![\"dust-bowl_photo\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.davenportlibrary.com\/reference\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/04\/dust-bowl_photo.jpg?resize=291%2C217&ssl=1\")
When times are tough, it helps to read about those who have gone through even more desperate times – with grace and courage.<\/p>\nWhen times are tough, it helps to read about those who have gone through even more desperate times – with grace and courage.<\/p>\n
Early settlers and homesteaders lived near the margin; they felt fortunate if they had the very basics of life (in the face of drought, pestilence, and economic collapse). Books like Nothing to Do But Stay <\/strong><\/em><\/a>by Carrie Young and the Laura Ingalls Wilder <\/strong>books immerse the reader in the hard life of the pioneer on the plains.<\/p>\n Books with a\u00a0 documentary slant are Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America<\/strong><\/a><\/em> by Barbara Ehrenreich and Hard Times: An Oral History of the Great Depression<\/strong><\/em><\/a> by Studs Terkel. Both made an important societal\u00a0 impact and yet are highly\u00a0 readable.<\/p>\n Poverty was a fact of life at the turn of the century; poor families lived without any kind of safety net.\u00a0 This was a common theme in early American childrens’ literature. Two tight-knit families who lived in “ramshackle cottages” and faced eviction, illness and other disasters with humor are the Five Little Peppers<\/a><\/strong> <\/em>series by Margaret Sidney and Mrs. Wiggs and the Cabbage Patch<\/strong><\/em><\/a> by Alice Rice.<\/p>\n All these books provide context and role models for today’s tough times.<\/p>\n Also recommended:<\/p>\n Books:<\/p>\n Bud, Not Buddy<\/strong><\/a><\/em> by Christopher Curtis<\/p>\n David Copperfield<\/strong><\/em><\/a> by Charles Dickens<\/p>\n DVDs (adapted from books):<\/p>\n Grapes of Wrath<\/strong><\/a><\/em><\/p>\n Kit Kittredge: An American Girl<\/strong><\/a><\/em><\/p>\n Sounder<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" When times are tough, it helps to read about those who have gone through even more desperate times – with grace and courage. Early settlers and homesteaders lived near the margin; they felt fortunate if they had the very basics of life (in the face of drought, pestilence, and economic[Read more]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[10],"tags":[307,551,552],"class_list":["post-3000","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-books","tag-depression","tag-economic-hardship","tag-poverty"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pd0CXx-Mo","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.davenportlibrary.com\/reference\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3000","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.davenportlibrary.com\/reference\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.davenportlibrary.com\/reference\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.davenportlibrary.com\/reference\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.davenportlibrary.com\/reference\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3000"}],"version-history":[{"count":16,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.davenportlibrary.com\/reference\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3000\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3024,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.davenportlibrary.com\/reference\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3000\/revisions\/3024"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.davenportlibrary.com\/reference\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3000"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.davenportlibrary.com\/reference\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3000"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.davenportlibrary.com\/reference\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3000"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}