This is a Newbery Medal winner, and I did like it. Through poetry, Hesse chronicles a year or so in the life of Billy Jo, a 14-year-old girl living out the Dust Bowl in Oklahoma. It’s not a pretty story; it’s a tale of hardship and sadness. But in the end, there’s hope and healing.
My biggest caution is that I wouldn’t recommend this to a child much younger than the 14 of the main character. It is emotionally intense in some spots.
