Review of "The Great American Dust Bowl Graphic Novel," by Don Brown

Review of

The Great American Dust Bowl Graphic Novel, by Don Brown ISBN 9780547815503

Five out of five stars

 As the planet warms and weather patterns change, there will be severe droughts, some of which have already begun. This will lead to mass migrations of people desperate to escape to a better life. Such an event took place in the United States less than a century ago. Years of a lack of rain and deforestation led to the soil being unstable and being blown around in great clouds that covered most of the country and were encountered far out in the Atlantic. People and farm animals were even killed by the concentration of the dust. Tens of thousands of people in the Midwest sold most of what they had, loaded a vehicle and headed to places where they were not welcomed or wanted.

 This is an event in history that has been well documented but should be stated and re-stated often and this book is an excellent way to do that. The quality of the exposition and the factual basis are high enough that it could be used as a text in history classes for children in middle school.

 The experiences of the Dust Bowl in the thirties has led to some lessons being learned, specifically about land management and the strategic planting of trees to act as windbreaks. Yet, it is a reminder of how badly things can go wrong if nature is not respected. This is a powerful lesson for the great-great-grandchildren of the people that lived through it.