“Someplace to Call Home” by Sandra Dallas
Sleeping Bear Press, Ann Arbor, Mich., 2019, 222 pages, Grades 4-6.
The Dust Bowl was a time of unparalleled misery in the Great Plains. Soil erosion and drought combined to create a tragic situation. Dust storms, sometimes lasting for several days, paralyzed and killed thousands of people. Many people’s lungs were filled with the grit of the storms causing dust pneumonia. Their lungs literally filled up with dust, hence the name.
Primarily centered on the plains of Texas and Oklahoma, the Dust Bowl upset society, resulting in an exodus of poverty stricken people migrating to California.
Not everyone made it all the way to the Golden State. Now dubbed “the Okies,” some found refuge in the less stricken state of Kansas. Sandra Dallas writes a poignant account of a family of Okies trying to escape the miseries of the Dust Bowl. The name of this gripping but uplifting book is “Someplace to Call Home.”
Sixteen-year-old Tom, 12-year-old Hallie and 6-year-old Benny are down on their luck. Tom is a gifted mechanic which is fortunate, given the state of their car. Hallie is old beyond her years, having taken over the maternal role in the family with the death of their sister from dust pneumonia. These sufferings prove too much for the parents. The mother soon dies and the father abandons the family in search of work.
Tom, manfully, works his fingers to the bone to support his brother and sister. Hallie takes care of their mentally disabled brother Benny. They strike out for California, thinking life will get easier. It doesn’t.
The Turners’ old jalopy finally breaks down in Kansas. They are befriended by the Carlson family after Tom fixes a tractor. Mrs. Carlson and her husband, Swede, offer a dilapidated cabin for the family which is a vast improvement to the tent they have been living in.
Tom quickly finds work due to his mechanical skills and Hallie fixes up the cabin with Mrs. Carlson’s help. Bennie makes friends with the Carlsons’ daughter Tessie. Like Benny, she is a child with special needs. Both are made fun of in town. Hallie and Tom defend their brother, but this causes a rise in tensions in town.
Harold Morton, the son of the rich banker in town, is jealous of Tom because of his integrity and talent. He plots against Tom and Hallie out of meanness and gets Tom fired. But the Turners do not give up. They trust each other and support one another. A crisis happens when Benny gets lost. Everyone in town, including Harold Morton, realizes the child could be badly injured. A search begins.
Do the searchers find Benny? How does the bravery of Tom and Hallie win over the town people? How do the Turners succeed in making lemonade from lemons? Does Harold Morton ever grow up? To find the answers to these and other questions, go to the library and check out this moving story, “Someplace to Call Home” by Sandra Dallas.
This is an excellent, award-winning novel for middle school students. Sandra Dallas proves that a medal winning-book can be written without profanity or sexual descriptions. Readers will love the Turner children in their fierce love and loyalty to each other.
Though heartbreaking at times, this novel is a triumph of the human spirit. Dallas gives us an accurate description of the effects of the Dust Bowl on families. The Dust Bowl imprinted itself on the nation’s character. Young readers will learn about this event and one family’s heroic struggle against the disaster. This is a beautiful story. Highly recommended.
