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.
A moving, exciting, and heartfelt American saga inspired by the author’s own family memoirs, these words belong to Sarah Prine, a woman of spirit and fire who forges a full and remarkable existence in a harsh, unfamiliar frontier. Scrupulously recording her steps down the path Providence has set her upon—from child to determined young adult to loving mother—she shares the turbulent events, both joyous and tragic, that molded her, and recalls the enduring love with cavalry officer Captain Jack Elliot that gave her strength and purpose.
“A Land Remembered” has been ranked #1 Best Florida Book eight times in annual polls conducted by Florida Monthly Magazine. PIn this best-selling novel, Patrick Smith tells the story of three generations of the MacIveys, a Florida family who battle the hardships of the frontier to rise from a dirt-poor Cracker life to the wealth and standing of real estate tycoons. The story opens in 1858, when Tobias MacIvey arrives in the Florida wilderness to start a new life with his wife and infant son, and ends two generations later in 1968 with Solomon MacIvey, who realizes that the land has been exploited far beyond human need. The sweeping story that emerges is a rich, rugged Florida history featuring a memorable cast of crusty, indomitable Crackers battling wild animals, rustlers, Confederate deserters, mosquitoes, starvation, hurricanes, and freezes to carve a kingdom out of the swamp. But their most formidable adversary turns out to be greed, including finally their own. Love and tenderness are here too: the hopes and passions of each new generation, friendships with the persecuted blacks and Indians, and respect for the land and its wildlife.
An epic novel of love, discovery, and adventure by the author of the best-selling memoir When I Was Puerto Rican.
Sturdy and Strong is about a young boy going from rags to riches because of his strong moral character.
Describes the events surrounding the internment of Japanese Americans in relocation centers during World War II. The reader’s choices reveal the historical details from the perspective of Japanese internees and Caucasians.
From BooklistGr. 7-9. This sequel to Mazer’s A Boy at War (2002) picks up after Adam, his mother, and his little sister have left Honolulu and moved to Bakersfield, California. Still under the shadow of his father’s death at Pearl Harbor, Adam struggles to get his bearings. When his Japanese American friend, Davi, writes from Hawaii to ask Adam to find his father, whom the authorities have taken to California, Adam begins a quest that takes him to an internment camp. Written in first person, the novel chronicles the emotional confusion Adam feels as he looks for the right path and his satisfaction when he finds it. Although reading the previous book is not necessary, the scene in which Adam first sees Davi’s father again as well as the many mentions of Adam’s fatherwill resonate more powerfully for readers familiar with it. The book ends with a time line of the Pacific war in 1942, a discussion of the home front, and quotes from documents related to the Japanese internment. A satisfying coming-of-age story in a well-documented historical setting. 
“We are a family on a journey to a place called wonderful” is the motto of Deza Malone’s family.
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.
Kit longs for a big story to write in her daily newspaper for her Dad—that is, until she’s faced with news that’s really bad. When Mother’s friends lose their house and come to stay with her family, it’s nothing but trouble for Kit. Then Kit’s dad loses his business, and things go from bad to worse. Will life ever be the same again?
