The Dust Bowl

1930 – 1936

The Dust Bowl was a severe environmental disaster caused by drought and poor farming practices in the Great Plains. Massive dust storms destroyed farms, forcing families to migrate and leading to changes in farming and land management. You can find books about the Great Depression here.

Picture books

Hoping for Rain

Story of a fictional family’s Dust Bowl experience, through diary entries and letters

Dust for Dinner

Story of a family’s trials and triumphs during the Dust Bowl, for younger readers

Voices of the Dust Bowl

Introduction to the Dust Bowl through the voices from different perspectives

Erosion

Exciting story of a soil scientist who helped end the Dust Bowl

Chapter books and novels

Out of the Dust

Award-winning novel-in-verse about a girl facing loss during the Dust Bowl

My Name Is America: The Journal Of A Dust Bowl Migrant

Fictional diary of a farm boy migrating to California

Dear America: Survival in the Storm

Fictional diary of a girl struggling to survive in Dust Bowl Texas

The Dust Bowl: An Interactive History Adventure

Choose-your-own-adventure book set in the Dust Bowl

Three Strike Summer

Delightful story of a girl organizing a baseball game at a California farm-labor camp

Non-fiction books

The Great American Dust Bowl

Powerful graphic novel that brings the Dust Bowl to life

Children of the Dust Bowl

True story of life in a farm-labor camp, with photographs

Years of Dust: The Story of the Dust Bowl

Exploration of the causes and effects of the Dust Bowl

Dust to Eat

Overview of life during the Dust Bowl and the migration west, enriched with photographs and vivid anecdotes

Google Sites

Report abuse