More Middle Grade Historical Fiction about the Great Depression

Back in December 2022 I wrote a blog recommending some middle grade books about the Great Depression. In the two and a half years since that blog, I've written my own middle grade historical fiction about the era, and I've read a few more. That means it's time for an update. 

Stories set in the Great Depression can benefit middle grade readers in a number of ways. In addition to offering a glimpse into a significant period in American history that they are unlikely to be familiar with, these stories can offer valuable lessons about resilience, hardship, and the importance of community that readers can apply to their own lives.

Exposing middle grade readers to the economic and social realities of the time can broaden their understanding of the past and its impact on the present. The Great Depression began with a stock market crash in 1929. For the next decade, America (and other countries world wide) experienced a severe global economic downturn that was characterized by high rates of unemployment that led to social upheaval. Middle Grade readers are several generations removed from this period and might not be aware of what took place. The Great Depression provides a real-world example of economic principles and crisis management, both on a governmental level and on a personal level. Readers who are exposed to the impact of financial crises, unemployment, and poverty on characters will begin to grasp how these basic economic concepts affected society then, and continue to affect society now.

Many of the middle grade novels set during the Great Depression highlight the strength and perseverance of individuals and communities in the face of adversity. During the Great Depression, almost a quarter of the workforce was unemployed. Many lost their homes to foreclosure or were thrown into the street for lack of rental payments. Families were split up as fathers searched for work. "Hoovervilles," shanty towns built of packing crates, abandoned cars, and other scraps, sprung up across the nation. Youngsters whose families could no longer support them rode the rails as hobos in search of work. It took enormous courage to face the wrenching pain of such upheavals. Even those who didn’t lose their homes worried about having enough food. They mended worn clothing, added cardboard liners to worn out shoes, made do as best as they could, and sometimes felt deep despair. Their stories can inspire today’s young readers to develop their own resilience and grit when facing challenges, and it can help those readers develop compassion and empathy for today’s downtrodden.

Here are some recommended readings about the Great Depression for Middle Grade Readers. Read through the whole list. There are several books I'm giving away.

Fiction

Not Lucille by Mike Steele (published by Creative James Media, June 24, 2025, EAN/UPC 9781965648070) 

Ten-year-old Lucy Contento can't seem to control her impulsive behavior, blurting out in the classroom and doing things without thinking. When she's assigned to the rigid disciplinarian Miss Gillingham's Fifth Grade Class, it seems she's destined to spend every afternoon in after school detention, sitting with the teacher who insists on calling her Lucille and making her write with her right hand even though she's a Leftie. One afternoon she sneaks onto the campus of the Deefies, what the neighborhood kids disparagingly call a nearby school for the Deaf, and makes a friend of Florence, a profoundly deaf girl who doesn't mind Lucy's flaws. From there, the story of friendship and acceptance blooms. Lucy learns to advocate for both herself and for Florence as she comes to terms with the quirks that everyone has, even the straight-laced Miss Gillingham and her grumpy neighbor Mrs. Ricci. This is a sweet and empowering book that will melt your heart and give you hope. The author provides an afterword that helps today’s readers understand how very different the world was in the 1930s.  Walter Steps up to the Plate by Sue Houser (published by Kinkajou Press, October 10, 2023, EAN/UPC 9781951122683 Twelve-year-old Walter wants to spend the summer of 1927 watching his beloved Chicago Cubs play baseball. Instead, his life is upended when his mother is diagnosed with tuberculosis. Walter  leaves everything he knows and loves to accompany his mother to Albuquerque, New Mexico, where the dry air and specialized treatments might cure her. They board with relatives he has never met, including an older boy who doesn't appreciate having Walter around.  Walter gets a paper route to help with the expenses, but they are not enough to cover the bills when his mother is admitted to a sanatorium. The gangster, Al "Scarface" Capone, who Walter recognizes from Chicago might be able to provide the money his mother needs for surgery his mother needs, but Walter doesn't want to  become indebted to the notorious gangster. This is a gripping tale of a boy who must figure out how to get what he needs for those he loves while not compromising his own morals. Set just before the Great Depression, the story shows the kinds of money pressures that are typical of the era. Wish Upon a Crawdad by Curtis Condon (published by Heart of Oak Books for Young Readers, May 03, 2022, EAN/UPC 9798985223408)​ Twelve-year-old Ruby Mae Ryan has never had electricity a day in her life. But that's about to change. Electrification is coming to her rural Oregon town.  She's determined to make enough money by selling crawdads to the local restaurant and through other odd jobs to buy something very special that she’s kept a secret from everyone but her Daddy and her best friend, Virginia. A lot of people wish on the first star at night. Ruby does that, too, but she also wishes on the first crawdad of the day. She figures the odds are better. "Not many folks wish upon a crawdad," Ruby says.  Set in 1940, at the tail end of the Great Depression, this story tells what it was like in a time before electric cooperatives brought power to the rural farm country.

