Kirkus
Copyright © Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Lark Jensen won’t let prejudice, poverty, or dust bury her dream of finding a home. In 1939, droughts and dust storms force fifth grader Lark and her family to leave their beloved home in Oklahoma. The family settles in California’s San Joaquin Valley, in a government camp housing nearly 600 desperate, impoverished migrants. Despite Lark’s hope that California will be a “land of milk and honey,” they’re met with prejudice; signs read “Okies go home!”, classmates bully her, and parents campaign for the camp kids to be excluded from public schools. On top of this, Lark also takes care of her younger siblings, Zeb and Junie; navigates her relationship with her mother, who experiences mental health challenges that read like depression; and picks cotton with her father (“one of the worst jobs in the history of jobs”) to help pay the bills. Lark finally feels hopeful when the county superintendent announces his plan to build a school just for the camp kids, who are delighted. Wendell uses elegant language to explore Lark’s interiority in depth, painting a detailed portrait of a tenacious young hero; the large supporting cast would have benefited from further development, however. The book effectively makes the time period accessible without inserting excessive historical details. Characters are largely cued white; the book doesn’t explore the Mexican, Filipino, and Japanese American communities present in the area. A heartfelt, character-driven Dust Bowl story of grit and growing up. (author’s note, further reading)(Historical fiction. 8-12) Copyright © Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.