When a drought turns the farmland of the Texas Panhandle into a dry wasteland, eleven-year-old Ray’s world begins to crumble. Fierce dust storms blacken the sky and destroy everything in their path.
Ray and his best friend, Dolly, do their chores and go to school. But there’s nothing they can do to save their struggling town or the thousands of people who are sick from the filthy air.
Then Ray learns a family secret. He sets out to help his parents . . . and ends up caught in the most vicious dust storm of them all. Will Ray make it through? Will he ever see his parents again?
I was absolutely ecstatic when I learned the subject of this latest I Survived book. When I told my mom, she was very excited. She is fascinated by the happenings of the Dust Bowl and how people managed to live through it.
Lauren Tarshis does a fantastic job bringing the Dust Bowl era to life. The way she described the dust storms was terrifying, like something from a horror movie. It was the dust itself that horrified me the most. It was everywhere. And I mean EVERYWHERE. In your house, in your food, in your lungs. It was like some sort of supernatural entity.
Here’s a quote from the book that best describes it. “The dust was as fine as flour. No matter what you did, it got everywhere. It seeped through the tiniest cracks and keyholes of your house. It flew up your nose, into your ears, and down your throat.”
The two main questions you may be asking are, “What caused the Dust Bowl? and, “How did so many people make it through?”
Short answers: It was caused by drought and the un-environmental farming technique of the time.
They just lived. They didn’t let it stop them.
For the full answers, you’ll have to read the book to find out.
I already can’t wait to see when and where the next I Survived book will take us.