Echo Mountain by Lauren Wolk (published by Dutton Books for Young Reader, April 27, 2021 EAN/UPC 9780525555582)

When twelve-year-old Ellie's family loses their home in the Great Depression, they are forced to leave their home in town and start over in the untamed wilderness of the Maine woods.  Echo Mountain is good for Ellie, who calls herself an 'echo girl'. She and her father take to living off the land, but her sister and mother do not. Her six year old brother Samuel seems to fit in anywhere. But then a terrible accident that is unfairly blamed on Ellie leaves her father in a coma. Determined to help her father, Ellie follows a wild, brindled dog to Cate, a reclusive woman living on the mountain who's called “the hag,” but has the knowledge that Ellie needs to help her father. Lauren Wolk is a Newbery Honor and Scott O'Dell Award–winning author, and this tale of resilience, persistence, and friendship across three generations of families is a testament to her skills.

 

The Wind Called My Name by Mary Louise Sanchez (published by Tu Books, October 30, 2018, EAN/UPC 9781620147801)

Ten-year-old Margaríta Sandoval's family leaves New Mexico, where they have deep and traditional roots, to move to Fort Steele, Wyoming when her father finds a job with the railroad. She misses living among Hispanics, especially her beloved Abuelita, and feels so rootless that she fears the wind might blow her away. Margaríta meets Evangeline and is pleased to have a friend her own age, but soon encounters prejudice and misunderstanding. Things get really tense when the Sandovals learn that Abuelita might lose her land and the family's ancestral home unless they can pay off her tax bill. This lovely, gentle story is sprinkled with Spanish dichos, wise sayings that will ring true in any language. It teaches about a culture that few understand was here and thriving for centuries, and continues today.

If the Fire Comes by Tracy Daley(Published by North Star Editions, September 1, 2019, 978-1631633713

Eleven-year-old Joseph McCoy shines shoes to help his family survive. His family is one of the few black ones in Elsinore, a mostly white, California community that's been hit hard, both by the Great Depression and persistent drought. When an all-black Civilian Conservation Corps camp comes, racial tensions spread like wildfire and threatens to destroy the whole town. This book has extensive backmatter, including historical photographs and background information.

Perspective by Jennifer Bohnhoff (published by Thin Air Books, October 7, 2025, 979-8290306100)

When her mother dies of lung cancer in the middle of the Great Depression, twelve-year old, artistic Genevieve Williams is shipped off to a father she has never met. She lands on a remote island in the middle of Lake Superior, where she finds herself dealing with isolation and a lifestyle that is a hundred years behind the times. Just as she unravels the mystery of her parents' broken relationship, and learns to love the island's rustic beauty, the government threatens to take it all away by making the Island into a National Park. Genevieve must find a way to protect her gentle, but flawed father without giving up her dreams to become an artist.

Nonfiction

The Great American Dust Bowl: A Graphic Novel by Don Brown (published by Clarion Books, October 8, 2013, 978-0547815503  

Seems like every class I taught had one kid who preferred nonfiction to fiction, and one kid who loved pictures more than text. This is the book for that kid! This graphic novel is a short, easy reading history lesson, with evocative, sepia-toned pictures and text that is simple to read, but thoroughly researched. He includes scientific explanations for the dust storms of the 1920s and 1930s and includes his sources at the end, which makes this a great jumping off point for further research. Nonfiction graphic novels are a compelling way to get non readers into a subject. I think every classroom in America needs to have this book on its shelf. 

Inspiring Stories From The Great Depression For Kids: True Tales of Resilience, Kindness, and Strength to Bring History to Life for Children (by Ahoy Publications,  March 3, 2025, 979-8892964210)

I've gotten to the point where I don't trust books that don't list author names, and this is one of them. Furthermore, the illustrations look really AI to me. That being said, this book has a collection of short chapters on different subjects related to the Great Depression and will appeal to the same kids who lovedd The Great American Dust Bowl. There are chapters on orphan trains, dust storms, hobos and their secret signs, soup kitchens, the Bonus Army, and Woody Guthrie that just might compel a reader into learning more. 

Children of the Dust Bowl: The True Story of the School at Weedpatch Camp by Jerry Stanley (Published by Yearling, January 1, 1992, 978-0517880944)

Another brilliant piece of nonfiction for middle grade readers, this is the true story about the children of farmers who left the Dust Bowl and traveled Route 66 to California in search of jobs, only to find deprivation and discrimination. The emergency farm-labor camp immortalized in Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath had no schools for the children of Dust Bowl migrant laborers, who were ostracized as "dumb Okies." Then
Superintendent Leo Hart found a way to acceptance and inclusion for those who had been rejected and helped 50 Okie kids to build their own school in a nearby field Illustrated with photographs from the Dust Bowl era.

I will be giving away my slightly used copies of Not Lucille and The Wind Called My Name, and three new copies of Perspective to subscribers to my email list. If you are not a member and would like to join, click here. Winner will be announced in her November email. 

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