This is a story about the 1930's but if you trade homeless for Okies, climate crisis for dust bowl and socialist fears for red scare - it could be today. In fact such a comparison is at the root of the author's incentive to write the book. It is also a story of incredible strength in the face of horrible conditions. Elsa comes from a wealthy but restrictive family in Texas. Circumstances find her in love with farming and the land. The drought forces her and her two young children to head to California hoping for a new chance. What they find is abject poverty, cruel land owners, and a local community that resents them. They respond with friendship, resiliency and bravery. Elsa's fierce determination to provide for her children must be duplicated numerous times in today's world of severe economic inequality. It makes you ask, "Have we learned nothing?"
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