The Worst Hard Time by Timothy Egan

The Worst Hard Time is a non-fiction book describing the impact of the depression on the area in the United States hit hardest by drought. Unlike Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath, which fictionalizes a family’s migration out of the Dust Bowl, Egan focuses on the families that stayed. Many stayed because they could not afford to move, whereas others were optimistic and initially believed this was only a temporary condition. After a few years even the most optimistic were fleeing, if they could.

I did not realize before reading this book how devastating the dust storms were or how many people died of dust pneumonia. Here‘s one description of the storm that happened on what became known as Black Sunday, April 14, 1935:

“The front edge of the duster looked two thousand feet high. Winds were clocked at sixty-five miles an hour. A few minutes earlier there had been bright sunshine and a temperature of eighty-one degrees, without a wisp of wind. Drivers turned on their headlights but could not see ahead of them, or even see the person sitting next to them.”

There are multiple descriptions of this storm from many different towns and people. The hardest to read is that of a mother who had just buried her baby and attended her grandma’s funeral.

There are some interesting politics going on during this time. FDR was elected president in 1932 and immediately began giving some relief to farm families. Before this there was no safety net at all. Hugh Bennett, head of the Soil Erosion Service during the Roosevelt administration, wanted to try and restore the grasslands and ensure against future dust storms.

“… as the dusters picked up in ferocity, Bennett was one of the first in Washington to try and convince people it was not just another natural disaster or an epic drought. It seemed like something caused by man, a by-product of hubris and ignorance on a grand scale. Maybe some of it could be reversed. But to do so, people would have to think anew about how they used the land.”

Bennett found Congress a hard sell. He planned his next presentation for five days after Black Sunday. That afternoon during his presentation the day turned dark and dust from that storm fell on Washington DC. Bennett got his funding.

The Worst Hard Time does a good job of illuminating the individual lives and the families that are hard hit by this tragedy as well as giving an overview of the whole time period. I did find the book a bit longer than necessary, but appreciated the historical photos included.

Escape to Books

The Beautiful Things That Heaven Bears by Dinaw Mengestu

This main character in this novel is Sepha Stephanos, an immigrant from Ethiopia who’s been living in Washington DC for the past seventeen years. He runs a small store in a rundown area in Logan’s Circle. His store is not particularly successful and he has lots of time to dwell on the past.

“Left alone behind the counter I was hit with the sudden terrible and frightening realization that everything I had cared for and loved was either lost or living on without me seven thousand miles away, and that what I had here was not a life, but a poorly constructed substitution made up of one uncle, two friends, a grim store, and a cheap apartment.”

Stephanos and his two friends, immigrants from two other African countries, meet regularly. Joseph is a waiter in an exclusive restaurant and Kenneth is an engineer. They all met many years ago working as bellboys at a hotel. Their usual pastime while drinking in a bar is to name a dictator and match it to the country and year of the revolution or coup.

Stephanos has a brief period of hope for more from his life when Judith and her daughter Naomi fix up an abandoned house next to his store and move in. Stephanos spends a great deal of time with Naomi and hopes to spend more with Judith. However, he seems to deliberately sabotage this relationship. And, to make it more difficult his neighborhood is not ready for gentrification.

If you’re looking for an uplifting immigrant story, this is not it. It is, however, a look into what it is like to be lonely in America. Stephanos is obviously not happy. His family in Ethiopia, his mother and his brother, are financially doing better than he is and it makes me, at least, question if he wouldn’t be happier living with them. It is also an interesting look into what happens to a neighborhood when people with money move in. I naively assumed that would be a good thing, but it does not seem to be for the long time residents. I’m looking forward to more novels from this author.

Escape to Books

Admission by Jean Hanff Korelitz

Admission is really the story of Portia Nathan, who just happens to work in the admissions office at Princeton. Portia is dealing with the end of a sixteen year relationship and the idea that her mom has taken in a pregnant seventeen-year-old and might end up adopting the baby. She has a breakdown that coincides with these events, but seems to have more to do with a long held secret from her own college years.

I did find the insight into the admissions process of a highly selective college interesting. It must be great to be at a place with need blind admissions. I wonder what percentage of private colleges can still operate that way. Portia spends the fall visiting high schools and encouraging students to apply while the winter is spent wading through thousands of applications to find just the right students.

