Children of the Great Depression

Book: Children of the Great Depression
Author: Russell Freedman
Audience: Grades 6-10
In a Nutshell: title says it all

Changes, hardships, and daily life during the Great Depression come into sharp focus through the eyes of the children it affected in another well-written, expertly-researched offering from Russell Freedman. From lack of food and clothing to 12-year-olds and younger needing to leave school to work in factories, mines and fields, from sharecroppers to boxcar kids on the move, from the Dustbowl to the Lone Ranger, the book discusses what conditions were like during the Depression for children in different parts of the country with different economic backgrounds and different races. It also covers the sorts of things kids did for fun, from an afternoon at the pictures if they had a dime, to playing with homemade toys or listening to the radio.
The rich selection of photographs comes from the archives of FDR's Farm Security Administration, which produced over a quarter of a million pictures from all areas of the country between 1935 and 1943. Freedman always does good work, and this is no exception. If you want really well-researched and readable non-fiction alongside the best photos and other historical tidbits available, he's your man.