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Book Reviews of Christmas After All: The Great Depression Diary of Minnie Swift, Indianapolis, Indiana, 1932 (Dear America)

Christmas After All: The Great Depression Diary of Minnie Swift, Indianapolis, Indiana, 1932 (Dear America)
Christmas After All The Great Depression Diary of Minnie Swift Indianapolis Indiana 1932 - Dear America
Author: Kathryn Lasky
ISBN-13: 9780439219433
ISBN-10: 0439219434
Publication Date: 11/1/2001
Pages: 185
Reading Level: Ages 9-12
Rating:
  • Currently 3.7/5 Stars.
 32

3.7 stars, based on 32 ratings
Publisher: Scholastic Inc.
Book Type: Hardcover
Reviews: Amazon | Write a Review

4 Book Reviews submitted by our Members...sorted by voted most helpful

reviewed Christmas After All: The Great Depression Diary of Minnie Swift, Indianapolis, Indiana, 1932 (Dear America) on + 304 more book reviews
This is a great little story about the depression years and the effect it has on a sweet, fun family at Christmas.
reviewed Christmas After All: The Great Depression Diary of Minnie Swift, Indianapolis, Indiana, 1932 (Dear America) on + 83 more book reviews
An excellent portrayal of life during the depresssion.
reviewed Christmas After All: The Great Depression Diary of Minnie Swift, Indianapolis, Indiana, 1932 (Dear America) on + 22 more book reviews
Loved the book.. I am collecting the Dear America books for my granddaughter, and this will be a nice addition . thank you
reviewed Christmas After All: The Great Depression Diary of Minnie Swift, Indianapolis, Indiana, 1932 (Dear America) on + 3559 more book reviews
To 11-year-old Minnie Swift, Christmas, 1932, is not going to be the time of bounty she's used to. Instead, it has become the "Time of the Dwindling." The Great Depression has changed everything: Minnie's father is working fewer and fewer hours, her hungry family eats more and more aspic and "rumor of pork" (high up on the Vomitron, a zero-to-ten scale Minnie and her brother have invented to determine the vileness of their meager dinners), and a tiny orphan girl has joined their family from Heart's Bend, Texas. Minnie finds a worthy outlet in her daily journal, in which she records the sometimes troubling, sometimes exhilarating experiences of one winter month in Indianapolis during the depression. Nothing can subdue Minnie's lively spirit, although the disappearance of her father challenges her sorely.

Kathryn Lasky's latest addition to the Dear America series is chock-full of period details: Greta Garbo's hairstyle, The Shadow radio program, Charlie Chan, Hooverville shantytowns, Buck Rogers, Amelia Earhart, and phrases like yee gads and go-to-the-dickens. Minnie is an exuberant and witty chronicler of her family life, as well as the world outside. Young readers will come away from Christmas After All with a strong image of life in the 1930s, and a sense of the resiliency and ingenuity of many Americans during that deeply troubled time. A historical note and photos follow the diary, providing background to help readers understand the era in which the fictional Minnie lived.

This story is based upon the authors mother's family during the great depression of the 1930's.