1930 – 1936
The Dust Bowl was a devastating environmental disaster during the 1930s. Severe drought and poor farming practices in the Great Plains led to massive dust storms that destroyed crops and farmland. This disaster forced many farmers to abandon their homes and migrate west in search of work and better living conditions. The Dust Bowl highlighted the need for better agricultural practices and led to significant changes in farming and land management. You can find books about the Great Depression here.
Picture books
Hoping for Rain: The Dust Bowl Adventures of Patty and Earl Buckler
Story of a fictional family’s Dust Bowl experience, through diary entries and letters
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Dust for Dinner
Story of a family’s trials and triumphs during the Dust Bowl, for younger readers
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Voices of the Dust Bowl
Introduction to the Dust Bowl through the voices from different perspectives
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Erosion: How Hugh Bennett Saved America’s Soil and Ended the Dust Bowl
Exciting story of a soil scientist who helped end the Dust Bowl
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Chapter books
Out of the Dust
Award-winning novel-in-verse about a girl facing loss during the Dust Bowl
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My Name Is America: The Journal Of C.J. Jackson, A Dust Bowl Migrant
Fictional diary of a farm boy migrating to California
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Survival in the Storm: The Dust Bowl Diary of Grace Edwards, Dalhart, Texas 1935
Fictional diary of a girl struggling to survive in Dust Bowl Texas
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The Dust Bowl: An Interactive History Adventure
Choose-your-own-adventure book set in the Dust Bowl
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Three Strike Summer
Delightful story of a girl organizing a baseball game at a California farm-labor camp
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Non-fiction books
The Great American Dust Bowl
Powerful graphic novel that brings the Dust Bowl to life
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Children of the Dust Bowl: The True Story of the School at Weedpatch Camp
True story of life in a farm-labor camp, with photographs
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Years of Dust: The Story of the Dust Bowl
Exploration of the causes and effects of the Dust Bowl
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Dust to Eat
Overview of life during the Dust Bowl and the migration west, enriched with photographs and vivid anecdotes
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