Ever since leaving Oklahoma, 12-year-old Hallie Turner longs for a place to call home. But it’s 1933, and the Great Depression and drought-induced dust storms have converged to create a crisis for many Americans. Now that Hallie’s mother has died and her father has abandoned the family, there’s no reason for Hallie and her brothers—16-year-old Tom and 6-year-old Benny—to remain in their childhood home.
As the threesome travel from town to town in a dilapidated car, they confront hostility from people who consider them trash and squatters, a threat to local jobs and community resources. Still, the children encounter kindness. In Kansas, when their car breaks down by the Carlson farm, the children receive help and discover a welcome surprise. The Carlsons have a child with special needs like Benny has, forging an instant bond between the families.
But when a local teen causes havoc in the children’s lives, Hallie wonders if they will always be considered squatters, or if one day, “they’d ever have a home like the one in Oklahoma again, a home where women sat and sewed, where neighbors dropped in and helped each other out.” Surprisingly, a potential tragedy leads to the fulfillment of Hallie’s wish.
In this novel for juvenile readers, author Sandra Dallas paints a detailed, touching portrait of life in a challenging era where many children faced harsh economic and social realities, yet overcame obstacles by banding together and experiencing the generosity and hospitality of strangers. (Sleeping Bear Press)
About the Author
Sonya VanderVeen Feddema is a freelance writer and a member of Covenant CRC in St. Catharines, Ontario.
