by Matt Phelan
ages: 11+
First sentence: “The dust can have it.”
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I don’t quite know what to say about this one. I picked it up because of SLJ’s Battle of the Kids Books, but I’m not sure what I expected. First off, it’s gorgeously drawn. I do love the mood it evokes: the browns and blues of the Dust Bowl. There are subtle things too, like a raised eyebrow, or a simple tear that make this book just beautiful to look at. Almost like I was looking at timeless photographs.

That and it references Ozma of Oz (well, it is set in Kansas, after all), which is nice. Alluding to the desert that Dorothy has to cross and the hardships she goes through to get back to Oz make a nice parallel to the story of our 11-year-old hero, Jack, as he deals with the trials of the Dust Bowl, and learns to face his fears about what just might be in the neighbor’s barn.

But.

I’m not sure I quite got the story. There’s a mythical element to it, a larger-than-life aspect that just didn’t sit well. There were parts that confused me, and I had to go back and reread (relook?) at them a few times in order to make sense. It’s told mostly through pictures; there’s very little dialogue, and I’m afraid I missed elements that would have made the story more cohesive. For me. But, this was not really a pouring over book; there weren’t little details that made me want to linger over the individual pictures. It wanted to propel itself forward; I always felt a little annoyed when I had to turn back and reread a section.