CHILDREN OF THE GREAT DEPRESSION by Russell Freedman

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Freedman, Russell. Children of the Great Depression. New York, NY: Clarion Books, 2005. ISBN 0618446303

PLOT SUMMARY

Russell Freedman offers readers another unique non-fiction experience in Children of the Great Depression. This photo essay gives readers a first hand look at the people, especially the children, who lived through the Great Depression of 1929-1934. Freedman examines the effects of the Depression on the lives and values of those who experienced the events at a critical time in their lives, childhood. Freedman examines the Depressions effect on those who were infants to those who were ready to enter college at the time of the Stock Market crash. Freedman chronicles the crash of hopes and dreams which happened soon after to the children of the United States.

One of the elements which is of special interest and is woven throughout the book, is the letters children wrote to then First Lady, Eleanor Roosevelt. Children felt they could pour out their hearts to Mrs. Roosevelt as they and their families struggled to survive. Many of the children wrote asking for special help. Others just wanted her to know of their struggles. Whatever the reason for the letter, the writer's found a listener in the First Lady.


CRITICAL ANALYSIS

Russell Freedman has a unique way of combining visual images with text to create a brand of non-fiction which can not be duplicated. The pictures of the youngest victims of the Great Depression are candid and leave a vivid impression on the reader. The words of the adults who survived the Depression as children give one a first person account of what it was like to be a child in a country which changed over night. Freedman examines the causes of the Great Depression so that the reader can understand what happened at that point in American History; however, the true purpose of the book is to tell the stories of the era through the eyes of the children who lived them. This book, like other Freedman books, gives a first-hand perspective on history which is fascinating and allows the reader to feel as though they too have experienced it.

REVIEW EXCERPTS

Voice of Youth Advocates (June 1, 2006) "Freedman, social biographer and author of such works as Immigrant Kids (Dutton, 1980) and Kids at Work (Clarion, 1994/VOYA December 2004), turns his attention to children and adolescents of the Great Depression. His newest addition to his large corpus of work does not disappoint. Freedman does an exemplary job of making a disheartening and complicated subject in American history approachable and engaging. This book is every reluctant reader and procrastinating student's dream come true-large text, wide margins, and many full-page archival photographs, including one of a nude child. The author makes excellent use of primary sources, quotations from oral history projects, and the aforementioned pictures and provides source notes. It is a fantastic resource for reports and casual reading."

Booklist (December 15, 2005) " 'It's my sister's turn to eat,' a hungry child tells her teacher. Quotes like that one bring home what it was like to be young and poor in Depression America. This stirring photo-essay combines such unforgettable personal details with a clear historical overview of the period and black-and-white photos by Dorothea Lange, Walker Evans, and many others. As Freedman says, these images "convey in human terms the true meaning of economic statistics." His signature plainspoken prose does that, too, on every spacious, double-page spread, whether he is focusing on differences of race and class or on child sharecroppers, factory workers, migrant farm laborers, or boxcar kids. There are many books about particular people and regions during this period--among them, Jerry Stanley's Children of the Dust Bowl 0 (1992); Milton Meltzer's Brother, Can You Spare a Dime? (1991); and Freedman's own award-winning biographies of Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt--and Freedman quotes from a number of them, as well as from adult sources, documenting everything in a final bibliographic essay and notes that are a rich part of the story, not the usual cramped, dutiful acknowledgments. An excellent starting place for investigating the Depression in middle school and junior high, this eloquent book will also appeal to older readers, including adults who know family stories about how it was or, possibly, lived the history themselves."

School Library Journal (December 1, 2005) "Few authors are as well suited as Freedman to present a clear and understandable outline of this period. His prose is straightforward and easily comprehensible, making sense of even the complexities of the stock-market crash. The use of primary sources is outstanding. This is a book told by chorus, featuring the voices of those who endured the Depression, and is embellished with black-and-white photos by such luminaries as Dorothea Lange, Ben Shahn, Walker Evans, and Russell Lee. Eight chapters cover the causes of the Great Depression, schooling, work life, migrant work, the lives of children who rode the rails, entertainment, and the economic resurgence of the early '40s. Chapter notes and an excellent bibliography round out another superb photo-essay by a veteran author. A wonderful, informed, and sympathetic overview that perfectly complements Jerry Stanley's Children of the Dust Bowl (Random, 1992)."