“It was an oddity of her work that she might know these young men and women so intimately from the records of their accomplishments, their confessed secrets, their worries and ambitions, and yet when the flesh-and-blood applicants arrived on campus a few months later, they were always strangers. Somehow, the folders turned into these bodies: high-spirited, intense, beauteous, or plain, usually clever, but sometimes quite dull. They looked like teenagers walking the campuses of Notre Dame or Texas A&M. They sounded like kids at the mall or on the subway. The special, unique eighteen-year-olds, whose applications had so thrilled Portia and her colleagues, or made them argue passionately for admission over wait list, or wait list over rejection, had somehow morphed into these strangely ordinary beings.”

Admission is a good length to pack for vacation or a long plane trip. It is not a light beach read, but slightly longer and more in depth. It might remind you of your own college admission essays, and give some insight into how the process has changed over the years. The story of Portia, her colleagues, her boyfriend(s), and the potential Princeton admitees is intriguing – slightly too many coincidences to be believable, but still a good read.
Escape to Books

Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford

What a great title! This novel, set in Seattle during World War II and 1986, follows Chinese American Henry Lee. Henry is twelve years old in 1942 and has recently had his parents tell him to speak only English. This is difficult as although Henry goes to an all white school on scholarship, his parents only speak Chinese. His father follows the war effort closely and has significant interest in seeing the Japanese defeated in China. He has Henry wear a button that states, “I am Chinese.”

In Seattle at the time Chinatown and Japantown were very close geographically but separate entities, and when a Japanese student, Keiko Okabe, starts at Henry’s school he is unsure what to make of her. They soon become good friends as they are both scholarship students and have to work together at the school. The story revolves around their growing friendship, Henry’s clashes with his dad over this friendship, and the impending internment of Keiko and her family.

I’ve read a few books about the impact of Japanese internment camps on Japanese Americans, including the novel Snow Falling on Cedars and more recently the non-fiction book Stubborn Twig. This novel addresses a few more issues I’ve never considered. There were thousands of Japanese Americans living in Seattle. How were they relocated? What happened to their property and their belongings? The descriptions of the temporary camp at the Puyallup Washington State Fairgrounds and the more permanent one in Minidoka, Idaho seem unreal.

The story of Henry as a young teen during World War II is interspersed with Henry’s life in 1986. He’s now widowed and has a college age son. Henry hears about belongings from World War II found in an old hotel and that starts him on a search to find out what happened to Keiko. I highly recommend this book. It is much more readable than Stubborn Twig and also gives some insight into what other ethnic groups felt about the Japanese relocation and internment.

the green teen by Jenn Savedge

The green teen is a compact book with a subtitle of the eco-friendly teen’s guide to saving the planet. Author Jenn Savedge has done a nice job of compiling information that teens can use to change their habits, if they want. There are a number of do-it-yourself projects like making your own personal care products or simple things to do around the house to save energy. Included are text codes so teens (or anyone else) can get info on the go. For example, text BUYORGANIC to 4-INFO to get a list of food that might be best to purchase organic. Plus, there are a lot of websites included for further reading if a teen becomes especially interested in a particular project.

I thought some of the most interesting parts to read were the real life stories of teens who have done something in their community to go green. Some examples include starting an environmental club at school or converting a regular car to an electric one. I was most inspired by the group in New York City led by 15-year-old Avery Hairston. This group raises money to purchase compact fluorescent light bulbs and then hands them out to low-income families. I liked this idea because it seemed manageable, yet could really make a difference. A few more ambitious projects are also described such as working to save a lake or to clean up the water supply in India. Some practical help in the form of a recycling plan to propose to your school is included.

I also appreciated the sections where teens received suggestions on how to get their parents to go along with their plans to go green.
For example, “Be Their Guide: Save your parents time and money by researching their options for them.” The book then goes on to point out how to do that and includes some useful websites.
I especially liked this suggestion:
“Take the Hit: If it is going to cost $20 more each week for your parents to buy organic groceries at the store, offer to absorb the costs by paying for them with your allowance or giving up something you’ve been begging for but don’t really need. Make it a family effort so that your parents will know how important this is to you.”

I do have a copy of the green teen to give away to one reader. Post a comment below and I’ll do a random drawing on June 3rd. To learn more about the author visit her site at www.thegreenparent.com or click here to purchase the book.