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"If you would like to have your heart broken, just come out here. This is the dust-storm country. It is the saddest land I have ever seen." These were the words of a reporter in 1936 after visiting the Great Plains of America. The 1930s were not a good time for most Americans, as the country was deep in the Great Depression. In the southern Great Plains region, times were especially bad. A severe ... More

"If you would like to have your heart broken, just come out here. This is the dust-storm country. It is the saddest land I have ever seen." These were the words of a reporter in 1936 after visiting the Great Plains of America. The 1930s were not a good time for most Americans, as the country was deep in the Great Depression. In the southern Great Plains region, times were especially bad. A severe drought struck the area and strong winds blew the dry topsoil into the air, creating tremendous storms of dust. The situation was so devastating, the region became known as the Dust Bowl. The Buckler family of Oklahoma were farmers who, like many in the region, depended on the land for their survival, so the Dust Bowl proved an especially harrowing time for them. Hoping for Rain tells the story of the three Buckler children and their experiences in the Dust Bowl. The book follows these children and their family through times of drought with no crops, into "black blizzards," and across the country to California where the eldest child, Earl, heads to find work and provide money for his family. Through letters and diary entries, the young Bucklers describe the disaster of the Dust Bowl. They tell of days filled with wishes for the storms to end and of hungry nights. Everything is covered with dirt-the floors, the beds, and even the food! After many months of battling the dust storms, the Bucklers are faced with a huge decision. Understanding that they can not be sure how long it will be until the rain comes again, they decide to move the family across the country. The Buckler's story becomes one of the many stories of the poor migrants who traveled west from the Plains in the mid- to late 1930s. Now these "Okies" face new challenges in the West, often depending on the federal government to help them through hard times. Back in Oklahoma, the dust storms continued on into the early 1940s, forever changing the face of farming in America. Like the others in the I Am American series, Hoping for Rain is illustrated with period drawings and photographs. Also included is a glossary.

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