing in her life, a symbol of the home she could only dimly remember. Now that her father was an itinerant worker, Janey didn’t have a home she could call her own or any real friends, as her family had to keep moving, following the crops from farm to farm. Someday, Janey promised the willow plate, with its picture of a real house, her family would once again be able to set down roots in a community.

Blue Willow is an important fictional account of the Dust Bowl and the Great Depression, and has been called The Grapes of Wrath for children.

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Please note: Our posting a book in our Homeschool Librarian database does not mean that we endorse its contents. Please use your own discretion when selecting books for your child to read. Also, we are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. Purchases made through our affiliate links help support this site. Book descriptions are sourced from either Amazon.com or GoodReads.
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Lexile/Reading Level
NA

Genre/Category
History | Nonfiction

Historical Time Period
Great Depression | Pre World War II | World War I | World War II
Date
1900s
Topic
Atomic Bomb | Culture and Traditions | Great Depression | Hitler | Holocaust | Homelessness and Poverty | Military and Wars
Geographic Region
United States - America
Award-Winning Book
Newbery | Newbery Honor
Format
Book

America Moves Forward: A History for Peter

Author: Johnson, Gerald W.

Deals with the crucial period from 1917 to 1960

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Please note: Our posting a book in our Homeschool Librarian database does not mean that we endorse its contents. Please use your own discretion when selecting books for your child to read. Also, we are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. Purchases made through our affiliate links help support this site. Book descriptions are sourced from either Amazon.com or GoodReads.

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What is my Child’s Lexile Measure?

GRADELEXILE
1st0-300L
2nd140-500L
3rd330-700L
4th445-810L
5th565-910L
6th665-1000L
7th735-1065L
8th805-1100L
9th855-1165L
10th905-1195L
11th/12th940-1210L
College+1210+

Find out more about Lexile Measures.

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Please note: Our posting a book in our Homeschool Librarian database does not mean that we endorse its contents. Please use your own discretion when selecting books for your child to read. Also, our posts may contain affiliate links to Amazon.com. Purchases made through our affiliate links help support this site.

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